"We wanted an ad that people talked about" That is pure BS !
Oct/29/06 05:36 | Current DTC
2
Clutter..clutter and more clutter...Too many brands are fighting for a share of the consumers mind. For the first time in history, the barriers to competition are not controlled by companies, but by customers. The boxes they build in their minds are the boundaries of brands. Creating a TV spot that is "different" to get people talking ignores the fact that consumers today are time pressed and have better things to do than discuss a TV ad. Rozerem gets it wrong again.


A brand is a persons gut feeling about a product..it's not what the company says it is but rather what the consumer perceives it is. I truly believe that pharmaceutical brands have different attributes than other consumer brands. People don't want an emotional attachment to their Lipitor or Viagra. Sure there are some branding attributes which go in a sub-conscience level but for the most part people take pharmaceutical products to help them live better. In a world where there are lots of competitors and one (Ambien) has a clear lead you need more than differentiation. Using the likeness of Abe Lincoln and a Beaver is not the way to cut through the clutter. All brand decisions should emanate from a trueline. A trueline is the one statement you can make about your brand that can't be reduced, refuted or dismissed. It needs to be upfront in TV ads because after the first three seconds you lost your customers attention.

I have worked with, and still work, a lot of agency people. For the most part their work is good but not great. I can't tell you the number of times that creative people have shown my teams concepts that had us shaking our heads. That's why I laugh when I read in the trade magazines that ad agencies current models are broken and in need of repair to me that is the biggest DUH in the industry. It's quite simple actually..DTC ads have to raise awareness but more importantly that awareness has to translate into new Rx's. Brands like Rozerem, and Cialis, are going to learn the hard way that an increase in awareness does not necessarily translate into sales.


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