Two television ads for Sepracor's sleep aid Lunesta, with the iconic moth, are the most memorable prescription drug ads on TV, according to IAG Research. Lunesta also took the top spot as most recognized prescription drug brand advertised during primetime. The most recalled 60-second Lunesta spot, via McCann-Erickson HumanCare, shows the "luna moth" fluttering about while images of people are seen having restful sleep with the voiceover: "Are you at home trying to sleep, but your mind is still at the office..." The flying moth, which is the most memorable ad element, is also incorporated into the end of the spot, fluttering around the final shot of the Lunesta brand name against a dark background. A second spot in the campaign ranked second, according to IAG, which released the category's effectiveness ratings yesterday. Referring to direct-to-consumer ads for the past season as "some of the best in class," IAG attributes high-quality drug ads to the fact that the industry now has 10 years of experience in the area. Direct-To-Consumer (DTC) prescription drug advertising only started when the Food and Drug Administration loosened its regulations on ad content. "The use of brand icons, effective application of humor and relatable storylines have become more widely integrated and effectively executed [versus] the format applied in the earlier days of drug promotion," said Fariba Zamaniyan, vp of IAG Research's Pharmaceutical Practice, in a statement. Significantly, IAG reports, Lunesta advertising exceeds the average consumer recall among adults over 18 for any product category advertised on primetime TV, not just pharmaceuticals. Advertising spending may have contributed to the campaign's impact, as Lunesta lead the sleeping aids category spending $161.9 million for the first six months of 2006, according to TNS Media Intelligence. Sepracor spent $215 million on measured media to promote the brand in 2005, reports TNS. Ads for Novartis' Zelnorm from Deutsch took third and fourth place for their recall levels in the category. DTC for Zelnorm, which is a drug for Irritable Bowel Syndrome broke several years ago. Those attention-grabbing spots showed images of females raising their tops to expose their tummies revealing different symptoms written in marker. With individual sweaters being lifting separately, each woman's middle revealed a different symptom of IBD written in marker. While past years' ads showed women only (since the condition is more common among females), males were also incorporated in spots in this season's campaign. Coming in fifth for recall was Schering-Plough's Nasonex campaign, via BBDO/New York, feature a bee, and an animated woman who sneezes but by the end is smelling flowers. IAG Research measures effectiveness of TV advertising, product placement and viewer engagement with TV. These particular rankings are for drug campaigns launched during this past 2005/2006 television season.
With California's recent legislative efforts to boost automotive fuel economy and lower emissions, it's no surprise that the 2006 Greater Los Angeles Auto Show is taking on a tinge of green this year. A range of automakers are using the show, which officially opens today, to tout their hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell programs. Among those displaying green cars and trucks in Los Angeles are General Motors, Nissan, Honda, Ford and BMW. At a press preview yesterday, GM CEO Rick Wagoner talked about the company's efforts to migrate from oil-based engines by focusing on electric "beyond what we have already committed to with our fuel cell and hybrid programs." GM, which has lagged Toyota in hybrid models, will next year begin production of trucks and SUVs that can run solely on electric power, Wagoner said, the result of a collaboration with DaimlerChrysler and BMW. The company will bow a version of Saturn's Vue SUV that can literally be plugged in, can run solely on electricity for up to 75 miles, and get double the fuel efficiency of any current SUV. Starting next year, GM, which is aiming to bow a new hybrid system every year, will also launch hybrid versions of Saturn Aura and Chevrolet Malibu sedans, and of Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon full-size SUVs. In 2008, the Cadillac Escalade full-size SUV and the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra crew cab full-size pickups will be offered as hybrids. Nissan is unveiling the hybrid version of the Altima mid-sized sedan, which goes on sale next year, with technology borrowed from Toyota. Ford, Honda and BMW all unveiled new hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicles bound for limited production runs. Ford used the show to unveil a hydrogen fuel-cell powered Explorer SUV. BMW unveils the hydrogen-powered 7-Series sedan it had promised to bring to North America. At the press event, the company said only 100 of the vehicles will be offered, all in the L.A. region. Honda showed off a slick redesign of its FCX hydrogen car that was first introduced in 2005, and will be offered, in its new look, in limited quantities in 2008. Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, announced on Tuesday that it will sell to rivals Volkswagen AG, and BMW, as well as sibling Jeep its low-emission diesel technology, Bluetec, which the company first unveiled early this year, and is using in its E-Class sedan. As part of the deal, the power train technology will bear the Bluetec brand name regardless of the automaker using it. Volkswagen, currently with the most diesel powered vehicles in its North American lineup, revealed the first beneficiary of the Bluetec engine this week: its first compact crossover SUV, the Tiguan, which goes on sale late next year. Meanwhile, other automakers are launching limited edition vehicles of other kinds. Saab, for instance, debuted a series of limited edition cars marketing the automaker's 60th Anniversary. Cadillac unwrapped Platinum Edition XLR, STS and DTS cars. The versions are high-end variations on the V-Series performance sub-brand.
