Rediscovering the power of Covonia

IPA Effectiveness Awards Case Study 2018

The cough medicine, Covonia, had lost share to a new entrant. Without big budgets, the brand needed to gain more young customers and quickly start growing again to prevent it being dropped by retailers. Its strategy was to frame the product’s strong taste as a challenge for people willing to ‘fight’ coughs. Provocative ‘Ride the Bull’ creative used TV and social to build affinity with the brand’s personality. Following the activity, penetration rose 12% above projection. The brand returned to market share growth. An estimated £4.45m of incremental revenue was generated and the brand’s future was protected.

The ‘feel the power’ campaign is a proven effective creative campaign that set in motion the sequence of events that have helped to shape the future of the Covonia brand, delivering brilliant commercial creativity along the way. The research was pivotal to the success of this Covonia campaign- helping to define what was working and what wasn’t and unlocked insights that changed the way we conducted many aspects of our marketing activity. The process we went through will now inform all future strategy, ensuring a clear way to measure success in everything we do.

Ed Round, Director of Consumer Marketing
Thornton & Ross