Boots takes on P&G with spray launch
Boots Healthcare International is launching a Strepsils throat spray worldwide in direct competition to Procter & Gamble’s Vick’s Chloraseptic.
The move is part of the company’s policy of pushing Strepsils as a global brand. Strepsils Direct Action is being manufactured and marketed in the UK through Crookes Healthcare, BHI’s over-the-counter arm.
It is already on sale under the name Strepsils Spray in countries including France, Australia and New Zealand, as part of a long-term strategy to increase the expansion of the self-medication market.
The brand contains lignocaine, a local anaesthetic to numb the pain of severe sore throats.
According to Tricia Pedlar, marketing manager for Strepsils at Crookes Healthcare, stronger treatments containing anaesthetics in both lozenge and spray form are seen as the driving force behind market growth, at the expense of the more traditional sore throat lozenges and pastilles, known as “sweetie” brands.
