South Africa Edition 2 Benylin
THE MARKET Sales of cough, cold and allergy remedies rose by over seven percent in 2005 to reach R155 billion globally and R1.4 billion in South Africa. Benylin achieved over R64 million in sales in 2006, testament to the fact that when mothers want their families to get better, they get Benylin. According to IMS MAT NOVEMBER 2006, it is the biggest selling cough brand in terms of value. The market is growing at a rate of 12 percent per annum, and a third of brand sales are contributed by Benylin’s liquid flu product, which is growing at 27 percent year-on-year and has been a hugely successful launch for the brand. Benylin’s key product ranges include 10 products in the cough liquids range, one tablet product for colds and two products in the flu range - a tablet and a liquid. The Benylin liquid cough variants cater for various types of cough. Most of these are Schedule 2 (S2) products and are sold out of the dispensaries of pharmacies, where consumers can receive expert advice from pharmacists and trained staff. There are three Benylin Wet Cough variants which are registered as S0 medicines, and can therefore be sold in retail supermarkets as well as in the front shop of pharmacies. Benylin also has a complementary immune-boosting variant, which contains Echinacea and is sold at both pharmacies and supermarkets. The brand’s target audience comprises doctors, pharmacists, pharmacist assistants, clinic nurses and, of course, the consumer. Specifically, Benylin focuses on catering to the cough, cold and flu needs of the whole family.
xx
In general distribution, the brand competes predominantly in the top end of the market, targeting the major supermarket chains in particular. However, the company has worked hard at establishing more of a brand presence in the aspirant emerging market, and recent market research indicates that Benylin is enjoying increasing support from consumers in this segment. As the trend towards self-medication continues, led by government initiatives to reduce public spending on healthcare, steady market growth is expected to continue. Also playing a role in the growth of the cough, cold and flu market are increasing affluence, increased levels of pollution, changing climatic conditions, and the increasing prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Those living with this disease are immuno-compromised and therefore particularly susceptible to cough, colds and flu. ACHIEVEMENTS Benylin competes in the two major URT categories, and has significantly increased market share in the last five years. IMS MAT NOVEMBER 2006 named it the number-one value brand leader in cough medications, with an 11 percent market share. After the highly successful launch of Benylin’s variant for flu in 2001, the brand is now one of the leading brands in the cold and flu arena. Its cough variants are now in number four brand position in GD (supermarket) cough market. Benylin’s 2006 sales of over R64 million made it the biggest selling cough brand in terms
of value. The brand’s liquid flu product growth of 27 percent year-on-year is an achievement it is extremely proud of. HISTORY In 1943, George Rieveschl - a young lecturer at the University of Cincinnati - developed diphenhydramine, the anti-tussive (cough suppressant) active ingredient in the original Benylin cough formula. In 1946 it was marketed by Parke-Davis as Benadryl. The original two products - Benylin Original and Benylin with Codeine - have been available to South Africans since around 1965. These original formulas contained chloroform as a preservative and flavour enhancer, but that was eliminated in the late 1980s due to regulatory restrictions on chloroform. Warner Lambert acquired Parke-Davis in 1970. In 1990 Benylin was a R2.5 million brand, with only the two original cough liquids in the product range. They were promoted - along with the Benadryl cold and flu range - as the “Beny Bunch”! In the early 1980s, Sinutab was Warner Lambert’s lead brand with Benylin second, but Benylin took the lead in 1988. Prior to 1984, Benylin was marketed as a pharmaceutical and not an over-the-counter (OTC) product. At the time of the switch to OTC, the product was
generating about 800,000 scripts a year. The evolution from a cough liquid heritage to a cough, cold and flu brand took place in 2001, when the brand doubled in size with the launch of the Benylin liquid flu variant. Pfizer acquired Warner Lambert in 2003 and Benylin was marketed by Pfizer Consumer Healthcare until it was sold to Johnson & Johnson in 2006. THE PRODUCT The consumer promise and positioning has always been, “Powerful relief of colds, cough and flu for the whole family. Let Benylin take care of colds, coughs and flu so you can take care of life.” Benylin seeks to help people suffering from coughs - and now also colds and flu - feel better and get better. It has consistently been targeted at and trusted by the emergent market as an aspirational, efficacious brand. Benylin packaging has evolved over time from clinical white to brightly coloured consumerfriendly design which modernised and refreshed the range. The new packaging design embodies long lasting relief and high efficacy. The brand’s S0 variants are merchandised in high-impact, eye catching displays in the front shop of pharmacies, on gondola ends, or in window displays. The S2 variants are kept in the dispensary out of reach of consumers, so these variants rely on pharmacist recommendation and on consumers specifically requesting Benylin. Families have used and trusted Benylin since 1965, so it is top-of-mind for many consumers who have grown up with the brand. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS Local research and development has played a significant role for Benylin, as global innovations are not always suitable for the local market in South Africa. Benylin Wet Cough and Benylin Children’s Wet Cough are British products reformulated locally and launched into the GD market. Both products have gone on to make a significant contribution to the brand. PROMOTION Benylin was the first OTC cough brand to be advertised on South African television in 1985. TV is an essential tool for communicating the brand message to consumers in the early-winter, as well as keeping it top-of-mind throughout winter. It is also the most effective leadership-building medium for the Benylin mother-brand, achieving cross-over presence against differing target market sectors. Radio is used as an awareness-building support medium within LSM 5-7. Print advertising is also used as an educative medium for LSM 5-7. The payoff line “Let our family look after your family” and the current slogan “Get Better. Get Benylin,” have proved very effective for the Benylin brand, appealing particularly to mothers who ultimately make the decision as to which medication their children will use. Advertising is backed up by the Benylin website, which contains a host of information on cough, colds and flu for consumers’ edification. BRAND VALUES The values proposed by the brand are:
