• by Les Luchter , April 24, 2023

Marking its first-ever brand extension beyond acetaminophen-based headache relief, Haleon’s Excedrin has entered the drug-free vitamin/supplements category -- while still keeping its focus above the neck.

What’s more, the brand’s new Head Care line of supplements won’t cannibalize existing Excedrin customers, since they’re meant to be taken at times other than when an actual headache occurs.

“Traditional Excedrin products can and should still be used to find relief from headaches or migraines,” Rishi Mulgund, Haleon’s brand director of pain relief, tells Marketing Daily. “The goal is to support consumers before, during, and after occasional head discomfort.”

The Head Care line is being supported with the Head Care Club, an online content campaign from Weber Shandwick which includes videos containing routines, discussions, recipes and tips on movement, mindfulness and nutrition from choreographer and “Dancing with the Stars” judge Derek Hough, dancer Hayley Erbert, and neurologist and Head Care Club Coach, Dr. Deena Kuruvilla.

"Everyday lifestyle choices can determine whether head discomfort will occur or not," says Dr. Kuruvilla.

The three Head Care products – Proactive Health, Replenish+Focus and Repenish+Sleep – join Excedrin Extra Strength, Excedrin Tension Headache, Excedrin PM and Excedrin Migraine in the brand’s product line-up.

Proactive Health is a once-daily tablet containing magnesium folic acid, riboflavin, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12. Proactive Health. Those ingredients promote "healthy blood flow within the brain" maintaining "a healthy neurological system," which "really helps the nerves and the brain function better," says Dr. Kuruvilla.

The other two Head Care products are once-daily nutritional drink mixes, both containing ginger, theanine and electrolytes. Replenish+Sleep also contains melatonin, while Replenish+Focus contains caffeine -- providing a key link to traditional Excedrin products, all of which include caffeine except for Excedrin PM.

Excedrin cited research showing the need for the new supplements: a February national survey conducted by KRC Research on its behalf, which found that 90% of 1,000 headache or migraine sufferers agreed that such conditions “should be managed with a holistic, everyday routine.However, 46% said they are only employing management techniques on an as-needed basis and are not using any proactive measures.^”

Launched in 1960, the much-traveled Excedrin could serve as a case history of big pharma companies shedding their over-the-counter (OTC) consumer businesses. The brand was founded by Bristol-Myers (later Bristol-Myers Squibb, or BMS), whose OTC business was sold to Novartis in 2005, which then sold its OTC business to GSK (formerly GlaxoSmithKline) in 2015.GSK then spun off its OTC unit into Haleon last July.

Haleon’s other pain relief products include Advil.