Wednesday, September 24, 2003
The drug maker says the ads are done in a language men can understand.
NEW YORK (AP) -- A new market entrant, Levitra, has captured half the new prescriptions written for impotency since its launch earlier this month, thanks in part to a marketing blitz with a more "racy" take on sexual performance.
Analysts said Levitra's early success doesn't necessarily portend a major threat to Viagra's dominance in the market. But it does signal a shift in some of the marketing of both drugs as capable of improving people's lifestyle, and not just correcting a medical condition.
"The ads have much more of a consumer approach," said Winton Gibbons, an analyst for William Blair & amp; Co.
Pfizer Inc., which makes Viagra, and GlaxoSmithKline and Bayer Corp., which are co-marketing Levitra, insist the ads are designed to encourage men with erectile dysfunction to see a doctor, and not to promote recreational use.
But the ads can tell a different story. The commercial for Levitra features a sexy model trying to throw a football through a tire. Initially, he fails but then he succeeds, and is joined by a very attractive woman. The voice-over says, "Sometimes you need a little help staying in the game. When it gets in the zone, it's good."
'Racy,' 'aggressive'
Gibbons labeled the ad "racy." Hemant Shah, an independent analyst in Warren, N.J., called it "aggressive."
Bayer spokeswoman Lara Crissey said the text was designed to appeal to men, and tie into Levitra's sponsorship of the National Football League.
"We don't feel we are making light of the condition. We are talking to men in a language they understand," Crissey said. "The ad has nothing to do with recreational use."
Levitra hit the market the first week of September. According to the research firm ImpactRx, half the prescriptions for men who had never taken an impotency drug before were written for Levitra.
But analysts said much can happen between the doctor's office and the drugstore that prevents prescriptions from turning into sales. The man may decide not to fill the prescription or his health plan may pay only for Viagra. Also, he might try the drug and never use it again.