Novartis

Challenge

Prevacid®24HR marked the first release of an OTC Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPI) for the treatment of frequent heartburn in its original formulation. Novartis aimed to launch Prevacid®24HR into a market dominated by its leading competitor's heartburn treatment and position the product as a superior alternative.

Novartis sought to ignite word of mouth and product demand prior to the launch of Prevacid®24HR, and source and identify clinically appropriate, influential frequent heartburn sufferers to participate in other PR, marketing, and consumer insight initiatives.

Solution

Cultivate a panel of clinically appropriate, influential frequent heartburn sufferers who would not only be the first to try out and document their experiences but evolve into brand ambassadors for use in product marketing. The Prevacid®24HR Panel program involved a 2-week trial of the product with panelist activities including video diaries of their trial experiences and heartburn-related lifestyle conversations with other panelists.

Results

• Prevacid®24HR is now the #2 branded OTC heartburn treatment and the fastest growing frequent heartburn relief treatment in this category (source: IRI Actual Change in Dollar Sales VYA for 11/15/09-6/20/10)
• Over 10,000 heartburn sufferers applied to be a part of the panel, 2,000 were approved and 800 were activated.
• Activated panelists spent an average of 4 hours on the Prevacid®24HR Panel over their 2-week trial period
• Over 200 videos were recorded, thousands of text-testimonials were received, and Novartis selected multiple candidates for use in marketing webisodes, advertorials in print publications such as Southern Living, and more.
• 250,000 people reached via offline word of mouth
• 85% of panelists who used the leading competitior’s treatment indicated they planned to switch to Prevacid®24HR
• The post-trial Net-Promoter Score of Prevacid®24HR reached a high of 64 among activated panelists

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