Case story: COMPEED
The Digest
Working as the principal strategic and creative partner for the last decade, Advance has played a key role in developing COMPEED from a technology to a Pan-European brand grossing USD100m a year.
The Details
Johnson & Johnson acquired the COMPEED brand from Coloplast in 2002. Since then, J&J has continued to build the brand throughout Europe with Advance as lead agency on all communication and all media.
From the start, COMPEED has had to negotiate a highly complex path to success. Its portfolio of plaster products encompasses both physically and emotionally demanding conditions (principally blisters, corns, wounds and cold sores), its target groups hail from the worlds of fashion and sport, and it operates in markets of varying degrees of maturity. Our initial task, then, was to find a red thread that would give the brand its reason for being. Knowing just how effective its products are, we focused on performance.
Some early print and TV work:
Key to the development of the brand was a tight strategic platform, developed jointly with the client, which incorporated the highly attitudinal payoff – Be Unstoppable. We had successfully positioned COMPEED as a highly effective enabling product (COMPEED believes nobody should be stopped in the pursuit of their passion) but it was this payoff that gave the brand its flavour.
As a brand, COMPEED has never rested on its laurels. In 2009, the decision was made to reconnect with its sport heritage. A two-year sponsorship deal was signed with the ATP. The following year, a similar deal was negotiated with women’s tennis world #1, Caroline Wozniacki.
Both deals gave COMPEED renewed impetus with the athletic half of its target market while Caroline Wozniacki’s burgeoning profile added credibility and exposure. Advance’s job was to put together the strategic and communicative platforms to maximise the brand’s return on what was a significant investment. The sponsorships gave COMPEED a wealth of collateral:
After a decade of consistent growth, COMPEED has become a must-have product for dynamic, high-achieving individuals who refused to be stopped in the pursuit of their passion. Advance continues to play a key role in its success.
