Name of Company: MedPointe Pharmaceuticals
Agency which created Ad: Wishbone
Agency submitting: Calcium
Creative Rationale: The Zomig “Bunny” creative campaign is among the most iconic and memorable of the last 20 years. It created a splash almost instantly for its verve, boldness, and, yes, its wit, which is a rare quality in pharma advertising. But, rather than simply being creative for creative’s sake, this campaign emanated out of strong insights into the brand, audience, and category. As a result, the campaign not only dramatically raised awareness of the brand and improved perceptions—it helped drive growth, too.
Zomig competed in a crowded and undifferentiated migraine market dominated by Imitrex and tablet formulations. At the time Wishbone won the account, Zomig had been on the market for several years, competing primarily with Imitrex, Maxalt, and Relpax, with limited success. The challenge was to meaningfully differentiate Zomig with our physician customers: neurologists and PCPs.
The brand was available in a variety of formulations: tablet, melt, and nasal spray. The strongest data was for the nasal spray formulation, specifically around speed of onset, which was equivalent to the injectable formulation of Imitrex. However, this was a single study, which created challenges to promotional usage. In addition, Imitrex tablets were 2 years away from patent expiration, so moving use of Zomig away from tablets to the other forms was imperative before the leading brand and leading formulation became available generically.
Our strategy was to leverage the speed of the nasal spray form across the franchise. Due to the regulatory limitations of speed claims, we knew a strong concept was particularly crucial. In essence, our core brand idea was “redefining speed”, which led us to the headline, “Fast just got faster”. Visually we took an icon of speed, the rabbit, and gave it a rocket pack! Both strategically and creatively, Zomig was now distinct and energized.
Any awards and honors received:
2005 MM&M Awards: Best Individual Product Advertisement in Business Press Winner, 2005 RX Club Show: Silver Award for Spread Ad, 2005 PMT Reader’s Choice Award, 2005 In-Awe: Silver Award