  Continue, Change or BailI was disappointed to hear the lackluster results of an ad campaign I found to be clever, on target and different than other competitors. The ad was for a drug called Rozerem, a sleep aid by drug manufacturer Takada. The drug, despite $100 million ad spend ranks 6th in its category; far behind category leaders Ambien and Lunesta and even trailing two generic brands. Check out Brandweek’s full article for more details. So now you have to ask the following: “Was the concept wrong? Was the message wrong? Is the product inferior to its competitors? Was its late entry into the category too big of an obstacle to overcome?” I can come up with a bunch more. Without knowing all the details I have to speculate. I think the ads are well concepted and executed as previously stated. But perhaps the product is to blame. The article references that although the drug helps those with sleeping disorders fall asleep faster, they often wake up in the middle of the night. Perhaps they succeeded in capturing first time users but due to this shortcoming, those users didn’t refill their prescriptions and requested another brand. This combined with their late entry into the market could prove to be too big of an obstacle to overcome. And if this is true, and users aren’t repeating, the drug will die out in the next couple years. It would be nice to know what percentage of first time users refilled thier prescriptions and how that compares to industry standards. This is where some consumer generated feedback, through a forum or blog would be very advantageous. Instead of speculating, they can gather ongoing feedback, both from consumes and perhaps even physicians. If what they learn is that the product is inferior, then guess what – cut your losses now and go back to the lab and improve the product. Put the money in R&D and save the money marketing the product as is. In my opinion, these kinds of web based tools need to be part of every campaign in some shape or form. The days of a well planned out campaign that would run for a couple years are over. You have to learn and adjust as you go. Ah, the rules of marketing keep changing. Let's see what happens to Rozerem over the next 24 months.  
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This was the campaign with the squirrel, Lincoln, and the spaceman, correct? It was a good spot, pretty hysterical especially for the category, and more importantly, focused--as opposed to the pharm drivel with shots of Rogaine-Men going fishing and women chasing golden retrievers through lily fields and doing yoga, or whatever it is that people do in PharmAd Land. The concept was right on and a lot more clearly understood and remembered than the stuff done for Ambien et al.
But, as they say, nothing kills a bad product like good advertising. A lot of things make life hard for second-comers, and great advertising usually won't fix it. The advantage is always with the product that's been in the category longest; but if Rozerem's quality is weak, nothing will give it a chance.
Hopefully the relevant decision makers won't look at a situation like this and declare good creative to be a waste of money. It's not. If anything it just spotlights the fact that these days, you can't get by on a crappy product or inaccurate declarations.
Brad you are right on. Advertising is always a scapegoat when things don't go well. Thats why economists often look at the ad industry to determine when the economy is picking up or slowing down. Its the first thing companies cut when times are tough and the last thing they bring back. If you think about it, that is the opposite of what they should do. When times are tough your competition, using this faulty logic, isn't reaching out as much in their marketing efforts. They pull back and wait out the storm. Media costs go down in order to attract more advertising so its cheaper and easier to be heard. And those that do continue to reach out to their customers tend to have their sales drop less and recover faster when things pick up again.
And yes - its the one with the beaver and Honest Abe with a chess board.
Repeats of those Rozerem ads have grown only more irksome, and I've come to conclude that they half-assed their concept execution.
In the extended spot, we're first introduced to the beaver and Honest Abe vignette. The message is clear, powerful, and amusing. But during subsequent vignettes -- sweeping shots of other insomniacs in late-night diners, fidgeting in living room recliners, etc. -- the rules of our universe have changed. No longer are our sleepless subjects accompanied by the denizens of dreamland. Instead, they are merely awake and frustrated, as they would appear in every other sleep aid commercial. Bah.
Not only did the concept executors botch their opportunity for reinforcing humor (and violate the almighty rule of three), they also broke the very universe in which they'd decided to shoot; where insomniacs are pestered in their waking lives by the occupants of their dreams.
/critic
Matt - good point. I have only seen one additional exectution of the concept. It has Honest Abe shooting paper footballs at the Beaver who tells him to "grow up". It was entertaining and within the original concept.
My guess is the client put pressure on the agency to do something different due to the lackluster results. But thats just a hunch.