Share in the OTC allergy market was a battle between the established leader, Claritin, and the challenger, Zyrtec. Allegra entered in 2011, and Zyrtec share plummeted. We didn't have news to reignite interest, and had to fight back hard.

To grow, we had to steal users from other brands. Claritin has the most, many with severe allergies. Our medical data showed Claritin doesn't provide complete relief. It was a sizeable opportunity we could actually get. Our goal: convert Claritin users and close share gap by a third.

It wasn't straightforward. Claritin users think its the gold standard. In fact, they aren't considering alternatives. We called them "Claritin Complacents."

We had to get them to realize, "good enough isn't." We used humor, held up a mirror and got them to laugh at the silly things they do because of mediocre allergy relief. Then we told them something they hadn't thought of: Zyrtec is different.

"Muddle No More" closed share gap by two-thirds, twice our goal. We led much of the Spring allergy season, were #1 in the Fall, and #1 in adult household penetration for the year. Clearly, Claritin users were tired of muddling through allergies.

Breaking bad habits.

Until now, almost all category advertising rested on functional claims. But that clearly wouldn't work with "Claritin Complacents." Zyrtec needed a completely new approach. We had to show them Claritin wasn't working, and encourage them to try something different. We highlighted silly things they do to compensate for mediocre relief. Like stashing tissues in their pockets like a squirrel stashes nuts. Humor helped them relate to these allergy "muddlers," and laugh at the error of their ways. Online, they weren't actively looking for new solutions, so we reached deeper into their lives and targeted them where they spent time. We also gave them solutions beyond the pill: the Zyrtec AllergyCast App teaches them what's making them sneeze and itch their eyes out. We positioned Facebook as a group for recovering "muddlers." And we produced videos for YouTube, using popular search terms to ensure muddlers found them.

Furtec was a huge hit. We saw our average daily Facebook likes increase 200%, and added 86,000 new fans. The app was incredibly engaging, with 60% of all visitors who started a video, finishing their video and watching it through to completion. More than 25% of users returned at least once. Among returning visitors, 30% came back six or more times. And in the Fall allergy season when Furtec was live, Zyrtec captured #1 share of market.