Perrigo Launches First-Ever Industry Marketing Campaign For Store Brand OTC Medications

ALLEGAN -- Perrigo Co. (Nasdaq: PRGO) announced it has kicked off a broad industry marketing and communications campaign to raise awareness for, and consumer confidence in, generic over-the-counter medications sold at leading retailers -- also known as "store brand" OTCs.

Referencing other successful industry branding campaigns like "Got Milk?" or "Pork: The Other White Meat," Perrigo's primary objective for the "Store Brand Meds" campaign is to better educate consumers on the quality, value and effectiveness of store brand medications. 

All store brand medications sold in the U.S. must adhere to the same high-quality FDA regulations and guidelines as the national brands. The FDA generally mandates store brands contain the same active ingredients in the same strength, and offer the same symptom relief as their national brand counterparts.  Store brand medications are available at most retailers in their own labels or as private brands.

As the world's largest manufacturer of OTC medications for the store brand market, Perrigo believes its retail customers will ultimately reap the benefits of more educated and empowered consumers.

Store brand sales account for 35 percent of the dollar share of all OTCs sold at retail today, but misperceptions about their quality and effectiveness still exist among some consumers. The Store Brand Meds campaign is intended to address such misperceptions.  The campaign relies heavily on social media, leveraging the campaign's recently launched Facebook page, YouTube channel and Website to spread the word.

Since the campaign's "soft launch" in January 2013, consumers have a new opportunity to learn about and engage with Store Brand Meds via its Facebook page in a fun, but informative way.  The campaign's videos on YouTube now have more than 3.2 million views.  The company is also making significant investments in digital advertising, public relations and electronic couponing to drive more awareness about the campaign.

Although it varies by category, Perrigo estimates that a customer will save an average of 36% by purchasing the store brand instead of the name brand.   According to Perrigo, the company's store brand OTCs save consumers around $5 billion annually. 

"Although we continue to see growing acceptance among consumers for store brand medications, questions and misinformation are still out there," said Jeff Needham, Perrigo's executive vice president and general manager for U.S. consumer healthcare.  "We know there is a real benefit to helping educate consumers on how store brands are regulated, made and sold. It helps us, it helps the industry, it helps our retailers, and, most important, it empowers consumers by giving them the facts and information they need to make purchase decisions." 

From its beginnings as a packager of generic home remedies in 1887, Allegan-based Perrigo has grown to become a leading global provider of over-the-counter and generic prescription pharmaceuticals, infant formulas, nutritional products, dietary supplements and active pharmaceutical ingredients. Perrigo is the world's largest manufacturer of OTC pharmaceutical products for the store brand market. More at www.perrigo.com.