The 25th Annual OTC Marketing Awards 2020

POWERED BY HBW Insight

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Recognizing the best and brightest of the British consumer healthcare industry, the OTC Marketing Awards 2020 hailed another great year of innovation and achievement on 5 March at the Royal Lancaster London.

The night was particularly special as the Awards celebrated its silver anniversary. To mark the event’s 25-year milestone, the PAGB’s John Smith was presented with a one-off Award for making an Outstanding Contribution to the OTC industry.

Over the past 25 years, the OTC Marketing Awards has grown exponentially. It started out as a monthly column in OTC bulletin and has evolved to become a glamorous event, with categories reflecting the diversity of the British consumer healthcare industry today.

At this year’s event competition was stronger than ever, with the standard of entries across all 19 Award categories exceptionally high. The comments from our panel of judges show that entrants rose to the challenges posed by the fast-changing OTC market by creating dynamic campaigns, and building brands that truly make a difference to consumers’ lives.

Perrigo came out on top in a highly competitive field to be named Company of the Year. Perrigo and Teva were the night’s biggest winners, with both firms taking home the trophy in three categories each.

The teams from the companies and agencies behind all the impressive nominated, highly commended and winning entries across the 19 categories should feel incredibly proud of what they have achieved.

Many thanks go to our panel of around 70 expert judges – including retailers, consumer healthcare specialists and authorities on advertising, innovation, packaging design, public relations and digital marketing – for picking out the winners from such high-quality fields.

Many of the achievements celebrated at the 2020 OTC Marketing Awards have been documented in HBW Insight. Please enjoy this selection of articles covering the Awards and offering unique insight into the dynamic consumer healthcare sector.

Tom Gallen Managing Editor HBW Insight

CONTENTS

ROLL OF HONOUR 2020 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Perrigo Crowned Company of the Year and Pfizer’s Viagra Is Best Brand At OTC Marketing Awards 2020 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Switching, Brexit and Digital – Three Priorities For The UK Self-Care Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

John Smith Recognized For His Outstanding Contribution To The OTC Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Brexit Could Open Up Rx-To-OTC Switch Opportunities In UK, Says MHRA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

25 Years Of The OTC Marketing Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

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ROLL OF HONOUR 2020 THE 2020 OTC MARKETING AWARDS WINNERS

Tesco PharmacyBEST OTC MULTIPLE RETAILER OF THE YEAR

Optrex, RBBEST OTC PERFORMER OUTSIDE PHARMACY

ellaOne, HRA Pharma Agency – Verve Marketing London

BEST OTC PHARMACY IN-STORE SUPPORT

Cetraben, Thornton & Ross Agency – Pegasus

BEST OTC PUBLIC RELATIONS CAMPAIGN FOR A NON-MEDICINE

Infacol, Teva Agency – Satellite PR

BEST OTC PUBLIC RELATIONS CAMPAIGN FOR A MEDICINE

FERTI·LILY Conception Cup, Rosesta Medical Agencies – Venneman Concepts,

The Greenhouse AmsterdamBEST OTC PACKAGING DESIGN

Canesten, Bayer Consumer Health Agencies – Wunderman Thompson,

Pegasus, MediacomBEST OTC SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN

Deep Heat, Deep Freeze, Deep Relief, The Metholatum Company

Agencies – 1DA, The7Stars, Jungle Cat SolutionsBEST OTC DIGITAL & MOBILE MARKETING CAMPAIGN

