Pittsburgh (October 23, 2007) – GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (NYSE: GSK) announced today that it has sold more than 2 million alli starter packs at retail, and that alli users are enthusiastically embracing alli and its proven track record of helping people lose weight gradually. This news comes as the company is breaking the first in a series of next-generation ads for the weight-loss product that depart from the typical “before and after” testimonials and offer an intimate and honest look at the healthy diet and lifestyle changes experienced by actual alli users.
Launched nationwide on June 15, alli is the only FDA-approved weight-loss product available to overweight adults without a prescription. The alli capsule works by blocking the absorption of about 25 percent of the fat in the foods people eat, helping them lose 50 percent more weight than they would through diet and exercise alone. alli starter packs contain alli capsules in 60, 90 or 150 counts, plus user’s guides, dietary support materials, access to a free online support program and the alli “shuttle™” carrying case.
In addition to its retail success, alli is garnering intense consumer interest and discussion. Approximately 5.4 million unique visitors have logged on to the alli websites, myalli.com and the Spanish-language mialli.com. In addition, more than 200,000 people have enrolled in alli’s online behavioral support program. Consumers have also posted more than 125,000 messages on the official alli message boards, and tens of thousands are talking about alli on blogs and online discussion groups they have formed themselves.
New Ad Campaign Breaks October 23
The new alli advertising campaign, which breaks today, is unique in that the users featured do not define success simply as pounds lost. They individually share that the alli program has been a life-changing experience, helping them improve their eating habits and making them feel more in control of their weight.
“It’s really been a lifestyle change for me,” says one alli user featured in the campaign. “From the moment you take that first capsule, it’s a different way of thinking. Here I am two months later, I’ve lost 15 pounds and I’m thrilled.” Another user states, “The support that I’ve received is phenomenal. At first, I didn’t think the program would be easy to manage, but it’s very doable. alli has convinced me that eating healthy is a way of life.”
Steven Burton, GSK Consumer Healthcare vice president of weight control, notes that, “From the very beginning, alli set out to be an honest voice in the weight-loss category. These are actual users who talk about everything from initially having questions about alli to how they now look at weight loss in entirely new ways.”
alli’s advertising agency, Arnold Worldwide, recruited close to 100 users from the alli “First Team,” a group of early adopters from across the country who were given access to the product a few months before it hit store shelves. The agency asked for videos of their stories, and ultimately flew seven of the team members to New York to film them.
Arnold produced seven, two- to three-minute vignettes of the alli users, some of which will be used to produce :30 television commercials. All seven stories will appear in their entirety on the alli website, where several other stories submitted by alli users from across the country already reside.
Arnold Worldwide Group Creative Director, Kate Murphy, acknowledges that people want to learn about products through the experiences of real people to whom they can relate.
“Consumers today want to hear that a product works from other real people,” she says. “It’s one thing for a manufacturer to say its product is effective, but getting that information from an actual user with actual experiences to share is much more powerful.”