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Puns unavoidable as Avigra extends reach with TV thrust

The profitability of Big Pharma’s brands can collapse suddenly when
patents expire and generic ‘knock offs’ flood the market. When
this happens, the accepted norm is for up to 90 percent of an
originator brand’s volume and share to be lost almost overnight and it’s an issue the industry hasn’t yet been able to resolve, so, typically, blockbuster compounds and their brands are
simply written off or retired. But the local Pfizer branch wasn’t going to take the early patent expiry of Viagra in New Zealand lying down, so to speak, so it decided to launch its own generic
brand called Avigra and try to migrate consumers to the cheaper, Pfizer-made alternative. And now, after a successful pun-laden press campaign and a bit of TV masthead activity, it’s stiffened its resolve by creating a new TVC. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp7xubnYpPU

In a sense, the idea to create Avigra was attacking its
own big poppa brand, so it was a major risk, particularly because Pfizer still holds the patent for Viagra in other global markets. But this world-first has been a massive success, with Avigra establishing itself as
the New Zealand ED market volume and revenue leader within nine months of launch.  

bcg2 Health’s general manager Stuart Ogden says this new Avigra brand TVC builds on the magazine and newspaper consumer campaign using bold typography and topical headlines
to raise awareness that it’s okay to talk to your GP about ED and deepen the understanding of the relationship between Avigra and Viagra for a wider
audience than Viagra previously targeted.

 

“Avigra is unique to the New Zealand market,
although this launch has attracted a lot of interest within the Pfizer global
network,” says Ogden. ”This new TVC builds on the current campaign to demonstrate that Avigra
= Viagra, and that it’s a more affordable option for the wide range of men who may
need it.”

The campaign, which has recently referenced the Olympics and even the Bluff Oyster Festival, has already won a Bronze Marketing Association RSVP award and the ‘Supplier of the Year, Best Marketing Campaign’ award at the NZ Pharmacy Awards. 

Credits:

Agency
– bcg2 Health, Creative Directors – James Blackwood and Robin Powell, Art
Director – Mike Knight,  Account Service
– Stuart Ogden and Caroline Dunlea

Digital
Production – Toybox, Director: Andrew Newland, Producer: James Hudson 

Client – Phil Morcombe, Pfizer New Zealand

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