When Pfizer launched Viagra in 1998, it did so with eyes wide open about the immediate impact the drug would have—on patients, of course, but also on physicians, the health media, and purveyors of late-night chuckles. What the company may not have anticipated was the longer-term influence that Viagra's wild success would wield on pharma marketing as a discipline.
Marketers who worked on the drug over the years, however, were not blind to the phenomenon that was brewing. “Right from the outset, it felt as if we were working on a big brand,” recalls Michael Sanzen, then VP, group copy supervisor at Cline Davis & Mann, who worked with VP, group account supervisor Ken Begasse on a broad range of HCP and patient communication tasks during Viagra's infancy (the two would cofound Concentric Health Experience in 2002, where they continue to work today).
This content is repurposed from MM&M.