Vicks First Defence, Proctor & Gamble Agency – Saatchi & Saatchi

BEST OTC OUT-OF-HOME ADVERTISING

Otrivine Extra Dual Relief Nasal Spray, GlaxoSmithKline

MOST INNOVATIVE NEW OTC PRODUCT

Pro Plus, G R Lane Health Products Agency – Bray Leino

MOST CREATIVE OTC CAMPAIGN

Infacol, TevaBEST NICHE OTC MARKETING CAMPAIGN

Sudocrem, Teva Agencies – Mccann Health, Orbital Media, Satellite PR,

Storm FX, TCS MediaBEST BIG BUDGET OTC MARKETING CAMPAIGN

Deep Relief, The Mentholatum Company Agency – 1DA, The7Stars

BEST OTC AUDIO-VISUAL ADVERTISING

Bronchostop, PerrigoOTC BRAND REVITALISATION OF THE YEAR

Bronchostop Junior, PerrigoOTC LAUNCH OF THE YEAR

Viagra Connect, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare

OTC BRAND OF THE YEAR

Mr John Smith, PAGBOUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO

THE OTC INDUSTRY

PerrigoOTC COMPANY OF THE YEAR

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE AWARD WINNERS

The OTC Marketing Awards 2020 were presented at The Royal Lancaster Hotel, London

on 5 March 2020.

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Perrigo Crowned Company of the Year and Pfizer’s Viagra Is Best Brand At OTC Marketing Awards 2020TOM GALLEN

Perrigo Co. PLC has taken the top honors at the OTC Marketing Awards 2020 winning the trophy for Company of the Year.

At a Gala Dinner & Awards Presentation held in London on 5 March to celebrate

the best of the British OTC industry, Perrigo and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. were the night’s biggest winners, with both firms taking home the top prize in three categories each.

The Mentholatum Company secured two Awards, while GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC and Procter & Gamble Co. were among the other winning companies.

John Smith, chief executive of the PAGB, was honored with the Outstanding Contribution to the OTC industry Award, which was presented to mark the 25th Anniversary of the OTC Marketing Awards. (Also see “John Smith Recognized For His Outstanding Contribution To The OTC Industry” - HBW Insight, 9 Mar, 2020.)

Perrigo A Great PartnerAwarding Perrigo the trophy for Company of the Year, the panel of expert judges – drawn from multiple and independent retailers – praised the manufacturer for standing out from the crowd. “The branding, marketing, training and sales support packages offered by Perrigo are outstanding, demonstrating strong insight,” said one judge. Another noted, “Perrigo places partnerships high up on the agenda and this is demonstrated by our mutual returns. I have to give a special mention to the sales teams as their account handling is second to none.”

Alongside Company of the Year, a further 18 Awards were handed out on the night, for excellence across a wide range of disciplines including innovation, packaging, social media and brand revitalization.

Teva enjoyed a particularly good evening, picking up the Awards for Best Big Budget OTC Marketing Campaign (Sudocrem), Best Niche OTC Marketing Campaign (Infacol) and Best OTC Public Relations Campaign for a Medicine (Infacol).

Teva Wins PraisePraising Teva for its Niche category-winning campaign for Infacol, one judge wondered, “Why doesn’t everyone do it like this?”

“Brave and determined, Teva delivered fantastic results for Infacol with a relatively low budget,” the judge noted.

“Beginning with real-world evidence and building the claims around this data, Teva maximised impact and delivered results for Infacol,” said another. “A big step forward in RWE-backed claims creation.”

Teva wasn’t the only company praised for delivering great results. The winner of the Award for Best OTC Social Media Campaign, Bayer’s Canesten, was applauded by one judge for a “very, very strong campaign…that used an innovative approach to exceed clearly defined targets.”

Another judge said, “Canesten delivered a brave, educational, consumer-focused campaign. This is a hard subject area but the brand’s creative approach felt natural and useful to the end user.”

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Switching, Brexit and Digital – Three Priorities For The UK Self-Care IndustryDAVID RIDLEY

Switching, Brexit and digitalization are three major priorities for the UK self-care industry over the next few years, according to the Proprietary Association of Great Britain’s chief executive officer, John Smith.

In an exclusive three-part interview with HBW Insight – to be published over the next two weeks – the PAGB’s Smith discusses highlights from the association’s new “Strategy to 2025.”

“We wanted to make sure that we had a strategy that was fit for the future,” Smith explained. “PAGB is now 100 years old and that is cause for celebration, but have we got a strategy that’s going to take us forward?”

