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Cialis to kick off ad drive during Super Bowl
Cialis
allows couples to wait until the moment is right
- that's the idea behind the commercial for
the new erectile dysfunction drug that will
premiere during Sunday's Super Bowl.
It's a big-time kickoff for Lilly
ICOS, which is putting up millions to launch
its new marketing campaign in front of one of
America's largest TV audiences during a game
where the multimillion-dollar commercial breaks
are as closely watched as the event itself.
"The Super Bowl ads have begun to gain
a mystique in themselves," said Doug MacLachlan,
a marketing professor at the University of Washington.
Launching new ads during the Super Bowl means
that Lilly ICOS is "joining the big boys,"
he said.
Rivals GlaxoSmithKline and Bayer AG also plan
to buy time for ads about their competing drug,
Levitra, according to reports. Pfizer, the maker
of Viagra, also is reported to have bought Super
Bowl ad time, according to one industry source.
The Lilly ICOS marketing campaign behind the
new drug takes a different approach from that
used by the makers of Viagra
and Levitra, Blum said.
The message is aimed at couples, he said. "We're
not talking about a drug for guys who are concerned
about their manliness."
The 60-second ad starts with the image introduced
in brand name advertising that Lilly ICOS launched
during last weekend's National Football League
conference championship games - a couple sitting
in side-by-side bathtubs, holding hands as they
watch the sunset.
The rest of it is filled with images of relaxed,
playful couples flirting, cuddling and taking
a long Sunday drive - a subtle nod, perhaps,
to the drug's nickname in France, where it's
called "Le Weekend."
The voice of the announcer will tell viewers
about the thing that makes Cialis different
from other erectile dysfunction drugs - it lasts
36 hours, not four as do Viagra and Levitra.
Blum said the advantage of Cialis is that a
man can take it and wait until the time is right
to be intimate with his partner - which is the
idea the relaxed playful ads are trying to convey.
With the other drugs, "there's a lot of
planning involved," Blum said, which to
feel that " 'It's now or never, honey,
or else I've wasted my 10 bucks.' That's not
exactly a platform for romance."
Lilly ICOS does have to come up with something
different as it attempts to promote Cialis,
given that it is coming into a market that's
already crowded with established challengers,
MacLachlan said.
"It would be silly for them to have a
sports person spokesman," he said, noting
that Viagra and Levitra already have sports
figures pitching their products.
The soft touch of the Cialis ad could be the
right one, MacLachlan continued.
"It's supposed to be a tender moment,
not one where you have to dash off and take
a pill," he said. "I think that idea
will appeal more to women."
Lilly ICOS - the joint venture formed by ICOS
and pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly Corp. - spent
a year working on the commercial, which launches
a new phase of advertising for the drug.
Blum wouldn't say how much the companies have
spent on the commercial, or what it cost to
buy advertising time during the Super Bowl.
But the Associated Press last week reported
that the average price for ads during Sunday's
game was $2.3 million for a 30-second spot.
Blum did say that the companies plan to spend
enough for a campaign that it will be comparable
to the $90 million to $100 million that Pfizer
reportedly spends a year on Viagra's marketing.
"This is a very expensive category in
which to compete," he said. But the payoff
is big too - there are an estimated 30 million
men with some sort of erectile dysfunction,
he said.
The Super Bowl ads will be the first time that
Lilly ICOS has touted Cialis and its ability
to perform. The advertising so far has been
limited to what Blum called "brand awareness."
They mentioned the name of the drug - "Cialis
is coming, are you ready?" - but not what
it does.
That's because ads that talk about what medications
do have to be approved by the Food and Drug
Administration, Blum said. That approval process
has been rigorous and on a tight schedule, particularly
since November, when the agency approved the
drug for use in this country.
But it's also a common approach for companies
with a new product, MacLachlan said - teaser
advertising to make consumers curious about
the new product. The trick is not to tease for
so long that the ads become irritating, he added.
The stakes are high with Super Bowl advertising,
but at the same time, it's one of the best times
for companies to cut through the clutter and
get their message out, MacLachlan said.
Unlike many sporting events on TV, viewers
will postpone bathroom breaks and kitchen visits
to watch the commercial.
So for Lilly ICOS, "At least on the Super
Bowl, they know the likelihood is very high
that people will be watching the ads,"
he said.
source:-http://www.heraldnet.com
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