Move over, Macy's. Herald Square has a new attraction--and another retailer is using it to advertise over the holiday season. CBS Outdoor and Monster Media have partnered to demonstrate Monster's interactive outdoor ad system, called MonsterVision, in midtown Manhattan. The new Target display, aimed at mass transit riders, responds to individuals' motions to produce an engaging ad experience in a visible, well-trafficked environment. Some 500,000 commuters per day will see the display from Target, which does not yet have a store in Manhattan. (It is the latest seasonal effort by Target to muscle in on Macy's home turf. During the Thanksgiving season, Target staged an endurance performance act by David Blaine coinciding with Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.) In the MonsterVision system, large, colorful ads are projected onto the walls of transit structures, like underground passages and concourses. Using "video-image-based control" technology, the projected images move dynamically in response to input from passers-by, such as gestures and other kinds of motion--both deliberate and unconscious. Hallie Stiglitz, vice-president of operations for Monster Media, says the display, which runs through mid-January, is a snow scene. Little Target logos fall like snowflakes. When you touch them, they burst into larger snowflakes. By responding in a noticeable way to the motion of users, MonsterVision quickly draws them into the experience. It also relies on the public aspect of place-based media, building its audience by attracting small groups of users that begin demonstrating the technology for others. Out-of-home is one area in traditional media that has enjoyed robust growth in recent years. The out-of-home category is on track to grow 8 percent over last year, for a projected rev total of $.6.8 billion. Now, a new sub-category is taking off: interactive place-based video. In May, for example, corporate consulting giant Accenture sponsored the permanent installation of large-screen, touch-guided interface for use by travelers passing through Chicago's O'Hare Airport, the country's busiest international airport. The innovative displays, created by Los Angeles-based design firm Schematic, resemble the futuristic computer interface in sci-fi thriller "Minority Report"--another Schematic design. According to Dale Herigstad, executive creative director at Schematic, the user's choices create a program of video and text information that's visible to viewers standing farther away. Herigstad has formulated a model of traditional "distances" that have dominated American media for many years. It also aims to change that model radically. Herigstad says there are "public" or "outdoor" media (meant to be viewed from 20 feet or more, such as billboards), friends and family (10 feet, things like TV), personal (two feet, computers), and private (one foot or less, for personal devices like iPods). Like Accenture's new displays at O'Hare, MonsterVision's installations at Herald Square blur the lines between public and outdoor, allowing private users to create public media displays that are visible--and accessible-to all.
Chico's FAS Inc. -- long a favorite for its smart strategy of targeting affluent older women -- reported disappointing sales and earnings this week, and said it is shifting its marketing plan away from TV and toward more economical direct-mail approaches. It also is livening up its catalogs. The retailer said some major fashion faux pas -- too much beige and grey, too many casual looks, and not enough dress-up options -- will likely lead to plenty of markdowns in the near future. While overall sales increased 13 percent, to $404 million from $359 million in the same period last year, same-store sales -- the number many industry observers believe is the most important measure of how well a retail company is really doing -- slipped 1.2 percent. In a conference call, CMO Michael Leedy, who joined the company in April, also elaborated on Chico's changing marketing strategy. Back in June, he said, the company began looking for more cost-effective ways to acquire new customers. It determined that mass-advertising strategies -- including ads on TV and in magazine catalog sections -- were too expensive, and switched to acquiring names through third-party databases, reducing the cost per acquired customer. The company has also revamped its catalog approach: "Our customers are alive, and wanted to see themselves that way, not standing by themselves. We wanted to capture that in the catalog," he said, which has meant a shift toward lifestyle layouts. Follow-up research has shown that some 70 percent of Chico's shoppers feel satisfied with the new catalog. Analysts attending the J.P. Morgan retailing conference earlier this week said Chico's is testing kids' clothes in some locations, which some said was yet another example -- like Gap -- of a retailer spreading itself too thin. Chico's "is competing with Gap to see who can have the most distractions in stores," joked one analyst. Chico's did not return phone calls. In addition to its 538 Chico's front-line stores and 32 Chico's outlet stores, the company also owns 247 White House | Black Market front-line stores, 14 White House | Black Market outlet stores, and 47 Soma by Chico's stores, which sell intimate apparel. Its 9-unit Fitigues stores, a casual clothing chain for older women that it acquired earlier this year, is still being evaluated for expansion potential.
It's the time of year when consumers seek out the familiar, remembering the holidays of the past, and make more of an effort to buy specialty foods that take them back to their youth. "People are looking for 'authentic'," explains Marcia Mogelonsky, senior research analyst for Mintel. "They're going back to the source of the original taste." Mogelonsky surveyed 284 specialty food operators and found that 40 percent of the products they sell are artisanal or handmade. Another interesting discovery was that 31 percent purchased ingredients within a 250-mile radius. "People like that," she said. "They like to know that what they're buying came from nearby." One third of consumers surveyed for her specialty foods report say they buy specialty foods to take home for the holidays. Independent food retailers such as Markowycz's European Home Style Sausage on Michigan Avenue in Detroit will sell between 15,000 and 20,000 pounds of sausage in the 10 days around Christmas, according to a story in the Detroit News. The company does not advertise, depending on word of mouth before the phrase was coined. For more than 50 years, Markowycz's has smoked its lean Polish sausages in a natural wood smokehouse on the premises. At the holidays, customers fill the store, buying sausages, smoked hams, lunch meats, stuffed cabbage and pierogi.