Tuesdata: Who won the cold and flu pharma battle
Welcome to Tuesdata, where we pick apart the most interesting data in the media and marketing industry.
Happy middle of winter. We’re well beyond the winter solstice now and past the middle of July, which means that we are over the winter hump. It also means we’re still in prime cold and flu (and Covid) season.
It’s an apt topic personally. My colleague Tim Burrowes hosted the Start the Week podcast solo yesterday as I was significantly under the weather with what I believe is a strong cold, having registered multiple negative RAT tests.
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According to the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance in Australia (NCIRS) in an article published on July 1, less than 35% of Australians have been vaccinated against influenza (flu).
Perhaps unsurprising given the significant messaging around Covid-19 vaccinations since the pandemic began. The flu shot barely registered a mention by comparison.
But with Australia continuing to return to as close to pre-pandemic as we can get, it’s put more emphasis on colds and flu again.
In NSW, for example, household contacts of a confirmed Covid-19 case no longer need to self-isolate. Travel restrictions have also recently been eased. Using the NSW example again, since July 6 international travellers visiting NSW have not been required to take a COVID-19 test on arrival.
The likely result is more people with Covid-like symptoms being out and about in society and a greater desire for cold and flu treatment.
So how have the pharmaceutical companies approached the current situation? Nielsen Ad Intelligence has provided this week’s Tuesdata statistics and can reveal that for the month of June, the total ad spend for pharmaceutical companies promoting cold and flu products was $1,755,270.
Below are the top five pharmaceutical companies in terms of spend on cold and flu products according to Nielsen Ad Intelligence, as well as the focus products for each group.
The top spending brands in the cold and flu category for June
1. Reckitt Benckiser
Key health brands: Nurofen, Strepsils, Dettol, Gaviscon
Reckitt Benckiser has been busy on the marketing front throughout the pandemic, particularly with its Dettol brand that quickly gained the tagline of ‘Tested shown effective against Covid-19 virus’.
It partnered with brands including Uber, Airbnb, Hilton and Mirvac to promote good hygiene during the pandemic as well as creating the significant ‘Bat, bowl, Dettol’ campaign via Saatchi & Saatchi in partnership with Cricket Australia.
Recently it also developed a program to help students learn about hygiene called ‘Catch a habit’ via Saatchi & Saatchi with PR from Dec PR and media planned by Zenith. The program was inspired by the fact that almost half of Australian primary school children sometimes forgo soap when washing their hands at school, with more than one in three having not learnt how to wash their hands at school.
It’s been Strepsils that has taken the majority of the spotlight recently thanks to the onset of winter. The TV campaign that featured an animated Strepsils character navigating your throat to relieve pain is gone, replaced by a scenario we can all relate to, the work video call.
Here, the protagonist coughs to the tune of Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67: Allegro con brio (to give it its full name).
2. Procter & Gamble Australia
Key health brands: Vicks, Metamucil, Oral – B, Align
Procter & Gamble have become a mainstay in Australian households during winter thanks to the persistent Vicks campaigns with the strap line ‘Clears the nose and soothes the throat’.
For years the brand campaigns were fronted by comedy duo The Umbilical Brothers (David Collins and Shane Dundas) who specialise in physical and vocal comedy.
That changed recently when Nova Adelaide radio duo Ben Harvey and Liam Stapleton took the reins in early 2021 with a campaign via Publicis that spread across TV, radio, outdoor, social and retail and was even shown in other markets including Singapore.
The current campaign in market is for Vicks Vaporub and focuses on ridding the family of coughs and colds using the rub.
3. Arrotex Pharmaceuticals
Key health brands: Chemists’ Own
One of the lesser known groups of big name pharmaceuticals, Arrotex’s main play is its Chemists Own brand. It launched in 1995 and is only available at pharmacies.
The brand itself is also new to big marketing campaigns. This is the first above-the-line media campaign it has launched in its almost 30 year history.
Done in conjunction with Now Screen and set to run until November this year, the campaign focuses on four of Chemists’ Own’s most popular product ranges: cough, colds and flu, pain relief, allergy, and digestive health.
The TV ad follows a variety of Australians in a broad range of locations selecting the Chemists’ Own brand in their local pharmacy.
4. Sanofi
Key health brands: Betadine, Nature’s Own, Cenovis, Buscopan, Telfast, Ostelin, Bisolvon
Sanofi has recently been in market with new campaigns for a number of its brands, not least Nature’s Own and Ostelin, with work in both cases by Publicis Worldwide.
Publicis has been working with Sanofi since 2012 while media is now handled by Foundation.
To tie in with winter it recently dropped a Bisolvon campaign promoting its cough mixture. The premise of not hiding your cough but fighting it is apt at this time, with societal confusion around what constitutes being sick enough to stay home and isolate.
The Bisolvon brand is purely for cough relief.
5. Johnson & Johnson
Key health brands: Codral, Zyrtec, Sudafed, Mylanta, Daktarin, Visine
Codral is arguably one of the best associated brands with Australian winters thanks to the classic ‘Soldier on’ campaigns which first emerged in the mid-80s.
Thought of as somewhat questionable prior to the pandemic, the idea of soldiering on now when you have a cold or flu is on the verge of reprehensible. Those classic ads strongly promoted the practice of ignoring your cold or flu, taking Codral and just getting on with it, no matter who you passed on your sickness to.
One version of the campaign from JWT used the character Bob who apparently “oozes power”. As the ad goes, “when you’re powerful, you’re a force of nature, and forces don’t do sick days.”
The latest campaign, unsurprisingly has a slightly different approach, although the ‘soldier on’ line remains. It has been slightly altered, however, to be “soldier on sooner, with Codral.”
Despite this, the campaign still focuses on someone who is already out and about carrying on with their daily routine but requires a cold and flu remedy.
Tailwinds for SWM and SCA
The rocky recovery on the ASX of Seven West Media continues with the media giant registering a 7.5% increase yesterday, taking its market cap back towards the $800m mark.
Since its 2022 low of 0.35 on June 15 its taken a continual two steps forward one step back approach to its recovery. The looming AFL rights will be the next big test for SWM with The Australian reporting that the AFL is trying to entice it and current broadcast partner Foxtel to up their bid to as close to $600m annually as possible.
Meanwhile, Southern Cross Austereo has also continued a slightly rocky march upwards, with a 7.2% gain pushing its market cap back above $300m.
Australia back in the big event groove?
That’s a wrap for Tuesdata for this week. With the majority of industry executives who attended Cannes having arrived back, tomorrow plays host to the return of one of the big events of the local market, Mumbrella360.
Two days and multiple streams at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney will be the first test for large scale industry events here, aside from B&T’s Cannes in Cairns, of course.
Until next time,
Damian
damian@unmade.media