To ensure the PAGB could provide another century of “world-class service” to its members, Smith said that the association had engaged in a far-reaching consultation, including representatives from the

various sectors of the UK’s self-care industry, and had produced the strategy document.

“For me, the strategy is more of an evolution rather than a revolution,” Smith reflected. “I think we were doing a lot of things right.”

However, alongside continuing priorities such as ensuring advertising best practice through

industry self-regulation and the widening of access to medicines through prescription-to-OTC reclassification, major challenges – for example the UK’s imminent exit from the European Union and digital disruption – meant that an update was needed.

While much of the advice given out by the MHRA with regards to Brexit has focused on the continued availability of prescription medicines, Smith explained that if consumers also struggled to get their hands on OTCs, they would turn once again to primary care channels, thus placing additional pressure on the UK’s National Health Service.

“Just think, if parents can’t buy medicines for their sick child,” Smith warned. “They will end up going to the doctors or to the hospital. This would cause havoc, particularly in winter when the service is already under increased pressure.”

When it came to digitalization, the PAGB found it had to begin by looking at what industry actually meant by the term before self-regulation in the areas of e-commerce retail, mobile health apps and social media advertising could become effective, Smith noted.

“What we have put together is really in its infancy at the moment,” he revealed. “We’ve put together five working groups to investigate where we want to drive the digital arena going forward.”

Meanwhile, prescription-to-OTC reclassification was still “absolutely” one of the PAGB’s key areas, Smith insisted.

“I think for me it’s one of the things that we can do really well,” he said. “How do we make sure there is a proper pathway that enables our members to take products through the different classifications?”

The recent appointment of switch expert Michelle Riddalls – formerly Pfizer Inc.’s Regulatory Affairs director for Northern Europe – was a crucial part of delivering this aspect of the strategy, Smith said. (Also see “Switching Can Help Normalize Self-Care – PAGB’s Michelle Riddalls “ - HBW Insight, 13 Aug, 2019.)

There was “no one better” than Michelle when it came to reclassification, he maintained, an opinion formed not just by their experience of working together at PAGB over the last few months, but also while at Pfizer, where Smith also spent 20 years heading up the firm’s UK and Ireland OTC operations.

“For me, it’s always about who can I get as the best people to work at PAGB,” he boasted.

Riddalls’ appointment and PAGB’s new strategy would ensure that the association would continue to be the “expert voice of the UK consumer healthcare industry,” Smith concluded.

“Just think, if parents can’t buy medicines for their sick child, they will end up going to the doctors or to the hospital. This would cause havoc, particularly in winter when the service is already under increased pressure.” – John Smith

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John Smith Recognized For His Outstanding Contribution To The OTC IndustryTOM GALLEN

John Smith, chief executive of UK consumer healthcare association PAGB, has been recognized for his service to the OTC industry with a special award presented by HBW Insight at the OTC Marketing Awards 2020 on 5 March.

Smith accepted the Outstanding Contribution to the OTC Industry Award – presented to mark 25 years of the OTC Marketing Awards – during a ceremony held at the Royal Lancaster London. The evening celebrated the best and brightest of the British consumer healthcare industry, with a total of 19 awards handed out on the night. (Also see “Perrigo Crowned Company of the Year and Pfizer’s Viagra Is Best Brand At OTC Marketing Awards 2020” - HBW Insight, 6 Mar, 2020.)

Collecting his award in front of an audience of more than 400 industry delegates, Smith said, “I feel really honored even to be considered for this award let alone to actually receive it.”

“I have been lucky to work on some great brands, but more importantly with some great people and I have many tremendous memories, such as reshaping [Pfizer’s] UK business with clear brand strategies, including switch.”

“For just under five years I have had the privilege to be the chief executive of PAGB,” Smith noted, “and I appreciate that you have trusted me to lead this trade association, especially as it celebrated its 100-year birthday last year.”

