Sex Sells Condoms
Ansell Personal Products, of Eatontown, N.J., claims to be the first to use sex, romance and physical attraction instead of responsibility and protection to sell its Lifestyles Condoms with 30-second commercials that broke on Howard Stern's late-night CBS program last month and ran through Sept. 12
Nevermind that condom boxes themselves have portrayed romantic images for years.
The video and print campaign, "Condoms Shaped for 2," includes couples in classic seductive situations -on a motorcycle, dancing, and in bed, flirting, teasing and romping. A duo tone poster also features a couple locked in a heated embrace.
The commercials also are slated to run on Comedy Central and MTV through May. The print ad is scheduled to run in Glamour through out the year and the posters are slated to run in almost 425,000 college newspapers on 48 campuses. The ads can also be downloaded at http://www.Lifestyles.com. The site also hosts contests, product information and events information. (Tammy Trout, Tarkenton & Addams, 404/231-1132.)
Agency News
Yet another firm has created a healthcare practice within its firm. Carter Ryley Thomas (CRT) Public Relations & Marketing of Richmond, Va., launched Health Sciences last month, which accounts for nearly 20 percent of its $10 million in billings.
The division will handle work from three pharmaceutical companies, three large healthcare systems, two national pharma-chemical companies, an "angel" investor network to assist emerging biotechnology companies and a national pharmaceutical training organization.
Senior Associates Charlotte Evans and Rand Walton will head the division. (CRT, Jennifer Pounders, 804/343-2303.)
The Lowe Group of New York acquired two healthcare advertising agencies last month: Grob Health & Science of Cambridge, Mass., and Azure Advertising in the U.K. Both agencies are joining the U.S.-based Lowe Group Healthcare division with billings of more than $360 million. Azure is expected to complement the UK-based Lowe Fusion with pan-European campaigns as it has worked for major pharmaceutical clients, such as Eli Lilly, Hoechst Marion Roussel, Janssen-Cilag, Schering Plough and Warner Lambert. (Lowe, Valerie Collin, 212/403-6723.)
Snyder Communications of Bethesda, Md., recently won a new multi-drug pharmaceutical sales contract from Forest Labs. The new account includes national sales detailing and field management for Forest Drugs by Snyder Healthcare Sales. (Snyder, Clay Perfall, 301/571-6270.)
Managed Care Trends Deflect Assumptions
Outpatient services will not necessarily increase as managed care increases, according to Sachs Group of Evanston,Ill. Its sixth edition of "Outpatient Estimates," reflects that the need for many outpatient services increases as a result of managed care but that demand for others decreases, indicating a need to carefully evaluate such measures when creating business and marketing plans.
For example, Sachs forecasting predicts ambulatory utilization for 1997 and 2002 populations and shows that demand for emergency room visits could decrease 55 percent over the five-year period, while cardiac rehabilitation services may increase 38 percent.
So, if you're flagging your emergency care as a major benefit for your hospital, that message may not resonate with a community utilizing managed care heavily. The forecast is built from more than 136 million claims representing about 8 million covered lives and takes into account local market variations. (Sachs, Sandy Rebitzer, 847/475-7526.)