Manx Pharma
December 2000
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Manx Pharma
December 2000 | |
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How regional press tripled sales of an OTC migraine relief product Background The Campaign Strategy The primary objective of Manx Pharma's campaign was to increase the distribution and subsequently the sales of Midrid. To do this, it needed to raise awareness of the product and achieve greater brand recognition in a market heavily dominated by one rival brand. Week commencing 29 August 1999 was designated National Migraine Awareness Week and this provided the perfect opportunity to launch a test campaign for Midrid. Two weeks prior to the start of Migraine Awareness week, amra's New Business Development team secured a meeting with Manx Pharma's marketing manager Lesley Abley and demonstrated that the region with the highest index of migraine sufferers was the North West. Only 30% of pharmacists in the North West were stocking the brand and so this was chosen as the initial promotional area, principally targeting women. The Launch Strategy For the campaign, amra proposed to run a series of ads in the Manchester Evening News, Manchester Metro, Liverpool Echo and Chester Chronicle. Each title carries regular health pages and sections targeting women and these all ran editorial features during Migraine Awareness Week providing information on the causes and effects of migraine. With only two weeks lead-time, the effectiveness of the promotion would hinge on timing and the quality of the editorial environment within which the first ads appeared. These quarter page and half page colour ads were designed by amra and incorporated into full-page advertorials which were written by the editorial teams on each newspaper. The result was four authoritative features that helped to establish trust and immediate recognition of the Midrid brand name. The First Results The North West campaign cost less than £30,000 and produced immediate results. Manx Pharma monitored the success of the campaign by recording the wholesale orders for Midrid and visiting pharmacists within the North West. During the campaign period, the number of pharmacists willing to stock the product more than doubled. “This
advertising space and accompanying features were all booked and arranged
within two weeks. The results showed over twice the number of local pharmacists
willing to stock Midrid and a 220% rise in sales.” The Next Stage
The Results Once again, the ads helped secure increased distribution, with Lloyds Chemists now stocking the product across its whole chain, and generated extra sales. Several existing stockists reported sales increases of at least double. “The
Christmas and New Year period showed an increase in distribution of 150%
and an increase in regional sales of 280%. The length of the campaign
also showed these sales sustained for at least a further three weeks.” Both campaigns highlighted the effectiveness of local advertising and the ability of the regional press to provide the right environment for the advertising message. Whilst acknowledging the role that local radio played in the Nottingham region, Manx Pharma has been so impressed with the response to its promotions in the regional press, that it has two new drugs which it is planning to launch using the regional press as its core medium. “I
have been impressed with the flexibility, innovation and co-operation
of amra and will continue to use regional press as a key feature within
our advertising campaigns.” |
| For further details on this, or any of the Local Press Works case studies series, please contact Carla Pall on 020 7693 0424 or e-mail: carla_pall@newspapersoc.org.uk |
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Midrid
is a unique migraine relief drug, which works by actively targeting the
cause of the migraine, rather than aiming to simply appease the pain.
The product has been available in Britain for several years, but it had
not been actively promoted until, in July 1999, Manx Pharma - a division
of Stevenden Healthcare Ltd - took over the distribution, sales and marketing
rights. At that time, there were six brands available in Britain serving
the migraine relief market, of which Midrid only held a 1.4% share.
The
success of the initial campaign led Manx Pharma to book another series
of regional press advertisements, this time targeting the East Midlands
area. This region was selected not so much because it registered high
indices of migraine sufferers, but primarily because the head offices
of Boots and Lloyds Chemists are sited within the Midlands.