Prestige Brands Holdings Inc. emphasizes rapid relief in new marketing for Goody’s and BC pain relievers, which are opening doors for the firm to bring its other lines to convenience stores.

“It’s all about speed of pain relief,” President and CEO Matthew Mannelly said during the company’s fiscal 2014 second-quarter earnings call Nov. 7.

In 2013, Prestige Brands launched Goody’s Headache Relief Shot, which combines acetaminophen and caffeine in a single-dose liquid, and BC Cherry, a flavored version of the powder sold in a stick pack ([A#05130617006]).

Both products have a significant presence in the Southeast U.S., where the firm is focusing its promotional efforts, including sponsoring Southeastern Conference basketball and football games. The program includes TV ads, radio broadcasts and consumer events, as well as product sampling at SEC schools.

With Goody’s, the company purchased national advertising on ESPN for the first time and partnered with NASCAR to sponsor the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 race in Martinsville, Va., on Oct. 26, shown on national TV.

“We’ve gotten over 400 million impressions from that race,” Mannelly said, referring to interest sparked from social media outlets like YouTube and Facebook.

“This is a brand that we are very bullish on for the long term. We’ve got innovative new products and we are marketing in different ways than we’ve marketed it in the past in terms of connecting with the consumer.”

As part of its social media strategy, the Tarrytown, N.Y.-based firm is sponsoring the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Fastest Fan Challenge, which encourages consumers to upload original videos capturing “high-speed” action to their profiles on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram before Dec. 1. Five finalists will be selected on Goody’s Facebook page and fans will vote for the winner, who will receive a NASCAR tailgate weekend package.

Convenient Platform For Growth

The acquisition of BC and Goody’s and 15 other brands from GlaxoSmithKline PLC for $660 million in 2012 paved the way for Prestige Brands to expand distribution into convenience stores Also see "Prestige Acquires 17 Glaxo OTC Brands, Enters Analgesics Market" - Pink Sheet, 2 January, 2012..

BC and Goody’s in particular have strong distribution in the convenience channel, about 147,000 outlets, Mannelly said.

The company is leveraging that exposure to expand distribution of its legacy products in the channel, including Clear Eyes, Dramamine and Luden’s cough drops. The distribution includes convenience chains like 7-Eleven, WaWa and Sunoco, as well as venues like Hudson News in airports and college bookstores.

OTC brands BC, Clear Eyes, Dramamine, Goody’s and Luden’s “in the C-store channel were up almost 20% in the second quarter versus the prior-year quarter,” Mannelly said.

Care Package Helps

Prestige Brands’ acquisition earlier this year of Australian OTC firm Care Pharmaceuticals helped boost second-quarter revenues 4.1% to $168.4 million. Excluding the impact on revenues from the acquisition of Care on July 1, revenues for the July-September period would have increased 1.6%.

Revenues for the OTC segment increased 3% to $142.6 million for the quarter, including the impact of the Care acquisition and divestiture of Phazyme. Excluding those two portfolio changes, the OTC business grew 0.5%, with the OTC portfolio still being impacted by the market re-entry of competitive products from Johnson & Johnson including Tylenol and Motrin.

Net income was $32.8 million, a 71% jump compared to the year-ago period, partly due to the ownership of Care and largely due to favorable changes in state tax laws that benefited the bottom line by $9.1 million, the company said.

The firm remains active on the business development front, Mannelly said. He noted that some big pharma firms have said they are reviewing their consumer businesses. Among them is Merck & Co. Inc., which has been more outspoken in recent weeks about the consumer business Also see "Merck Reaffirms Commitment To Consumer Care In Restructuring" - Pink Sheet, 2 October, 2013..

“Two major pharma companies have said their consumer care businesses are under review in terms of what’s the best way to operate, whether its internal or external, so that’s always a signal to the marketplace,” he said.

Additionally, completing the acquisition of Care better positions Prestige Brands for additional acquisitions in Asia, he suggested ([A#28130715014]). “We believe there are significant opportunities for us over the next couple of years,” he said.

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Prestige Brands Revs Up Goody’s, BC Brands

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