Meda Keeps Traditional Geritol Formula, Tweaks Brand In Re-launch

Meda Consumer Healthcare conducted extensive consumer research on Geritol after acquiring the vitamin supplement brand from GlaxoSmithKline in 2010. Its renamed Geritol Multivitamin SKU retains the original ingredient formulation and appeals to consumers seeking simplicity in the multivitamin space.

[Meda Consumer Healthcare Inc.] looks to inject new life into the Geritol dietary supplement brand with revamped product names and packaging that plays up the original ingredient formulation.

But after many years of advertising and marketing neglect by former owner GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare LP, the re-emergent Geritol could struggle to win share from multivitamin leaders including Pfizer Inc.’s Centrum and Bayer AG’s One A Day lines.

Since acquiring Geritol from Glaxo in 2010, Marietta, Ga.-based Meda has taken a deliberate, patient approach toward refurbishing the brand, including conducting extensive consumer research while the legacy products remained on retail shelves.

Meda announced Sept. 24 the re-launch of the brand’s two stock-keeping units: Geritol Multivitamin tablets and Geritol Liquid energy support supplements. The SKUs’ names have been tweaked from the previous Geritol Complete and Geritol Tonic.

Cigdem Topalli, Meda’s dietary supplements brand manager, said “Complete” did not offer a clear description of what the multivitamin tablets were, while “Tonic” suffered from “somewhat of an antiquated image” that harkened back to the brand’s origins in the 1950s.

Geritol Multivitamin

Image courtesy of Meda

While the rebranding aims to make Geritol more relevant to the current market, Meda retained and is emphasizing the original multivitamin formula. The multivitamin front-of-pack touts “Same TRUSTED Formula!” and TV advertising plays up Geritol as “the Well-Balanced Multivitamin.”

Whereas many multivitamins offer mega-doses of certain nutrients, Meda hopes Geritol will find an audience by sticking with modest doses at or around 100% of the daily recommended value. For instance, Geritol contains 110% of the recommended vitamin B12 level, while One A Day Women’s 50+ Healthy Advantage has 417% and Centrum SilverWomen 50+ offers 833%, according to the products’ Supplement Facts labels.

Though overdosing on vitamin B12 and many other nutrients is extremely unlikely, Topalli noted certain megadose supplements have received negative press of late. Frequent supplement critic Consumer Reports in March 2013 published an assessment of excessive antioxidant intake, pointing out high doses of beta carotene and vitamin E may actually increase the production of cancer-causing free radicals in smokers.

“When we looked at our product, I think one of the ‘hidden gems’ was that our formula was very well-balanced across essential vitamins and minerals,” Topalli said of Geritol Multivitamin.

“To us, it really wasn’t relevant to change the formula, but to better communicate the well-balanced formula to our consumers,” she added.

Appeal To Multivitamin Simplicity

With Meda’s 2012 re-launch of the Feosol iron supplement line – combining it with the existing Bifera iron brand and rolling out three SKUs – the company sought to shake up a niche category. In contrast, with Geritol Meda hopes to carve out a niche based on simplicity and balance in the crowded multivitamin space.

“We can’t be everything to everyone, so it’s important for Geritol to have a relevant message to the target audience,” Topalli said.

Although Geritol is a unisex product, Meda is focusing its marketing on women aged 50 and older with print advertisements in Good Housekeeping and TV spots on the Cooking Channel and Lifetime Movie Network. Topalli said Geritol has “a great legacy with women” and historically has been passed down through generations of women in families.

Meda paid GSK $34.5 million for Geritol and the Feosoland Palafer iron supplement brands, all of which had combined annual sales of about $15 million at the time of the transaction (Also see "Meda Pumps Up Iron With Feosol Relaunch, Revamps Neglected OTCs" - Pink Sheet, 26 Mar, 2012.).

Multivitamins represented a $6.38 billion market in the U.S. in 2010, and it increased to $6.60 billion in 2011, according to market research firm Mintel.

“To us, it really wasn’t relevant to change the [Geritol Multivitamin] formula, but to better communicate the well-balanced formula to our consumers.”

– Cigdem Topalli, Meda Consumer Healthcare

Information Resources Inc. reports dramatic growth for multivitamins in the retail channels it tracks: according to data covering supermarkets, drugstores, mass-marketers, military commissaries and select club and dollar chains, multivitamin sales jumped 7.8% to $1.72 billion in the 52 weeks ended Sept. 8.

Taken in total, Bayer’s multivitamin products – including both One A Day and Flintstones Vitamins lines – lead the segment with a 20.1% share and $356.8 million in sales during that time period, down 2.2%. Private-label multivitamins follow close behind with a 19.3% share while Pfizer’s Centrum brand holds an 18% share, according to IRI.

The category’s biggest gainer is Church & Dwight Co. Inc., which boosted marketing and distribution for L’il Critters and Vitafusion gummy vitamins after acquiring the lines in October 2012 (Also see "Church & Dwight Considers Gummy Form For OTCs" - Pink Sheet, 6 Sep, 2013.). Church & Dwight’s vitamin products tallied sales of $148 million, up 44.6%, and hold a segment share of 8.6%.

As with many other consumer health categories, multivitamins are awash in a dizzying array of differentiated SKUs. For example, women have nine gender-specific products to choose from in Bayer’s One A Day portfolio, including Women’s Pro Edge, Women’s Active Metabolism and Menopause Formula.

Meda’s Geritol strategy, in contrast, hopes to appeal to a consumer desire for minimalism.

“When you shop the vitamin aisle today, it measures 12 feet long and contains over 100 different choices,” Topalli said. “The only way you're going to stand out among all that clutter is to have a unique selling positioning, and a product that really stands from the crowd.”

The company, a subsidiary of Meda Pharmaceuticals Inc., suggests a retail price of $11.99 for a 100-capsule bottle of Geritol Multivitamin, and has national distribution in chains including Meijer, Walgreens and Walmart.

Geritol Liquid, a formulation of B vitamins and iron intended to provide a short-term energy boost, is less of a marketing priority for Meda, Topalli says. A 12-ounce bottle of the liquid sells for a suggested $9.19 and a 4-ounce SKU is $4.09.

Topalli left the door open for potential Geritol line extensions in the near future, saying she hopes to have additional news to share about the brand in early 2014.