for when you’re sick of the 3:00 slump
The past few weeks have not been my favourite. Since the Thanksgiving long weekend I have had a bad cold which has not been helped by the fact that I had three midterms this week in a row. However, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and I managed to survive and therefore sit here now on a Friday night writing my Marketing Blog.
As I spent the last week coughing I often wondered why there is nothing to say when someone coughs, such as “Bless you” when someone sneezes. Robitussin has taken advantage of this and effectively branded their cough syrup so that it often becomes common to hear people say “Robitussin” when people cough.
In addition to Robitussin, another brand popularly known for cough medicine is Halls. However, Halls is recently promoting a new product named HALLS Refresh, which is simply a refreshing candy not associated with being sick at all. Because Halls has such a huge brand with being a cough drop, with this new product development Halls has to ensure that consumers recognize and connect Halls Refresh to Halls Cough Drops.
I recently saw an advertisement on a bus promoting Halls Refresh. The ad had a picture of Halls Cough Drops with the caption, “For when you’re sick” with Halls Refresh candies beside it saying “For when you’re sick of the 3:00 slump.” This advertisement aims to capture the attention of loyal Halls consumers who may be interested in the new product, and also to new market segments who do not use Halls for cough medicine, but may be interested in refreshing candies.
Developing a new product in the hopes of reaching new markets can be a risky and costly innovation, but hopefully Halls Refresh can attract consumers who are not simply sick with a cough, but sick of the boring moments in their life.
