Ever wonder what goes through the minds of marketing professionals?
Let’s explore the subject, shall we?
Example – ‘Lunesta’
Sleeping Aid (read ‘new’ drug)
Active Ingredients: Eszopiclone
Representative Names: Lunesta
What are Eszopiclone tablets?
ESZOPICLONE ( Lunesta™ ) is a sedative-type drug that helps to relieve insomnia (sleeplessness). Trouble falling asleep, waking up too early in the morning, or waking up too often during the night are symptoms of insomnia. Eszopiclone helps treat these problems with sleep.
Step one – Develop ‘new’ drug.
Step two – Develop marketing campaign to sell ‘new’ drug to ‘Baby Boomer’ generation.
Okay. We want to hit a chord with Baby Boomers. Let’s think -
Step Three – Research Baby Boomers and associated possible pleasant memory associations and somehow tie it into the marketing of our ‘new’ drug.
Aha!
Most Baby Boomers have precious childhood memories of those large, pale green moths that used to flutter gaily around outside lights.
They were huge suckers that only came out for a short time in summer, making deep and intense memories of childhood nocturnal activities.
So, we give our ‘new’ drug the name ‘Lunesta’ and our marketing ‘mascot’ will be the lovely, gentle, surrounded-by-childhood-memories Luna moth.
On the ‘flip’ side of this marketing coin:
‘Lunaria’ – Garden flower. Lovely purple flowers followed by unique seed pods prized by florists for their dried shape and size.
Seed pods, after seeds are removed, look like quarters.
Common name – ‘Money Plant’. If you grow these in your garden, heritage superstition says you will ‘always have money’.
Hmmmmmmm………………………
Pretty damn sharp, no?
FAILURE TO THINK THINGS THROUGH DEPARTMENT:
The Luna moth IS NOCTURNAL! The damn things DON’T SLEEP AT NIGHT!!
They spend their VERY SHORT lives fluttering around a street lamp , hanging out and looking for love at night.
They are fast becoming extinct, due to environmental pollution and loss of habitat. (I saw only one last summer – 2006, and it was very small – 3 inch wingspan compaired to the 6-inch wingspan I saw on them as a kid.)
So the marketing ‘mascot’ for a sleep aid is a NEAR-EXTINCT MOTH WITH INSOMMNIA?
BUT, (Money Plant superstition) it brings in a ton of money to the pharmacuetical company that owns the ‘new’ drug patent.
Ain’t that a female dog?
(C) 2007theherbwoman