• • • •
Health Vitality Happiness Care
The Benylin brand personality is specialist, trusted, efficacious, contemporary, protective of the whole family, caring, lively, warm and real. The qualities the brand embraces are: • Functional: Benylin offers a wide range of products to provide relief for the specific symptoms of cough, cold and flu • Emotional: The message is that “with Benylin, my family will soon be able to enjoy the everyday, happy, healthy things we do when we don’t have the symptoms of cough, cold and flu. It’s about the simple, enjoyable things in life that clearly signal we are well: playing, dancing, sleeping, swimming, singing and chatting” The essence of the Benylin promise to consumers is family happiness: “Get Better. Get Benylin.” It communicates that, for the effective relief of cough, cold and flu, families can trust Benylin. The Benylin range offers consumers a leading and trusted brand name and taps into the insight that consumers would rather buy a single-brand solution to provide relief across all the key winter ailment categories. Backed by attractive packaging and significant advertising support - along with the motivating claim “Get Better. Get Benylin” - the range offers an emotional connection with the transition from feeling ill to feeling better. The Benylin logo has stature due to the brand’s historical record of providing families with effective relief from coughs, colds and flu since 1965 in South Africa. The “Get Better, Get Benylin” pay-off line was designed to leverage the logo design to further entrench the brand promise. Being a pharmaceutical brand, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) guidelines are
followed during manufacturing, as required by the Medicines Control Council of South Africa. This further enhances the consumer’s trust in the brand. All raw materials used in the products, including the active ingredients, are purchased from well-established, reputable companies that have a proven record of providing high quality material. Benylin products are manufactured under strict quality controlled conditions and undergo various in-process quality tests during manufacture, thereby ensuring that the end product is always of high quality and consistent. Each batch manufactured is tested against predetermined specifications to ensure that the final product is suitable for release to the customer.
THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT BENYLIN ¶ Benylin is available in 24 countries around the globe ¶ Some markets sell both Benylin and Benadryl. Additionally, Benadryl is an allergy brand in some of these markets, such as the USA ¶ Approximately 520,000 litres of Benylin is manufactured and sold in South Africa a year, which equates to about 4 million units ¶ 2006 sales of Benylin products in South Africa reached R64 million ¶ Benylin’s key product ranges include 10 products in the cough liquids range, one tablet for colds and two products in the flu range - a tablet and a liquid ¶ The original two products - Benylin Original and Benylin with Codeine - have been available to South Africans since around 1965
xx
xx
In general distribution, the brand competes predominantly in the top end of the market, targeting the major supermarket chains in particular. However, the company has worked hard at establishing more of a brand presence in the aspirant emerging market, and recent market research indicates that Benylin is enjoying increasing support from consumers in this segment. As the trend towards self-medication continues, led by government initiatives to reduce public spending on healthcare, steady market growth is expected to continue. Also playing a role in the growth of the cough, cold and flu market are increasing affluence, increased levels of pollution, changing climatic conditions, and the increasing prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Those living with this disease are immuno-compromised and therefore particularly susceptible to cough, colds and flu. ACHIEVEMENTS Benylin competes in the two major URT categories, and has significantly increased market share in the last five years. IMS MAT NOVEMBER 2006 named it the number-one value brand leader in cough medications, with an 11 percent market share. After the highly successful launch of Benylin’s variant for flu in 2001, the brand is now one of the leading brands in the cold and flu arena. Its cough variants are now in number four brand position in GD (supermarket) cough market. Benylin’s 2006 sales of over R64 million made it the biggest selling cough brand in terms
of value. The brand’s liquid flu product growth of 27 percent year-on-year is an achievement it is extremely proud of. HISTORY In 1943, George Rieveschl - a young lecturer at the University of Cincinnati - developed diphenhydramine, the anti-tussive (cough suppressant) active ingredient in the original Benylin cough formula. In 1946 it was marketed by Parke-Davis as Benadryl. The original two products - Benylin Original and Benylin with Codeine - have been available to South Africans since around 1965. These original formulas contained chloroform as a preservative and flavour enhancer, but that was eliminated in the late 1980s due to regulatory restrictions on chloroform. Warner Lambert acquired Parke-Davis in 1970. In 1990 Benylin was a R2.5 million brand, with only the two original cough liquids in the product range. They were promoted - along with the Benadryl cold and flu range - as the “Beny Bunch”! In the early 1980s, Sinutab was Warner Lambert’s lead brand with Benylin second, but Benylin took the lead in 1988. Prior to 1984, Benylin was marketed as a pharmaceutical and not an over-the-counter (OTC) product. At the time of the switch to OTC, the product was
