Wegovy outspends TV advertisers in June ahead of more weight-loss competition
Summary
Novo Nordisk last month introduced the ‘Power of Wegovy’ national campaign amid ramp-up of drug production.
The weight-loss drug Wegovy has been bombarding TV commercial breaks with ads, more than a year after its manufacturer, Novo Nordisk, limited starter-dose supplies in the U.S. to get a handle on demand.
An ad titled “Discover the Power," part of a national advertising campaign called “The Power of Wegovy" that was announced in June, aired 6,271 times on national traditional TV between June 3 and June 25, according to TV ad-tracking firm iSpot.tv.
The commercial was the third most viewed on TV during that period, with nearly 2 billion household TV ad impressions, iSpot said. Only ads from fast-food chain Burger King and auto-glass-replacement company Safelite AutoGlass were seen more times.
Buying national airtime to run “Discover the Power" cost an estimated $42 million, more than was spent to run any other ad, iSpot said.
Ads for Ozempic—another of Novo Nordisk’s medicines, but one that’s approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating Type 2 diabetes—in comparison aired 1,417 times between June 3 and June 25. Last year, Ozempic ads aired 24,513 times on national linear TV, while Wegovy ads didn’t run at all, according to iSpot data.
The Wegovy blitz came after an FDA-approved update to the label for Wegovy, which included the removal of body mass index ranges for people who might take the drug for weight loss and the addition of an indication to reduce cardiovascular risk for those who are obese or overweight with heart disease.
It also comes as the Danish pharmaceutical giant is increasing shipments of the three lowest-dose strengths of Wegovy and says it plans to invest about $6.8 billion in production this year, up from $3.9 billion last year.
Novo Nordisk said it is seeing an average of approximately 35,000 new U.S. patients start on Wegovy weekly.
The company is meanwhile competing against compounded versions of its drugs, which are versions made by special pharmacies that can be easier to obtain and less expensive, as well as the eventual threat of generics.
Wegovy’s ad features a lyrically adjusted cover of “This is Me" from the musical “The Greatest Showman" and spotlighting people speaking about how they have lost weight using the injectable drug. The campaign is designed to present a diverse range of people who have benefited from the drug.
“Diverse representation in healthcare campaigns can play a significant role in patients feeling seen, heard and understood, especially in a stigmatized space like obesity, which we’ve been engaged in for more than two decades," Tejal Vishalpura, Novo Nordisk’s senior vice president of commercial strategy and marketing, said in a press release about the ad campaign in early June.
While Ozempic holds a major market share of users, Wegovy’s new FDA permissions make it an obvious candidate for Novo Nordisk to concentrate its advertising on, said Leigh O’Donnell, head of shopper and category insights at research and consulting firm Kantar.
“If I were Novo Nordisk, I would be leaning more heavily into Wegovy, because even though Ozempic is the more household brand," Wegovy has more growth potential because it has a broader set of approved use cases, O’Donnell said.
Signaling an easing of supply problems is another important reason to get in front of consumers.
“They need to advertise, and advertise a lot, because there have been a lot of people who’ve been prescribed it who haven’t been able to get it," O’Donnell said. Novo Nordisk needs to show people and doctors “now we’re available, and you can get this," she added.
The Wegovy ad surge could also be designed to position the brand ahead of increasing competition in the coming years, said Bill Coyle, global head of biopharma at consulting firm ZS.
“If you’re in the lead seat as one of the manufacturers that’s already on the market, you really do want to establish that connection between your company, your brand and this category in advance of additional competition," Coyle said.
The spots are also likely a way to destigmatize obesity and its treatment, as drugmakers worked to show with depression drugs in the past.
“I think they’re trying to normalize—trying to create support for those people living with obesity or people that are overweight at risk of cardiovascular disease—that you can get help, there is hope," Coyle said.
Write to Katie Deighton at katie.deighton@wsj.com and Megan Graham at megan.graham@wsj.com
