English Translation of Main Headlines

In Japan, where approximately half of the working generation have frustrations or problems related to sleep, there is a very strong psychological disinclination towards use of hypnotics (prescribed drugs). Given this situation, SS Pharmaceutical launched the OTC sleeping aid, "Drewell", for the first time in Japan in 2003 to support self-medication. Unfortunately, many people still do not have a proper understanding of sleeping aids; thus, a campaign using a new approach was conducted to overcome this issue. It targeted males and females in their 20s to 40s, who have frustrations or problems related to sleep but are not very knowledgeable about sleeping aids and cannot imagine using such drugs themselves. In order to change the negative image associated to the drug category, an image depicting a brisk morning was used to communicate the end benefit of "waking up feeling refreshed"; this approach was a success, and intent to purchase increased 150% and sales increased 114% compared to the previous year.