A new campaign from Advil is looking to help overstimulated gamers level up and overcome nagging headaches.

The Haleon pain-relief brand has launched Advil Head Settings, a series of guidelines to optimize PC game settings and prevent headaches from on-screen stimulation, which is the result of not spending enough time AFK (away from the keyboard) as aficionados might say.

Advil Head Settings cover gaming genres with the most on-screen action and stimuli, such as Action RPGs, sports and racing games, and more.

Using response data from a qualitative study and findings from neuroscience literature, Advil Head Settings showcase the customized settings combinations that directly target visual stimulation which can lead to headaches.

To develop these, Advil partnered with Séamas Weech, a cognitive scientist whose post-doctoral work focuses on understanding the factors that relate to cyber sickness in virtual reality. Weech appears in the creative alongside Canadian streamer, MTashed.

“I believe brands need to identify audiences and opportunities that tie to their brand strategy and purpose,” says Amrita Maharajh, Advil Canada senior brand manager. “Advil’s purpose is to offer consumers pain relief solutions that enable them to reclaim life’s possibilities [and] Advil Head Settings certainly champions that purpose for gamers.”

As Maharajh tells strategy, millions of Canadians identify as gamers, representing a huge and growing cohort, and Advil recognized no other pain brands are currently speaking to them.

“The pain relief category has lacked some differentiation, typically focusing on treatment and product benefits, whereas this campaign is focused on pain prevention and providing proactive healthy tips, in the hopes of avoiding the pain before it occurs,” Maharajh says, adding that games have evolved over the years, offering more intense, immersive experiences, which can lead to triggers that can cause headaches.

Gamers are not the first subculture Advil has targeted, previously doing outreach to musicians.

As Maharajh explains, pain relief spans across a spectrum of audiences, so as a brand Advil sees that as an optimal opportunity to engage with a variety of subcultures.

“Whether it’s with athletes, musicians, or gamers, we will continue to build on our learnings and push boundaries that enable us to further connect with consumers to help relieve their pain,” Maharajh says.

Advil Head Settings is supported by an integrated campaign through paid digital media, influencer, social media and media relations, and includes a microsite of the same name.

“The goal of our media tactics was to ensure we connected with the gaming audience where they go for content, in the most authentic way possible, which is why we chose to be present on platforms such as Twitch, Discord, TikTok and Instagram,” Maharajh says.

Edelman Canada is the lead agency supporting in creative, influencer social and media relations. Publicis Groupe Canada is managing the paid digital media buy.