The buzz in cough/cold and allergy aisles this year has come from OTC loratadine, which finally switched late in 2002, driven by the introduction of Schering-Plough's Claritin, Wyeth Consumer Heath Care's Alavert and a number of store brand offerings.
But that's next year's story.
In 2002, a number of new product introductions and line extensions kept consumers visiting the cough/cold and allergy shelves, even as the cough/cold seasons bridging calendar year 2002 suffered from a seasonal malaise. (Note: Each cold/flu season is made up of the fourth quarter of one year and the first quarter of the next.)
For instance, Halls Fruit Breezers proved to be the fastest-growing new product launched last year in cough/cold/allergy/sinus. Pfizer reaped the benefits of the Halls line in 2002, but the brand, which came to Pfizer through its Warner-Lambert acquisition in 2000, now belongs to Cadbury-Schweppes by virtue of the recently completed Adams deal.
Matrixx's line extension of its popular Zicam brand, featuring a new delivery system, also drove significant dollars through drug.
Retailers also spent a lot of time last year resetting their children's cough/cold sets, as several suppliers introduced a number of new children's remedies. For instance, McNeil rolled out two cherry-flavored SKUs, Simply Stuffy and Simply Cough. Although the two brands are not part of the Children's Tylenol family, the introductions benefit from name association with a "from the makers of" plug on the box. Likewise, Pharmacia Consumer Healthcare (now owned by Pfizer) launched Pediacare Chewables.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group
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