MCNEIL SUPPORTING SINE-AID IB LAUNCH WITH TV ADS DEBUTING IN DECEMBER
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
MCNEIL SUPPORTING SINE-AID IB LAUNCH WITH TV ADS DEBUTING IN DECEMBER and scheduled to run through calendar 1994. McNeil also is planning two coupon drops -- in January and October 1994 -- that are expected to reach 88 mil. consumers via free-standing inserts in Sunday newspapers. McNeil is allocating $ 6 mil. in national advertising support for the first year. New York-based Barrie Spiess Creative Services will be handling the Sine-Aid IB account. The new ibuprofen/pseudoephedrine product is expected to join other Sine-Aid products on store shelves by mid-November. Available in boxes of 20 and 40 caplets, McNeil will also provide 360,000 two-caplet 59" trial sizes to consumers. Materials to the trade claim that Sine-Aid brand awareness is the highest in the sinus category with 20% brand recognition, followed by Parke-Davis' Sinutab with 16%, and McNeil's Tylenol Sinus with 11%. McNeil projects first year sales volume to reach $ 9 mil. Sine-Aid IB is the fifth brand on the market with the ibuprofen 200 mg and pseudoephedrine 30 mg combination. Before Upjohn introduced Motrin IB Sinus to the trade in September, American Home Products was the only company with FDA approval to market the combination, which the agency considers a "new drug." AHP markets three brands: Robins' Dimetapp Sinus, and Whitehall's Advil Cold & Sinus and Dristan Sinus. The Sine-Aid line extension marks Johnson & Johnson's first foray into the OTC ibuprofen product arenas since the company withdrew Medipren from the market last year. Sine-Aid IB is an outgrowth of a marketing and technological exchange agreement between Upjohn and J&J's McNeil consumer unit, announced in January, that also spawned Motrin IB Sinus ("The Tan Sheet" Sept. 20, p. 4). The McNeil/Upjohn collaboration also will be contributing another line extension this fall -- Upjohn's Motrin IB with FastCap containers for easier access for elderly and arthritic consumers. The product is expected to be shipped to distributors by Oct. 29. Southfield, Mich.-based W. B. Doner, the ad agency of record for the existing Motrin line, will also pick up the FastCap product. McNeil began shipping Tylenol Extra Strength Caplets and Tylenol Extra Strength Gelcaps with FastCap containers in June ("The Tan Sheet" May 10, In Brief). Other J&J line extension introductions under way include Mylanta Antacid Lozenges, which began shipping to the trade on Oct. 18. The product will be available in cool mint creme and cherry creme in boxes of 18 and bottles of 50. McNeil will back the new antacid lozenge with television ads, trial-generating refunds and an early January national FSI coupon drop in Sunday newspapers. Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, will direct the ad campaign. J&J also introduced K-Y Plus spermicidal lubricant with nonoxynol-9 to the trade in four ounce tubes on Oct. 4. Touting the product as the "smarter choice for 2 in 1 protection," professional promotions for the product will begin in December, and consumer ads will begin in the first quarter of 1994. Manhattan-based Lintas will be handling consumer promotions. Professional promotions to support the new K-Y product include sampling to 20,000 gynecologists, advertising in "major" medical journals, "national programs" to educate the public about the "need for effective back-up protection," and promotional support "at major medical conventions," J&J is telling the trade. The company has earmarked $ 4 mil. to cover consumer print ads in publications such as Glamour, Family Circle, People and GQ. The ads, J&J said, will "educate women 18-35 and condom users about why K-Y Jelly is a safer choice for personal lubrication than petroleum jelly." Consumer promotions will also include two FSI $ 1-off coupon drops in calendar 1994 that are expected to reach 88 mil. consumers, direct mail aimed at new parents and K-Y Jelly users, and cross-ruff coupons with condoms and feminine hygiene products.