SCHERING-PLOUGH RECHRISTENS DRIXORAL SINUS

SCHERING-PLOUGH RECHRISTENS DRIXORAL SINUS as Drixoral Allergy Sinus, which will be introduced to the trade during the first quarter of 1994. Drixoral Allergy Sinus, Schering said, will be backed with "unprecedented" national media support including television and coupon drops in free-standing inserts. Drixoral Allergy Sinus will contain the same ingredients as Drixoral Sinus (acetaminophen 500 mg, pseudoephedrine 60 mg and dexbrompheniramine 3 mg) in the same 12-hour extended release tablet dosage form. The product will be available in packages of 12 and 24 tablets. Television ads will air during the spring and fall allergy seasons. Commercials featuring the new product will kick off in April 1994 and run through June. A second wave of ads will run from August through October. To complement the television spots, Schering has planned coupon drops for April 10 and Oct. 2 for free trial size packages of two tablets or 79" off a regular size package. Trial sizes will include in-package coupons for 50" off and consumers will be offered a try-it-free mail-in rebate for up to $ 5.50. In-store merchandising includes power wings and floorstands. The new name, Schering said, "invites consumers to use the product for allergy or sinus symptoms." Schering noted that allergy/sinus is the fastest-growing segment in the category, increasing 36% in dollar sales in 1993, as distinguished from products solely for allergy relief (up 20% in sales) or solely for sinus relief (up 9%). According to trade material, Schering projected that first year retail sales would reach $ 15 mil. Schering's material to the trade cites several instances where companies renamed their products and successfully "gave their sales new life." For instance, Johnson & Johnson changed the name of CoTylenol to Tylenol Cold; American Home Products changed the name of CoAdvil to Advil Cold & Sinus; Sandoz repositioned NeoCitran as TheraFlu; and P&G's DayQuil was formerly DayCare. Schering is attempting to revive the product against a growing number of allergy and sinus product introductions in the category. Since the spring 1992 Rx-to-OTC switch of Sandoz' Tavist (clemastine) and the successful retail launch of Tavist-D, the market has been flooded with new products. In the past year-and-a-half, Burroughs Wellcome introduced Actifed Sinus in July 1992, SmithKline Beecham began shipping Contac Day & Night Allergy and Sinus in December 1992 and Robins debuted Dimetapp Allergy in February. In addition, Whitehall repositioned CoAdvil as Advil Cold & Sinus in a move that emphasized the product was beneficial for sinus sufferers. More recently, Upjohn introduced Motrin IB Sinus in September ("The Tan Sheet, September 20, p. 3). Additionally, Upjohn is extending its line with Sine-Aid IB later this month and Burroughs Wellcome is introducing Actifed Allergy during the first quarter of 1994. The recent sinus and allergy product launches are reflected in data from Information Resources subsidiary Towne-Oller, which show that sinus analgesics had the third highest amount of new SKUs introduced from June 1992 to July 1993 among OTC categories. The new sinus product launches, according to Towne-Oller, represent nearly 20% of the total number of category SKUs on shelves and captured a 12.3% dollar share of the sinus category during the 12- month period.