Recognising the opportunity to improve accessibility and market share, GlaxoSmithKline decided it was time to take allergy medicine Flonase over the counter, however the brand required an overhaul in order to stake a claim in the crowded allergy segment. Flonase was reinvented to create a game-changing brand. The new design eschews category conventions and signals to consumers that Flonase is anything but another ‘me-too’ antihistamine.
The US launch results have been excellent. One month after launch, Flonase achieved 11.3% share versus a 7.3% target. And after its first 16 weeks on shelf, it had generated almost $100million in sales to become the number one selling cough/cold/allergy/sinus liquid brand in the US. In the 12 weeks after launch, Flonase sales were more than double those for Nasacort, the only other intranasal steroid brand which had been first to market in 2014. Since then Flonase has continued to consistently outperform its competitor.
