AstraZeneca has created a US TV campaign to advertise its cholesterol-lowering medicine Crestor (rosuvastatin) in a way that is designed to be “Fun. Entertaining. Engaging”.
The company maintained its belief that direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising is key to “raising disease awareness and encouraging medication adherence”, but acknowledged that today’s consumers need to be engaged in a different way.
“Ads need to be both informative and compelling to make a lasting impression and to effectively raise awareness of an issue or a treatment,” said Rod Wooten, commercial brand leader, Crestor.
The new campaign launched in the US on October 4, 2013. In the ad, called ‘SuperFan’, the main character supports Crestor in competition with Pfizer’s Lipitor (atorvastatin) as if cheering on a favourite sports team.
The premise is intended to show how patients should engage with their own healthcare, said the company.
The humorous tone of the advertisement is intentional, according to AZ, and is the result of market research showing that high-risk patients with multiple health conditions don’t always recognise the importance of treating their high cholesterol.
Used in combination with exercise, diet, and weight-loss to treat high cholesterol, Crestor was the fifth-highest selling drug in the US in the second quarter of this year, accounting for approximately $2.6bn in sales in 2013, according to figures from drugs.com.
Ten years after the US approval of Crestor, AZ said it sees “a lot more dancing in the SuperFan’s future”.