McEnroe Latest Jock En Serve for Rogaine

Brandweek, Jan 4, 1999 by Christine Bittar

Pharmacia & Upjohn this week will kick off an estimated $20 million, 1999 campaign for Rogaine Extra Strength with a new celebrity spokesman, John McEnroe.

The tennis ace-cum-color commentator will star in an initial wave of print advertising, via Jordan McGrath Case & Partners, NY, continuing the company's strategy of using celebrities who have had positive results with Rogaine Endorsements/testimonials from sports figures previously came from Green Bay Packers coach Mike Holmgren and Karl Malone, star player for Utah Jazz.

Print ads break in the Jan 11 issues of weeklies and bi-weeklies including Business Week, Fortune, Newsweek and ESPN Magazine, and Jan 18 issues of US News, Time and Rolling Stone, as well as February issues of GQ, Esquire, POV, Golf Digest, Maxim, Men's Fitness and Popular Science TV with McEnroe is likely to break in late spring A concurrent print effort in January monthlies will flag Pharmacia & Upjohn's money-back guarantee for men who do not see results from using Rogaine Extra Strength.

Robert Molander, senior marketing manager at Pharmacia Consumer Healthcare, credited Rogaine Extra Strength for much of the brand's growth, some 21% to $102 million for the 52 weeks ended Dec 6, per Information Resources The entire $139 million hair growth products category is down nearly 6% for the same period Rogaine ES got $24 million in media support January through September 1998.