Lintas IMAG gets Viagra power

Following a five-agency pitch, Lintas IMAG, the integrated marketing solutions division of the Lintas Group, has bagged the marketing communication duties for Pfizer’s drug brand, Viagra. The brand was launched in India for the first time about a week ago.

The business will be handled by three divisions of Lintas IMAG – the healthcare advertising division, Lintas Healthcare; the DM, CRM and web development division, Lintas Personal, and the events division, Advent. While Lintas Healthcare will handle the direct contact programmes and creatives for medical journals and visual aids for doctors and medical representatives, Lintas Personal will be responsible for direct marketing. The company will also organise on-ground events for the product, which will be handled by Advent.

The size of the business is estimated to be around Rs 1.5 crore.

Ashish Bhasin, director, Lintas IMAG, remarks, “Viagra is a very large, well-known pharmaceutical brand, present in over 120 countries worldwide. This is a prestigious win for us and we plan to communicate the brand to doctors, medical representatives and a whole host of other people.”

A Pfizer spokesperson reveals that the brand will be made available in 30 cities in India by next year. Says the spokesperson, “Lintas IMAG presented a comprehensive proposal and it has impressive credentials in the healthcare segment. They were the natural choice for us.”

The total market for the erectile dysfunction products category in India is around Rs 72 crore, and Pfizer plans to capture 10 per cent of this market in the first year.

For the record, Pfizer Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures and markets prescription medicines for humans and animals and quite a few consumer brands. The company has three business segments, healthcare, animal health and consumer healthcare. Its products are available in more than 150 countries.

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