generating about 800,000 scripts a year. The evolution from a cough liquid heritage to a cough, cold and flu brand took place in 2001, when the brand doubled in size with the launch of the Benylin liquid flu variant. Pfizer acquired Warner Lambert in 2003 and Benylin was marketed by Pfizer Consumer Healthcare until it was sold to Johnson & Johnson in 2006. THE PRODUCT The consumer promise and positioning has always been, “Powerful relief of colds, cough and flu for the whole family. Let Benylin take care of colds, coughs and flu so you can take care of life.” Benylin seeks to help people suffering from coughs - and now also colds and flu - feel better and get better. It has consistently been targeted at and trusted by the emergent market as an aspirational, efficacious brand. Benylin packaging has evolved over time from clinical white to brightly coloured consumerfriendly design which modernised and refreshed the range. The new packaging design embodies long lasting relief and high efficacy. The brand’s S0 variants are merchandised in high-impact, eye catching displays in the front shop of pharmacies, on gondola ends, or in window displays. The S2 variants are kept in the dispensary out of reach of consumers, so these variants rely on pharmacist recommendation and on consumers specifically requesting Benylin. Families have used and trusted Benylin since 1965, so it is top-of-mind for many consumers who have grown up with the brand. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS Local research and development has played a significant role for Benylin, as global innovations are not always suitable for the local market in South Africa. Benylin Wet Cough and Benylin Children’s Wet Cough are British products reformulated locally and launched into the GD market. Both products have gone on to make a significant contribution to the brand. PROMOTION Benylin was the first OTC cough brand to be advertised on South African television in 1985. TV is an essential tool for communicating the brand message to consumers in the early-winter, as well as keeping it top-of-mind throughout winter. It is also the most effective leadership-building medium for the Benylin mother-brand, achieving cross-over presence against differing target market sectors. Radio is used as an awareness-building support medium within LSM 5-7. Print advertising is also used as an educative medium for LSM 5-7. The payoff line “Let our family look after your family” and the current slogan “Get Better. Get Benylin,” have proved very effective for the Benylin brand, appealing particularly to mothers who ultimately make the decision as to which medication their children will use. Advertising is backed up by the Benylin website, which contains a host of information on cough, colds and flu for consumers’ edification. BRAND VALUES The values proposed by the brand are:
• • • •
Health Vitality Happiness Care
The Benylin brand personality is specialist, trusted, efficacious, contemporary, protective of the whole family, caring, lively, warm and real. The qualities the brand embraces are: • Functional: Benylin offers a wide range of products to provide relief for the specific symptoms of cough, cold and flu • Emotional: The message is that “with Benylin, my family will soon be able to enjoy the everyday, happy, healthy things we do when we don’t have the symptoms of cough, cold and flu. It’s about the simple, enjoyable things in life that clearly signal we are well: playing, dancing, sleeping, swimming, singing and chatting” The essence of the Benylin promise to consumers is family happiness: “Get Better. Get Benylin.” It communicates that, for the effective relief of cough, cold and flu, families can trust Benylin. The Benylin range offers consumers a leading and trusted brand name and taps into the insight that consumers would rather buy a single-brand solution to provide relief across all the key winter ailment categories. Backed by attractive packaging and significant advertising support - along with the motivating claim “Get Better. Get Benylin” - the range offers an emotional connection with the transition from feeling ill to feeling better. The Benylin logo has stature due to the brand’s historical record of providing families with effective relief from coughs, colds and flu since 1965 in South Africa. The “Get Better, Get Benylin” pay-off line was designed to leverage the logo design to further entrench the brand promise. Being a pharmaceutical brand, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) guidelines are
followed during manufacturing, as required by the Medicines Control Council of South Africa. This further enhances the consumer’s trust in the brand. All raw materials used in the products, including the active ingredients, are purchased from well-established, reputable companies that have a proven record of providing high quality material. Benylin products are manufactured under strict quality controlled conditions and undergo various in-process quality tests during manufacture, thereby ensuring that the end product is always of high quality and consistent. Each batch manufactured is tested against predetermined specifications to ensure that the final product is suitable for release to the customer.
THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT BENYLIN ¶ Benylin is available in 24 countries around the globe ¶ Some markets sell both Benylin and Benadryl. Additionally, Benadryl is an allergy brand in some of these markets, such as the USA ¶ Approximately 520,000 litres of Benylin is manufactured and sold in South Africa a year, which equates to about 4 million units ¶ 2006 sales of Benylin products in South Africa reached R64 million ¶ Benylin’s key product ranges include 10 products in the cough liquids range, one tablet for colds and two products in the flu range - a tablet and a liquid ¶ The original two products - Benylin Original and Benylin with Codeine - have been available to South Africans since around 1965
xx
