HOW DO YOU SAY WHAT YOU CAN’T LEGALLY SAY?
Ciprodex found itself with a problem. Coming off exclusivity and facing challenges from generics, it still had a better mechanism of action and also eliminated the pain from swimmer’s ear instantly while the generics took time to have an affect. The problem was that the endpoints set in the Ciprodex FDA study were only to prove efficacy against bacteria, not for pain reduction. So we couldn’t make any pain claims.
Our challenge was how to tell patients that Ciprodex treated swimmer’s ear instantly and to ask for it by name rather than accept a generic, less effective alternative.
The insight was that swimmer’s ear disrupted leisure activities and vacations. We tapped into patient’s (and parents’) eagerness to quickly get back to the activities they loved.
We created a campaign that communicated how Ciprodex got you back to doing what you want to do. Legally, we couldn’t talk about cures, or restoring health, so we focused on the activities people wanted to get back to with print ads, digital and patient and HCP education materials.
Ciprodex continues to be the number one topical antibiotic ear drop prescribed since 2007 by otolaryngologists and pediatricians.