Best Election Against Headache

Tapsin is a long established painkiller brand in Chile, and as a domestic brand it is the preferred headache remedy and market leader. Tapsin’s marketing campaigns are often targeted around particularly stressful times of the year such as Christmas, school holidays, hot summers etc.

In 2009/2010, all of these factors came together with an added stress factor – the country’s presidential elections. This particular election was a particularly fierce battle, and Tapsin positioned itself as an integral part of the political media territory, and was able to capitalise on the nation’s attention to the debate.

Voters were bombarded with political messages, and campaigners organised rallies and public appearances. The Chilean constitution makes voting compulsory for registered citizens, and sometimes elections can involve multiple voting stages, as was the case in the 2010 election. Stressed citizens were trying to juggle all the usual seasonal demands, with the added complication of election rounds.

Tapsin was the perfect solution to relieve the headaches that Chileans would be experiencing, so the brand chose to emulate political advertising and used the message, “Tapsin: The best choice for headaches”. As media attention focussed on the polling stations, Tapsin was at each voting centre, where branded teams distributed caps and t-shirts to polling staff, voters and media camera crews. Tapsin branded microphones were visible at press conferences and interviews, and as the election passed to the second round, humorous press ads appeared citing “Tapsin as the best candidate”.

As it took advantage of the election situation, Tapsin maintained its category leadership. Consumer research revealed that it was considered four times better than Aspirin. The exercise also helped Tapsin re-affirm its affinity with Chileans, as 32% cited Tapsin as a brand as “close to me”. The free branded presence reached 68.5% of the population.