“My strategy in my working life has always been to employ the best people you can find and let them get on with their job. So, thank you to all the people that I have worked with over the years and those I currently work with.”

25 Years In OTCHaving spent the last 25 years in senior leadership positions in the consumer healthcare industry, John Smith has played his part in making the UK one of the most advanced and innovative OTC markets in the world.

At Wyeth and then Pfizer, Smith worked to build OTC brands that helped consumers live healthier lives. More recently at the PAGB he has been a champion of self-care, advocating for greater use of non-prescription medicines to alleviate pressure on the National Health Service.

Smith began his career in the OTC industry in 1999 as country manager for South Africa at Wyeth Consumer Healthcare before going on to lead its UK & Ireland operations for almost a decade until the company was acquired by Pfizer Inc.

Following the takeover, Smith served for five years as Pfizer Consumer Healthcare’s business unit lead for the UK, Ireland and Netherlands, in which time he oversaw the general sales list launch of one of today’s biggest OTC brands, Nexium Control, as well as the revitalization of leading supplements line Centrum.

Leaving Pfizer in 2015, Smith took on his current role as chief executive of the PAGB, setting the strategic direction of the organization and providing leadership for the UK consumer healthcare industry. He is currently working on implementing an exciting new five-year strategy for the PAGB, which will, among other things, look at how the industry can continue to self-regulate advertising in the age of digital and social media. (Also see “Switching, Brexit and Digital – Three Priorities For The UK Self-Care Industry” - HBW Insight, 5 Nov, 2019.)

Brexit Could Open Up Rx-To-OTC Switch Opportunities In UK, Says MHRATOM GALLEN

Brexit may spark a new wave of prescription-to-OTC switches in the UK, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has suggested.

In its “Business Plan” for the 2019-2020 period, the MHRA says it intends this year to evaluate the opportunities for “innovative reclassifications of medicines in the context of the UK’s new relationship with the EU” following the country’s expected withdrawal from the union. The agency will review its existing guidance to “streamline” the reclassification of medicines in the UK where they may safely be supplied without prescription, with the goal of increasing the range of medicines available for OTC sale.

Asked about the thinking behind these plans, a spokesperson for the MHRA said the agency wanted to explore whether Brexit would positively impact switching.

“Although the classification of a medicinal product is a national competence, working within the European legislative framework places some restrictions on a member state’s national ability to reclassify medicines,” the spokesperson pointed out. “If these restrictions no longer apply post-Brexit, the MHRA may have more flexibility in its ability to widen access to medicines when it is safe to do so.”

As an EU member state the UK is currently bound by Article 71 of Directive 2001/83/EC, which specifies the criteria by which member states should classify medicines into: those subject to medical prescription and those not subject to prescription control. Furthermore, when applying to switch a medicine in the UK, manufacturers must follow the EU Risk Management Plan (RMP) template, as well as ensure all labelling and patient information leaflets are compliant with the Directive.

Article 74a of the Directive also allows for one year’s data protection for a manufacturer following the change of classification of a medicinal product. Post-Brexit, MHRA could in theory extend, or even shorten, this period.

UK Plans Opioid WarningsMeanwhile, the UK government is reviewing how plans to require all opioid-containing medicines sold in the country to carry on-pack addiction warnings will impact OTC products.

Currently, OTC medicines containing the opioids codeine and dihydrocodeine already have the warning “can cause addition” on their packs. All prescription medicines will going forward also be required to carry this warning, plus “contains opioid.”

Asked whether OTC products would also be required to display this additional message, the Department for Health and Social Care told HBW Insight that it was “considering what changes need to be made to individual packs.”

The Department said it anticipated that packs including the warnings on product labelling would begin to be rolled out by the end of the year, adding that it would be seeking voluntary compliance from industry, and if necessary, the changes would be mandated.

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25 Years Of The OTC Marketing AwardsDAVID RIDLEY

Crookes Healthcare. Warner Wellcome. SmithKline Beecham. Reckitt & Coleman. Do any of these names ring a bell?

