Panadol’s Irishness promoted by GSK in flag-flying in-store campaign

Global healthcare giant GSK will highlight the "Irishness" of Panadol through a new in-store marketing campaign designed to ensure potential customers know the paracetamol brand is made in Ireland.

Dave Barrett, country manager of consumer healthcare for GSK in Ireland, said the Irish flag was being placed on point-of-sale promotional material to spread the word that the painkiller is manufactured by GSK in Dungarvan.

Some 7.5 billion Panadol tablets are produced from the Co Waterford site, which employs about 750 people and generates 90 per cent of the global supply of the brand, exporting to more than 70 countries.

Mr Barrett said GSK embarked on the campaign, its biggest in Ireland to date, when it became apparent that some of its largest customers weren’t aware of the Irish production of Panadol.

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“Consumers have a choice to make when they’re at a shelf or talking to a pharmacist, and if they’re aware that the brand that they’re choosing actually has a heritage in Ireland, I believe it makes a difference,” said Mr Barrett. “That’s what we’re trying to unlock.”

Adult pain

Panadol is GSK’s “critical, big brand” in the “substantial” adult pain category, which is worth €90.6 million in Ireland and is growing 2.3 per cent year-on-year. In the grocery side of the market, Panadol is the leading brand.

Mr Barrett said paracetamol sales, while more steady than certain other products, were influenced to a degree by seasonality, as some consumers take them to alleviate the symptoms of colds and flu. “Around Christmas, you could see a spike in painkillers,” he added.

GSK's latest in-store marketing activity follows a wave of out-of-home and digital advertising as well as Panadol's sponsorship of RTÉ programmes Nationwide and Ear to the Ground. The sponsorship stings, which used the line "made in Ireland, trusted worldwide", showcased the roles held by GSK employees both on site in Dungarvan and in the local community.

Investment

Mr Barrett said GSK would be “ramping-up investment” in “version two” of the campaign. “This is long-term for us,” he said. “It’s a shopper campaign, but it’s also an educational campaign for pharmacists and other retailers.”

GSK employs 1,700 people in total in Ireland across Dungarvan, Cork, Sligo and Dublin. The 35-year-old Dungarvan site also produces oral care products, and the Cork site, which has been in operation since 1974, manufactures the active ingredients for medicines for childhood cancer, depression, diabetes, HIV, Parkinson’s disease and arthritis.

Skin medicines and products such as Oilatum and Physiogel are produced at GSK’s Sligo facility, while the Dublin headquarters houses both its pharmaceuticals and consumer healthcare businesses.