Flonase Top 25 Worst Spring Allergy Cities

Occam’s Razor posits “the solution with the least assumptions should win.” Said another way, sometimes the simplest answer is the best answer. This is one of those stories….

Marina Maher Communications (MMC) former client Elizabeth Moshier moves from Sara Lee to GSK and took a leadership role over the allergy nasal spray Flonase.

Coming from an edgier CPG background than traditionally used by pharma, Elizabeth looked for ways to set Flonase ($800 million/year allergy brand) apart from the billion dollar “pills” and other nasal sprays on the market.

Naturally, there was an RFP process and MMC was among four other ‘consumer’ agencies invited to participate. We received news that we won on March 20 – ironically the actual first day of Spring – by which point, every over-the-counter allergy medication had played its hand in terms of campaign launches.

Trouble was – over much of the country, snow was still on the ground. Not really “spring”, right?

How could we stand out?? How could we differentiate? ?There is one medical/health column in newspapers and they’d already run Allegra, Claritin and Zyrtec’s campaigns.? How to make “news”?

I led the team with Kim Hamilton and Genny Neely. We worked closely with the Brand team- Peter Lammers , Elizabeth Moshier and GSK’s comms team Lisa Behrens and Robin Gaitens, APR .

THE BIG IDEA:

Lists work.? Easy to digest.? Simple to communicate.? Memorable.? I recall the brainstorm, “how about something like the Top 25 Worst Spring Allergy Cities….”

Silence. That was IT!? Yes, like Occam’s Razor, the answer was staring us in the face.

After aligning with the National Pollen Reporting Stations and gathering much evidence, we assembled the list and appropriate references.? The campaign past its biggest hurdle: GSK’s regulatory board. That was no small feat as we were doing something different and in pharma, ‘different’ is not always welcome (at least not in 2002 in Research Triangle Park, NC).

The next hurdle was to ‘would there be interest on a bigger scale?’? We used all the tools at the time: Satellite Media Tour, wire distribution, advance notice to the 25 cities named and a local spokesperson to talk with, infographics, stats – All.? The. Things.

Chattanooga’s Dr Bob Overholt, an allergist, top Flonase prescriber and great southern storyteller made for TV kicked off our campaign and drove the coverage.

RESULTS:

The campaign was a total success.? We stole share from every other brand and established Flonase as the ‘innovator’.? Not to mention, total RX volume grew 7% off the back of that campaign.

EPILOGUE:

The campaign worked so well, it became an annual media expectation – literally reporters would call in advance to see where their city stood on the forthcoming list.? In 2003, St. Louis was very grumpy that after clocking in as the top Worst Spring Allergy City, they’d fallen off the list.? WTF?? Anyway, I share that to say – this idea had legs.? SO many in fact that it has been copied by multiple allergy brands in the ensuing years.? I’m proud to say: We were first

If you are in a tough category like Pharma; in a crowded category like OTC allergy medication, or find yourself the proverbial David among Goliaths, contact LOCC to help you find ways to innovate.