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Current
Tip:
Positioning
Double Take?
Every now and then we come across
something in a medical journal that just makes
us stop and do a double take. That's what happened
when we saw the ad for Pfizer's newest launch
brand, Caduet. As positioning specialists, we
are immediately drawn to taglines—as this is the
phrase that should succinctly encapsulate and
best reflect a Brand's core statement. Wow, were
we surprised that Caduet had adopted virtually
the same tagline that Prevacid, the GERD treatment
giant from TAP, had been using for more than five
years!
Click on the images for a closer
look.
 
| Caduet (July 2004) |
Prevacid (January 2004) |
While these Brands are in different
categories, they are not in different journals
nor are different physicians writing them. But
because Pfizer is a pharmaceutical marketing powerhouse
with big budgets and big sales forces, this 'tagline
repurposing' will likely go unnoticed by most.
The truth is, however, that few companies can
attain a sizable market share by sheer promotional
force—creating a distinct need for positioning
work that avoids such blatant co-opting between
Brands.
It is worth noting that the
weaknesses of this positioning extend beyond its
lack of originality. First and foremost, it is
not singular and attempts to communicate more
than one core promise for the Brand. Secondly,
the word 'power' has become an over-used, diluted
term for communicating a plethora of efficacy-related
measures (See Marketing Tip - "The
Positioning 'Power' Struggle"). Finally,
it does little to engender a strong association
with the Brand offering since it is generic enough
to apply to many different Brands.
At Brand Engineers, our proprietary
process for developing positioning includes a
comprehensive analysis of the competitive market,
including reverse engineering the positioning
of all the Brands in a given category. We also
look beyond the obvious product competition and
consider how other primary influences (eg, categorical
inertia) and secondary forces (eg, advertising
environment) are likely to impact the positioning
or re-positioning of your Brand. With more than
40 years of collective pharma experience, our
senior staff consistently taps their "promotional
memory" to challenge thinking that may appear
original on the surface.
Taglines are ultimately a creative
expression and their articulation is left up to
the agency handling an account. But a strong positioning
is at the root of any strong tagline—without it,
you can be sure most physicians won't give your
Brand a second look.
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