[ Over-the-Counter Medications ]

Assuming that over-the-counter (OTC) medications can be marketed just like CPG or Rx products can be a recipe for missed opportunities. OTC is its own category, with unique marketing challenges. New and in-line OTC products require powerful advertising, promotion, and packaging to break through shelf and media clutter. Yet they also face Rx-like hurdles – like the need to work within FDA regulations. And, as in Rx, physician endorsements can make or break an OTC brand.

Knowledge Networks recognizes and respects the unique challenges marketers of OTC brands face. We bring to the table a unique set of competencies, drawing on our deep experience in CPG, prescription pharmaceuticals, retail – and consumer health care. We help OTC companies nurture successful brands in the face of shifting competitive environments, heightened price sensitivity, fragmenting media, and the rise of disruptive retail channels and private label.

KN helps inform and shape marketing strategy and tactics through expert-led initiatives involving:

• market segmentation & landscape
• occasion-based product usage diaries
• concept sorts, testing & optimization
• positioning, messaging and claims testing
• controlled store test markets
• shopper-focused decision trees and path to purchase
• portfolio and assortment optimization
• brand equity modeling & tracking

For its OTC studies, Knowledge Networks taps its unrivaled collection of consumer panels, which give clients an accurate view of key populations – such as ailment sufferers, African Americans, and U.S. Latinos.

Knowledge Networks analysts have presented at major conferences such as OTC National, AMA, and PMR, and have published major articles in OTC Perspectives, DTC Perspectives, and other publications.