A quarter of a century ago, these consumer healthcare firms were all

nominated for the first OTC Marketing Awards, which back then was known as the OTC bulletin/Taylor Nelson UK advertising awards.

Perhaps you will remember the catchy tagline, “Bazuka that verruca”, which won Dendron and Diomed Developments’ Bazuka Gel the first ever Award for Best Overall Advertising for an OTC Medicine.

The UK’s consumer healthcare market has changed a lot in the last 25 years, and the OTC Marketing Awards has changed with it. But the event’s

purpose has remained the same as 25 years ago: to recognize the very best of the British OTC industry.

Industry In Partnership With PR Success at the Awards has always combined industry insight with PR nous. Thanks to its partnership with PR agency Brey Leino, Dendron and Diomed’s Bazuka Gel won three out of the four original OTC bulletin/Taylor Nelson UK advertising awards, which covered television, press and non-television forms of OTC medicine advertising.

Back then the Awards was based on a monthly survey via a postal questionnaire of UK pharmacists’ attitudes to OTC advertising published in OTC bulletin’s “Pharmacy viewpoint” column, compiled by Taylor Nelson AGB Healthcare.

“Daring to be different,” according to one judge, enabled Dendron and Diomed to dominate the following year’s Awards as well, with new athlete’s foot brand Toepedo – “Toepedo sinks athlete’s foot” – scooping the Awards for Best Overall Advertising and Best Trade Press Advertising in 1997.

In the following years, the Awards evolved and expanded to reflect the dynamism of the British consumer healthcare industry. New categories were added to recognize more clearly the role of PR and advertising agencies in delivering successful marketing campaigns for OTC medicines.

Rebranded at the beginning of the new millennium as the Viewpoint Awards, the presentation became a glamorous yearly event hosted at London’s swanky Café Royal where guests were wined, dined and entertained.

Three years later, the Viewpoint branding was dropped, and the OTC Marketing Awards moved to the Park Lane Hotel, assuming the form, and introducing many of the categories, we see today.

Era Of The Heavyweights The OTC Marketing Awards of the “noughties” were dominated by the big OTC players, many of which had by this point merged to become the firms we are now familiar with.

Having become the second-largest pharmaceutical company in the world two years before, Pfizer won the first OTC Company of the Year Award in 2003.

In 2004, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare began its six-year rule, interrupted only in 2008 when Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC stole the Company of the Year crown thanks to a highly successful revitalization of its flagship Nurofen brand.

GSK ended the decade with a particularly strong performance, taking the 2010 Awards by storm

with the prescription-to-OTC switch of weight loss drug Alli.

Innovative switches have often been key to success at the OTC Marketing Awards, particularly in winning the much-coveted Most Innovative OTC Product award.

McNeil Consumer Healthcare had high hopes for the 2005 winner Zocor Heart-Pro, the first blockbuster prescription drug available OTC for the long-term prevention of a chronic disease.

While Zocor failed to live up to expectations, being discontinued in 2010 due to “limited consumer demand,” later switches like HRA Pharma SA’s EllaOne emergency contraceptive, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd.’ Maloff Protect malaria tablets and Pfizer Consumer Health Care Group’s Viagra Connect erectile dysfunction drug all won Awards, opening up new OTC categories and helping to drive the industry forward.

OTC Legacies In terms of individual brand success, a notable mention must go to Bayer AG’s Canesten, which took home an OTC Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015, reflecting its 14 OTC Marketing Awards wins over a 20-year period.

OTC bulletin noted at the time that the “sheer length and variety” of brands on the shortlist for the Award highlighted how “some OTC brands may come and go, but when managed well others can go for years and years.”

Which of today’s brands and companies will still be here in another 25 years? What was the most innovative product last year? Who took home the coveted OTC Company of the Year Award?

Find out by reading HBW Insight’s summary of the night, available to subscribers here. Haven’t got a subscription yet? Email our sales team: PharmaNewsSales@informa.com.

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