Rx EDGE^® Helps New Statin Drug Gain Market Share


According to the Wall Street Journal, some prescription drug manufacturers are taking a hard look at their spending on television advertising and are considering alternative media to reach consumers and health care providers with targeted product messages.

“Drug marketers, for competitive reasons, are reluctant to reveal details of their advertising strategies,” reported the Journal on May 16, “but the rethinking at some companies reflects a sharper focus on the return on the money spent as well as an increasing public and regulatory backlash against TV ads for prescription medicines.”

Further, there’s new evidence that may cast doubt on the payback of several years of TV advertising to promote the benefits of statin drugs for high cholesterol. Researchers from Harvard and Stanford have reported only 11 percent of patients they studied with multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease take statin medications. This finding may indicate that more direct contact with consumers is needed to maximize the reach and impact of television advertising.

As pharmaceutical industry executives seek better returns on their marketing investments, they needn’t look further than the corner drug store for a highly productive promotional venue that gives consumers information they need to consult with pharmacists and physicians about specific cholesterol medications.

In-store promotions are perhaps the most underutilized advertising and marketing vehicle for prescription drugs today. Yet the retail channel is an attractive, cost-effective outlet for reaching consumers who want to learn about various conditions and treatment options. For example, an older woman taking calcium supplements might be interested in prescription medications for
osteoporosis. Product information available at the local drug store may prompt a visit to the doctor to discuss potential benefits of that medication.

Astute pharmaceutical marketing executives are realizing they can extend the reach and value of their advertising campaigns with in-store promotions that give consumers detailed information about specific health conditions and treatment alternatives. In addition, they can speak with a pharmacist about drug benefits and side effects before deciding to call or visit the doctor.

“The return on investment for in-store promotions averages six dollars for every dollar spent, with an average lift in prescription volume of nine to ten percent,” said Michael Byrnes, senior director, sales and business development, for Hoffman Estates, Ill.- based Rx EDGE, the nation’s leading provider of in-store promotional solutions for the pharmaceutical industry.

Byrnes said manufacturers of cholesterol-lowering medications have had great success with in-store promotions of their products. “There’s a very high noise level about cholesterol drugs these days, so much that consumers may have become confused about which drug might be best for them,” said Byrnes. “Companies that market statins are finding they can differentiate the respective benefits of their medications more effectively through in-store promotions than is possible with TV ads.”

He added that repeated exposure to television commercials about a particular medication can pique the consumer’s interest level in learning more about the medication when they visit the pharmacy.

A recent campaign developed and executed by Rx EDGE was designed to reinforce a popular advertising campaign for a new cholesterol medication, the seventh major brand, facing the difficult challenge of growing market share in a mature and crowded therapeutic category. Byrnes said the drug’s manufacturer turned to Rx EDGE on the basis of favorable outcomes of previous in-store campaigns.

“They reviewed past results and saw that a four to one ROI was the lowest yield for any of their in-store promotions, and the marketing team knew that level of performance would provide a considerable lift in prescriptions,” said Byrnes. “Further, the return for another cholesterol medication in our program was 17 to 1.”

Byrnes and Rx EDGE developed an in-store program that complemented the product’s well-known and distinctive consumer advertising. “The brand’s ad creative had become very recognizable, so we knew it would be highly effective in attracting consumer attention in the drug store,” said Byrnes.

Rx EDGE collaborated with the brand team and their advertising agency to create an eye-catching display that extends from the store shelf with detailed, pull-out product information. A panel on top of the display highlighted the product’s key differentiation message about attacking two sources of high cholesterol and showed images from the advertising.

Once the in-store display unit for the new drug was created,
Rx EDGE placed the program in national retail pharmacy chains, such as CVS, Eckerd, Safeway and Albertson’s. The Rx EDGE network has more than 18,000 retail pharmacy outlets.

A key decision involved in these programs, according to Byrnes, is deciding where to locate the display inside the pharmacy. Since cholesterol-lowering medications are not available over the counter, the display had to be placed with products likely to be used by individuals at some risk for cardiovascular disease.

For other therapeutic categories, the decision is easier when medications for a specific condition are available over the counter -- for instance, pain relievers. Someone taking an OTC analgesic for persistent headaches at some point may consider a more potent medication. Placing an in-store display for a prescription analgesic in the aisle where OTC pain products are sold could persuade the headache sufferer to talk with the pharmacist and ask questions about the drug promoted in the display.

“For a previous in-store promotion for another cholesterol
drug, the client chose to locate the display where blood-glucose testing supplies for diabetes monitoring are sold.

The strategy was designed to take advantage of synergies within population groups at risk for diabetes and high cholesterol,” Byrnes explained. “However, for this drug, the marketing team did not want to focus on diabetes. They felt it would be more effective for the display to be in the analgesic aisle, which is the busiest place in the drug store.”

Byrnes also noted that many men and women concerned about preventing heart attacks take 81 mg. tablets of aspirin a day and probably monitor their cholesterol levels carefully. Exposure to this group adds to the benefit of displaying cholesterol information in the analgesics aisle.

After two months on the market, the new cholesterol drug doubled its sales, no doubt helped by the strong advertising campaign. Follow-up research showed the Rx EDGE displays added an additional 6 to 8 percent of sales growth above the doubling plateau. The return on investment thus far is tracking at nearly 5:1.

“For this promotion, we estimated there were almost 300 million consumer impressions during the monitoring period,” said Kathleen Bonetti, vice president of marketing at LeveragePoint Media, parent company of Rx EDGE. “The visibility served as an effective reinforcement of top-line messages in the consumer advertising.”

Bonetti said the new cholesterol drug has averaged two new prescriptions per store, per week since the Rx EDGE in-store promotion began.

“Our experience with programs covering a wide variety of therapeutic categories has proven that Rx EDGE is a highly effective vehicle for reaching consumers when and where they are most receptive to a brand message,” she said.

Rx EDGE is a network program developed by LeveragePoint Media, a business unit within Menasha Corporation. LeveragePoint provides a broad array of retail marketing solutions. Rx EDGE clients include several of the leading global pharmaceutical manufacturers.

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