Antiplatelet Brand Unleashes the Power of the High-Traffic Aspirin Aisle

Background

As WebMD points out in its Heart Disease Health Center, “good old aspirin, the common pain reliever that has been in our medicine cabinets for almost a century, also has a talent for prevention. Aspirin can help prevent a heart attack or a stroke in people who have never had a heart attack or stroke. Aspirin has been proved to prevent a first and second heart attack in people who have coronary artery disease.*

It is no wonder then that the Analgesics aisle of the drug store is an ideal place to reach those who have had a heart attack or are at increased risk for a future heart attack or stroke due to a past clot-related event. The Internal Analgesics Tablet section is one of the most heavily shopped in the OTC category, with 73.1% of U.S. households buying per year.**

When the brand team for an antiplatelet medicine wanted to raise consumer awareness of the brand and its usage profile, they turned to Rx EDGE as part of an integrated educational marketing campaign. A critical benefit of the Rx EDGE program is that it gives pharmaceutical marketers the ability to target a key audience by store location. Typically, Rx EDGE information dispensers are placed next to or near over-the-counter remedies that correspond most directly with the prescription product. In this case, the low-dose aspirin area made the most sense; it is a significant segment of the Analgesics category, with more than 44 million packages sold in the U.S. in 2009.

Roughly 50 million Americans take low dose aspirin to prevent cardiovascular problems. The American Heart Association recommends its use for patients who have had a heart attack, unstable angina, ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attacks, if not contraindicated. One of the best times to reach these patients is when they are picking up their aspirin in the store.

Objectives

Rx EDGE programs are available in six-week cycles in-store. In a single six-week cycle in the Analgesics aisle, an Rx EDGE program reaches an audience of over 120 million individuals and delivers close to 350 million impressions. The brand took full advantage of this exposure potential by implementing a multi-year, multi-cycle effort.

Throughout the program, all communications were singularly focused on delivering a direct message to those who have had a heart attack or been hospitalized with heart-related chest pain. To that end, the Rx EDGE information dispenser was installed in the Analgesics section near low-dose aspirin products, thereby increasing the likelihood that it would be seen by a receptive audience.

Message and Incentives Tied to Store Section

In its printed Rx EDGE materials, the brand effectively capitalized on its selected store location in several ways:

1) Associating the message on the at-shelf dispenser directly to aspirin in a forthright manner: for example, “If you had a heart attack, is aspirin alone enough to protect you?” was one of the multiple headlines that were deployed throughout the campaign. The core concept centered on the antiplatet product’s ability to increase patient protection when taken with aspirin.

2) Deploying an incentive promotion ($5.00 off your purchase of aspirin) that was directly linked with the over-the-counter product.

3) The brand communications alluded to a medical procedure in which a stent is inserted into an artery that is narrowed due to plaque buildup. Low-dose aspirin is frequently part of recommended post-stent maintenance therapy;

Education was a key ingredient encompassing all communications. Consumers were given a toll-free number to call in order to find out their eligibility for the free aspirin offer and other rebates, and to obtain an information kit with important information about how to help reduce the risk of a future heart attack or stroke. A “Guide to Talking to Your Doctor” was also provided.

Results

Through the use of matched-panel research methodology conducted by a third-party research firm, results of the multi-cycle initiative were measured. Results showed that throughout the monitoring periods, the lift in prescription volume attributable to the Rx EDGE campaign averaged 3.35%. Even more important, the return on investment based on single scripts was an impressive $7.20. The long-term effect was also analyzed, which showed a return of $11.22.

This data demonstrated that Rx EDGE pharmacy programs can have a significant effect on both near-term goals as well as longer-range patient retention objectives.

The placement of actionable information in the pharmacy---where a large and receptive audience can be reached---helped this antiplatelet brand achieve its goalS.

* Gaziano JM, et al. (2008). Primary and secondary prevention of coronary heart disease. In P Libby et al., eds., Braunwald's Heart Disease, 8th ed., pp. 1119-1146. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier

** Nielsen Homescan Consumer Facts 2007

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