Wayne Li, managing director of the Dentsu-backed Clipper O, put the win down to his knowledge of Sanjiu's requirements.
Creative duties on 999 Gaomaoling cold medication and the new Xuanling drug were previously handled by Shenzhen-based Sanjiu's inhouse advertising arm, with Li as ECD. "I worked for Sanjiu Advertising about five years and therefore I am familiar with the company and its products. That's why we were able to win the account."
Clipper O pitched against Leo Burnett and J. Walter Thompson, which also handles Sanjiu assignments. The pitch did not include media, which remains with Sanjiu.
Li pointed to local brand BaiJiaHei as Sanjiu's main competitor.
He added that Sanjiu would invest in a television-led branding campaign to bolster awareness of the cold medication and Xuanling.
The campaign would set out to underline Sanjiu's efforts to modernise traditional Chinese medication, and uses the tense mother and daughter-in-law relationship to dramatise the conflict of traditional and modern.
In the spot, Gaomaoling is presented as a combination of eastern and western medication.
A 2004 report on China's most valuable brands ranked Sanjiu as the top medical and pharmaceutical brand on the mainland, with assets of Rmb 8.3 billion (US$1 billion).
Pharmaceutical sales in China have grown at an average annual rate of 14 per cent for the past 15 years, with China expected to emerge as the world's largest pharmaceutical market by 2020.