How do pharma marketers think?
Q and A with Stuart Elliot gives a wonderful peek at how pharma markets construct their creative ideas and how it ends up on a TV commercial.Q: (Reader)
My question is about Viagra ads. I just don’t understand the two bathtubs: what does that mean? I’ve been baffled, but didn’t start looking for an answer until my wife started asking the same question. We’ve puzzled over it together.
A: (Stuart Elliott)
The two bathtubs have long been the symbol for Cialis, a drug to treat erectile dysfunction that competes against Viagra (as well as Levitra). I would imagine, dear reader, that the people at Eli Lilly, who have spent billions of dollars to market Cialis, will be profoundly depressed that you confused the two brands.
In any event, the bathtubs have been featured in Cialis advertising since the product came out. The tubs are symbols of relaxing, taking your time, not hurrying, in that a bath is more relaxing than a shower. They reflected that from the start, Cialis advertising was warmer and gentler than ads for Viagra — more feminine, as it were. Other cues included a color scheme of yellow and pastel green and the name, pronounced “See-Alice.”
The differences are meant to underline a basic difference between Cialis and its rivals: while Viagra and Levitra provide a four-hour window during which a man can get and keep an erection, Cialis opens that window to 36 hours.
The continuous presence of women in Cialis ads is a subtle signal that the drug can help them set the pace with their partners, in contrast to the primarily male-driven imagery for Levitra and Viagra. For that reason, Europeans have called Cialis “le weekend” drug.
The longtime agency for Cialis is Grey New York, part of the Grey Group unit of WPP.
