As audiences grow increasingly skeptical of sponsored content, a new kind of influencer is emerging: the expert. In this piece, Phelan Strategic Consulting founder Aleksandra Phelan explores how credibility, authority, and professional insight can drive cultural impact—showing why, in today’s landscape, expertise is the most persuasive form of influence.
When a film about an innovative weight-loss drug faced strict marketing limits, its visibility came not from influencers or ad spend—but from professionals who turned it into a nationwide conversation.
After CBC released The Ozempic Effect: Beyond the Waistline, a documentary exploring the social impact of a new class of weight-loss drugs, it quickly became one of the network’s most-watched titles of the year. Within days, the film surpassed 100,000 views and sparked an unusually engaged comment section—filled not with casual viewers, but with doctors, dietitians, business owners, and wellness experts debating the cultural consequences of a medical breakthrough.
Turning Constraints into Strategy
Strict advertising rules around prescription drugs in Canada made traditional PR and influencer outreach nearly impossible. Many media outlets were reluctant to engage, wary of compliance boundaries. So instead of forcing promotion, Phelan Strategic Consulting reframed the challenge: from marketing to conversation. We identified the industries most directly affected—healthcare, wellness, food, fashion—and invited professionals to contribute their honest insights.
Professionals are rarely treated as influencers, yet their voices carry authority. When invited to join the conversation, they responded with genuine enthusiasm. The film’s director supported this engagement by releasing additional research, deepening the cultural debate. Through targeted outreach, seeded discussions in digital forums, and curated short clips for professional communities, the campaign encouraged dialogue across industries. Even with CBC’s streaming restricted to Canada, the reach extended internationally, with viewers using VPNs to access the documentary.
The results: over 140,000 views in the first week, sustained engagement across professional networks, and more than 180 comments. Physicians and plastic surgeons shared and discussed the film with the patients, universities used it as a case study to run classroom discussion, fashion brands circulated across the peer groups, and wellness clinics turned into the new client promotions and offerings.
A New Model for Influence
The campaign underscored a larger shift in communications: the rise of the professional influencer. As audiences grow skeptical of sponsored content, credibility—not reach—has become the true currency of influence. By empowering professionals to lead the dialogue, this campaign proved that even highly regulated or sensitive topics can achieve viral cultural impact.
The takeaway for communicators?
When the usual tools—paid ads, influencers, or mass PR—are off the table, the narrative itself becomes the most powerful tool.
By letting professionals lead the conversation, the campaign showed how real expertise—not algorithms—can turn a health story into a cultural moment.
