Novo Nordisk has a problem most advertisers would kill for.
Its prescription drug, Ozempic, has become something of a cultural shorthand for all types of weight-loss medication, specifically the new class of semaglutide GLP-1 drugs that have the potential to dramatically curb obesity in the US. The problem? Ozempic is only approved by the FDA to treat patients with Type 2 diabetes, whereas a different Novo Nordisk semaglutide drug, Wegovy, is approved to treat weight management.
“[Wegovy] came out second, so Ozempic became kind of the household name,” Sylvia Shubert, US therapeutic area head for obesity in commercial strategy and marketing, Novo Nordisk, told Marketing Brew. “We’re spending a lot of time, education, and effort to distinguish the two.”
So far, that effort has included a television advertising campaign, first released in June, that has run during shows like Good Morning America and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, according to the measurement company iSpot. According to iSpot estimates, the pharma giant has spent over $105 million on the campaign to date.
The campaign, which focuses on the potential benefits of taking Wegovy, like improved cardiovascular health—has reached some 5.7 billion impressions, according to iSpot, and isn’t scheduled to stop running anytime soon, Shubert said. Its release was timed with the more widespread availability of the drug, something Shubert still watches carefully to manage the company’s advertising campaigns.
“We are constantly monitoring [supply]; that is something that is always top of mind,” she said.
Meanwhile, ads featuring the catchy “Oh, oh, oh, Ozempic” refrain—a twist on Pilot’s 1975 jam “Magic”—have been running since 2018, emphasizing the potential benefits of Ozempic for people living with Type 2 diabetes.
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Google searches for Ozempic still outpace Wegovy by more than half, and users who search for either term are met with ads from DTC startups like Ro, Hims, Alan Meds, and Eden, all of which are offering compounded versions of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.
As for the increased competition and whether that could impact the company’s marketing strategy, Shubert said that “there is enough business for everyone.”
That certainly seems to be the case at Novo Nordisk. Its stock is up more than 400% over the last five years, and in August, the company reported a net profit of roughly $2.9 billion in Q2.
Shubert emphasized in an email that “Novo Nordisk is the only company in the US with FDA-approved medicines containing semaglutide.”
“Unapproved compounded ‘semaglutide’ drugs,” she continued, “do not have the same safety, quality, and effectiveness assurances as Novo Nordisk’s FDA-approved semaglutide medicines, and patients should not use a compounded drug if an approved drug is available.”
Where to next? If crypto brands flooded the Super Bowl in 2022, then, naturally, it might make sense to see Ozempic, or any other semaglutide injection, taking over the big game in 2025.
Shubert told Marketing Brew that she didn’t have an answer about any Super Bowl plans, but she didn’t exactly rule it out.
“We are still making decisions around where we’re going to continue to spend,” she said.
Correction 09/04/24: A previous version of this piece included the incorrect name for Novo Nordisk's ongoing television advertising campaign.