Nexium a direct marketing campaign by Astra Zeneca
Background
What does a brand do when the patent for one of its star products is going to expire? Can it afford to lose its market hold? What are the options open to the brand if it wants to stay ahead in that market segment as well as in consumer minds? That was the conundrum facing the market leader in GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) or commonly known as heartburn – AstraZeneca. The patent of its hero product to treat GERD, Prilosec, was going to expire in 2001, and once expired the market was open to low-cost generic drugs. The pharma brand put together a highly specialized research team to come up with an alternative to Prilosec that will help it retain the market for heartburn, maybe with better results. Result – Nexium.
Insight
Time was not on the side of AstraZeneca, but it wanted to reach out directly to its target consumers and doctors telling them about the product benefits and helping them transition from Prilosec.
Big idea
Direct marketing
Execution
The company spent heavily on the marketing campaign of Nexium. A huge amount of free samples was handed out to doctors. The extraordinary number of its sales staff went all out spending time explaining the drug to doctors. The product was also priced lower than Prilosec to drive sales, gradually moving to a similar price range. To induce trials and build a large customer base, the company tied up with Reader’s Digest. The magazine’s 3,80,000 household strong reader base in the US had reported more than 30 ailments in the form, and hence the magazine’s database had subscriber data ranging between 25,000 to more than 1.5 million. This credible piece of data helped AstraZeneca reach households that reported GERD and offer Nexium.
Impact
Nexium launch is one of the biggest, successful, and award-winning marketing campaigns in pharma marketing. The company was able to retain its hold in the GERD drug market and even better it. It had been able to very successfully lead the transition from Prilosec to Nexium for its consumers. The sales of Nexium between 2000 and 2006 clocked at US$19.58 billion. According to the company, between 2000 and 2006, 126 million prescriptions of Nexium had been written globally.
Key takeaway
This makes a great case study about how to build upon the goodwill your product already has in the market and leverage it to create something bigger and better.
