Eclipsing the competition

Recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for OTC sales, SmithKline Beecham's new Tagamet HB is one of the first "Acid blocker" products to reach the re-tail market.

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Introduced nationally last month, powerful folding carton gra-phics provide quite a departure from the predominately white ap-proach typically taken with drug products. "We found that this design did a great job of catching the consumer's eye," says Paul Madzik, senior product manager at Philadelphia, PA-based SmithKline Beecham. "We think it communicates the right image for Tagamet: It's a breakthrough in advanced medicine, a revolutionary and very unique product." Created by SBG Partners (San Francisco, CA), a solar eclipse design alludes to the product's ability to prevent acids from forming in the stomach. "We were looking for a graphic symbol that could quickly signal how powerful Tagamet HB is in reducing heartburn," explained Flavio Gomez, senior managing partner of SBG Partners. To further differentiate the package, the eclipse is positioned against a navy blue background. At press time, supplier information was not available from SmithKline. Tagamet HB is available in 16-, 32- and 64-count packages.

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