Pharmaceutical and Medical Packaging News Magazine
PMPN Article Index

Originally Published June 1998

OUR VIEW

Branding OTC Products

To compete effectively with other OTC products, use packaging and labeling to build a memorable brand.

Statistics have shown that the products consumers are most likely to purchase are those that are marketed effectively. But what is an effective marketing program? And how do smaller OTC pharmaceutical companies compete with major players like Procter & Gamble? The solution is to do exactly what they have done—develop simple yet memorable branding.

In recent years brand design and development have become more of a concern for pharmaceutical and nutritional product manufacturers. These days more and more U.S. consumers are treating their own ailments. According to a market study published by Euromonitor (Chicago), self-medication accounted for nearly 30% of total U.S. healthcare expenditures in 1995. To reach these self-medicators, OTC remedies and vitamins compete heavily by using memorable slogans and eye-catching packaging. To succeed, an OTC product must convince consumers that it is more effective than the competition.

There are two keys to building an effective brand that will succeed at the point of sale: Make your product believable and desirable. You have to first convince consumers that your remedy can cure their illnesses, and then you have to show them why your product is more desirable than any others on the shelf. Once you have communicated your product's most believable and desirable attributes, sales should increase and you should be on your way to establishing brand loyalty.

When developing your brand, you should follow these guidelines:

• Be consistent. The message you communicate in every medium should be the same. Packaging, displays, guarantees, and any other consumer-targeted communication should convey the same messages. Colors, typography, and images should all have the same feel.

• Be a monomaniac. If your mission is to build your brand, focus all your efforts toward that objective.

• Be passionate. The art and science of brand development is based largely on creating a positive emotional reaction to your product. This means creating visual and verbal language that will evoke emotion in your target consumer. This not only creates believability, but also desirability.

• Know your product. You need to fully understand your product's limitations as well as its strong points. That way you can avoid the mistake of trying to make it be all things to all people.

• Know your customer. You need to understand who is buying your product, who is not, and what it will take to get nonbuyers to use it. Once you know this, you can create the right message to attract consumers.

Today's technologies give aggressive companies an advantage. New printing processes and packaging materials and designs all enable products to differentiate themselves at the point of sale. Also, consumers are very sensitive to trends in fashion and marketing. To grab and hold the attention of consumers, you should check out the marketing programs for other types of consumer goods—such as cereals and cars—to see what these trends are. When it comes to building a brand and obtaining market share, these products are no different from OTC pharmaceuticals and nutritional supplements.

Jamey Boiter principal and director of brand development, Bolt	Edgar Montague IDSA, Carolinas chapter secretary/treasurer; design principal, Bolt