Drug Company Eases Branding Headache With Online Resource

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January 01, 1998 (6:53 AM EST)

Drug Company Eases Branding Headache With Online Resource

By Mo Krochmal,

NEW YORK -- Tery Spataro said migraine headaches helped her design a Website for Glaxo Wellcome, an international drug company.

"Having a migraine is like having your brain on fire," Spataro said.

Like nearly 45 million other Americans with chronic headaches, Spataro, CEO of Stir Associates, sought headache relief in many forms. So, making a Website that would help others was more than just a job.

Stir, a Silicon Alley start-up using technology and interactive content for marketing, recently unveiled the migraine resource center, a site for Glaxo Wellcome's Imitrex, a new prescription drug for migraine headaches.

"It's a great resource for people -- anyone searching for information on migraines will pull up this site," said Mark Peabody, online advertising research analyst with the Aberdeen Group in Boston. "It's an interesting way to provide content. They are not serving any other ads and they are not doing any electronic commerce on it, so the end goal is branding of the product."

American companies are spending $2 billion a year on their own commercial Websites. That a large pharmaceutical company is now using this medium to advertise a product is just one more sign of the growing impact of the Internet.

The primary target of the site is women -- which make up the great majority of the 10 percent of the population that suffers migraines. Women, however, are still in the minority of Web users.

Spataro said women react differently to Websites, something she kept in mind as this site was built.

"A site designed for women has to have a lot fewer bells and whistles and has to be a lot more focused," said Spataro. "The information has to be available all the time. Women tend to stay on the site longer and information has to be different than the two-second ads in a magazine or 30-second spots on television."

The site includes an online support area for sharing stories with fellow suffers, a headache diary that can be printed out and taken to a doctor, links, and, of course, product information.

In this case, the site does more than fulfill a marketing need. It also helps fulfill the U.S. Federal Drug Administration mandate that necessitates the large blocks of small type one sees in many drug ads in magazines.

"Any time you have a brand name and an indication, like 'Imitrex for migraines,' you have to include a brief summary with contra-indications, precautions, adverse reactions, clinical trial information," said Ranette Stormont, account supervisor for the Imitrex campaign for Klemtner Healthcare, which specializes in health care and pharmaceutical advertising and marketing.

The site, built in three months, also had to pass Glaxo Wellcome internal checks and then had to be approved by the FDA before it was made public.

"In-house, a site goes through a process that includes reviews by medical affairs, legal, product management, drug information, and promotions," said Bill Chapman, corporate communications associate for Glaxo Wellcome, in Research Triangle Park, N.C. "Each one of those offices must sign off on their particular section. An FDA submission follows, and the site is cleared for launch," he said. "It can happen in two weeks to a month, depending on how complicated a site is."

Still, the Website provides a marketing and information benefit, allowing potential users of the product to access more information. "If we didn't have the Website, we would have to stock every pharmacy with brochures and information and would have to make the information all available by phone or fax," Stormont said. The Imitrex campaign still includes a phone number (1-800-629-2925). But now, a URL takes some of the headache out of distributing information.