Slim-Fast sizes up new opportunities in OTC weight loss

Drug Store News, Oct 20, 1997

Fueled by the launch of what retailers are calling the hottest new product to hit the over-the-counter diet/weight loss category this year, 1997 proved to be a banner year for Slim * Fast Foods Company, which continued to drive the category. And, with prescription diet drugs such as fen-phen and Redux off the market, it would seem as though the window of opportunity has been opened even wider still for the Slim * Fast Foods line of weight loss products, featuring the 1997 Drug Store News Retail Excellence Award-winning Slim * Fast JumpStart.

Bearing in mind that doctors wrote 18 million prescriptions for fen-phen alone last year, retailers can bet that these physicians, and more important, their weight loss patients, will be looking for safe and effective weight loss alternatives. And, judging from recent data collected by Information Resources Inc., it would seem that consumers have already made a choice. Furthering:its leadership position in the OTC weight loss category, Slim * Fast JumpStart ranked as the drug class of trade's number one and number two top selling diet products for the four-week period ended August 10, according to IRI.

How can one brand claim the rights to both the number one and number two top selling positions with a new product, some ask? Simple--JumpStart comes in two flavors; chocolate finished first, vanilla second.

Of course, Slim * Fast's strength at retail is nothing new. Retailers are well aware of the impact Slim * Fast products have on their bottom lines. Noting its perennial leadership position in a recent report on the over-the-counter weight loss category, a spokesperson for one high-profile drug chain suggested that he views Slim * Fast sales as a yardstick for measuring the performance of the category as a whole.

A great deal of Slim * Fast's continued success at marketplace can be attributed to the company's ongoing commitment to making the best a little better. "The number one reason Slim * Fast continues to drive sales in the weight loss and nutrition market has been consumer response to the changes we have made," says Slim * Fast vice president of marketing administration Marc Covent. "We have made significant inroads in improving Slim * Fast's taste, flavor and consistency."

However, Slim * Fast's marketing advantage extends beyond simple matters of taste and flavor to the more serious matter of nutrition. In fact, each Slim * Fast shake delivers 40 percent of the U.S. recommended daily allowance of calcium, and is a good source of magnesium, phosphorus and zinc, nutrients crucial to the special needs of the dieter. More important, the Slim * Fast formula provides a highly efficient delivery system for these key nutrients, says Slim * Fast medical director Dr. Harry Greene, M.D.

"That's where the value of Slim * Fast's nutritional balance comes into play," Greene says. "Considering the problems prescription diet drugs pose to the industry, doctors need alternatives for their obesity patients. Slim * Fast provides a low lit, nutritionally balanced diet plan that pharmacists and physicians can feel good about recommending as a safe and effective weight loss alternative."

Last May, Slim * Fast gave retailers and their dieting customers yet another reason to be excited, launching JumpStart, Slim * Fast's orientation/introduction diet to the Slim * Fast weight loss program. Attempting to put consumer fervor over JumpStart's arrival at retail into perspective, one chain drug buyer, echoing the opinion of so many of his peers, noted that his customers were so sold on the guaranteed weight loss of "up to five pounds in five days" that JumpStart sales in his stores had far exceeded his or anyone else's projections.

Moreover, JumpStart has proven to chain drug buyers, much to their own delight, that when it comes to the diet category, the dieter's loss is the retailer's gain. JumpStart not only gives dieters a head start in the race to lose weight, it provides retailers with a lead-in to future sales, as former JumpStart users return for the Slim * Fast ready-to-drink shakes, powdered mixes and meal replacement bars they rely on as devotees of the Slim * Fast weight control plan.

And, knowing that information is the key to sustained success in today's retail environment, Slim

* Fast continues to stand by its retail partners with a major commitment to consumer advertising. Last year, the company spent over $50 million to take its message to the public, and Slim * Fast is planning a similar broadcast campaign for 1998.

In addition, Slim * Fast is currently conducting a major physician detailing effort in order to make sure that doctors are fully aware that Slim * Fast offers them and their patients a safe and effective weight loss alternative. Towards this end, Slim * Fast recently completed the second phase of a direct mail campaign to the offices of over 150,000 primary care physicians. The company also continues to exhibit Slim * Fast products and to provide information at the national meetings of several major medical organizations.