Pharma firm Bayer Healthcare has employed a light-hearted approach to communicate the lifestyle benefits of its anti-impotence drug, Levitra.
Developed with PR agency Golin Harris, the 'Dramics' campaign uses comic strip style visuals that focus on helping sufferers face erectile dysfunction (EC) positively, by emphasising the importance of communication, and educating the public about the problem, the causes, and the best way to treat it.
"(The comic strips) are intended to increase the ad's stopping power, to help ease men's anxieties about dealing with the issue, especially with their partners, and to remove the stigma about ED," said Kenneth Leung, Bayer Healthcare's pharmaceutical's sales manager. "Dramics also differentiates Levitra by repositioning the brand as the 'rejuvenator' that can help bring spontaneity back to couples' lives," he added.
One ad features a stressed businessman who enjoys a much stronger relationship with his partner once he seeks help from a doctor. In the other, a man turns to alcohol until his wife presents Levitra, with the final box depicting the man as Superman.
The campaign is a significant shift away from previous advertising approaches in the category. While the category has tended to employ factual, product-focused advertisements featuring 'recreational' aspects of the solution, Levitra focuses on the health of a couple's relationship, and the fact that ED causes domestic issues which can extend to work and peer relationships.
Targeted primarily at men and women over the age of 35, the campaign will run in newspapers and magazines. Golin Harris developed the marketing strategy, brand positioning and the creative concept, as well as overseeing media planning and buying.
