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`Upjohn Trying to Turn Around Rogaine Sales : Campaign Planned as Baldness Remedy Fails to Meet Marketing Expectations - latimes
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`FROM THE ARCHIVES
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`Hair Restorer Falls Short of Marketing Hopes
`July 2, 1989
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`MORE STORIES ABOUT
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`Rogaine (drug)
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`Upjohn Trying to Turn Around Rogaine Sales : Campaign
`Planned as Baldness Remedy Fails to Meet Marketing
`Expectations
`May 29, 1989 | From Associated Press
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`KALAMAZOO, Mich. — When Rogaine was unveiled last September by Upjohn Co. as the first
`scientifically proven hair-loss remedy, financial analysts envisioned desperate balding men running to
`doctors for prescriptions.
`
`Today, those analysts--and many consumers--are disappointed, and Upjohn is preparing a new, more
`aggressive marketing campaign aimed at men whose embarrassment over seeking help for their hair loss
`may have prevented them from trying the drug.
`
`Upjohn says it is pleased with Rogaine's performance and blames drug industry analysts--some of whom
`predicted 1989 U.S. sales would top $300 million--for unrealistic expectations.
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`Saw Runaway Success
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`"Any new product that saw the sales that Rogaine did in the first few months would be deemed an
`outstanding success," said Upjohn spokeswoman Kaye Bennett. "We expected to succeed in the long run,
`while the analysts thought it would be a runaway success."
`
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`Disappointed consumers also may have set unrealistic expectations by ignoring Upjohn's warnings that
`Rogaine wouldn't work for most men.
`
`Though Upjohn does not release sales figures for specific products, drug industry analyst Ronald
`Nordmann of Paine Webber Inc. estimated domestic sales for Rogaine accounted for $11 million of the
`Kalamazoo-based company's $755 million in net sales for the first three months of 1989.
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`While Rogaine's sales were more than double those for the fourth quarter of 1988, Nordmann said he
`interpreted the figures as disappointing.
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`"The product has certainly been slow out of the starting gate," he said.
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`There are many reasons for Rogaine's sluggish sales, researchers and hair-loss specialists say. Among
`them:
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`- Upjohn's 8-month-old, $20-million advertising campaign, featuring a man walking along a beach with
`the "see your doctor" phrase, may have been too low-key and vague.
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`- The price, about $50 for a one-month supply and the necessary lifelong commitment to its use.
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`- Once you stop using Rogaine, any hair you may have grown back will fall out. If the drug has stopped
`your hair loss, you'll make up for lost time as soon as you quit.
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`Most baffling, however, is that companies featuring bogus baldness remedies on late-night television
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`http://articles.latimes.com/1989-05-29/business/fi-774_1_rogaine-sales-hair-loss-treatments-upjohn-spokeswoman-kaye-bennett
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`SENJU EXHIBIT 2310
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`2/10/2016
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`Upjohn Trying to Turn Around Rogaine Sales : Campaign Planned as Baldness Remedy Fails to Meet Marketing Expectations - latimes
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`continue to outsell Rogaine by a ratio of about 10 to one, said Mike Mahoney, president of the American
`Hair Loss Council.
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`"The biggest deterrent to Rogaine is that the man has to go to his doctor and admit that he is not
`comfortable with his hair loss. With the others, he can call a 1-800 number from the privacy of his own
`home," said Mahoney, whose nonprofit organization provides consumer information on hair-loss
`treatments.
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`Upjohn's new marketing campaign will feature a toll-free number. The consumer will be connected with a
`hair-care specialist to discuss Rogaine and then will receive information on Rogaine via mail.
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`Like the previous ads, Upjohn still won't refer to the drug by name. Food and Drug Administration
`regulations prohibit companies from advertising prescription drugs by name unless there also is a full
`disclosure of any warnings and potential side effects.
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`Expectations Too High
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`The company has released few details about its new marketing strategy, but says it's designed to identify
`and target the market for the drug, which was approved by the FDA last August.
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`Though analysts see the new campaign as Upjohn's reaction to slow sales, the company insists that the
`more aggressive campaign always was part of its marketing strategy.
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`Some of the blame for disappointment with Rogaine's results also lies with the consumer, who may have
`been expecting too much. Upjohn warned consumers from the start that the tonic wouldn't work at all for
`most men.
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`Rogaine, the trade name for a substance called minoxidil, is recommended for men younger than 40 who
`have been losing hair for 10 years or less and who have an area of baldness 4 inches in diameter or less on
`the crown of the head.
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`Clinical trials showed about 39% of men suffering from male-pattern baldness will grow some new hair
`back or stop losing hair after six to eight months on the drug.
`
`"If you're going to use this stuff, you've got to be patient and use it for a year," said Dr. David Whiting,
`medical director of the Baylor (University) Hair Research and Treatment Center in Dallas. "Otherwise,
`you'll never know if it would have worked."
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`Bert Camp, a railroad engineer in Mineola, Tex., saw results after about three months on Rogaine.
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`"Since I started using it, I've definitely seen some new hair growing," said Camp, 46. "And for 10 years, I've
`been using everything that I could get my hands on to stop hair loss."
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`More Effective on Women
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`Still, Camp said Rogaine was "too expensive, especially since I'm going to have to use it for the next 20 or
`30 years."
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`At the 2,270-store Rite Aid pharmacy chain in Harrisburg, Pa., a spokeswoman said Rogaine sales had been
`slower than expected.
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`Rogaine may almost double its market if the FDA approves it for use by women. Of the 50 million
`Americans losing their hair, 20 million are women, and clinical trials have found the drug to be slightly
`more effective on women, Bennett said.
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`Upjohn also is working on advanced application methods for the alcohol-based solution, which tends to be
`messy to apply, as well as teaming up with Procter & Gamble Co. on new ingredients designed to increase
`efficacy and to create new minoxidil products, such as a cream.
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`http://articles.latimes.com/1989-05-29/business/fi-774_1_rogaine-sales-hair-loss-treatments-upjohn-spokeswoman-kaye-bennett
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`2/10/2016
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`Upjohn Trying to Turn Around Rogaine Sales : Campaign Planned as Baldness Remedy Fails to Meet Marketing Expectations - latimes
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