Clear thinking by Blue Marlin

Lying quietly in a darkened room is the only cure for migraine. Or is it? Pfizer Consumer Healthcare is going out of its way to convince sufferers that it has developed an effective remedy, in the form of Migraleve.

The product is already available at a pharmacy near you – although you may have failed to notice it on the shelf. To change this, Pfizer commissioned Blue Marlin to give the packaging a fresh look in time for a relaunch in September.

Making Migraleve stand out from the crowd of products stacked on pharmacy shelves was no easy task – especially considering most migraine victims have trouble focusing on even the simplest objects.

However, Pfizer’s research had revealed that migraine sufferers were most interested in a product’s efficacy and power. So Blue Marlin started off by strengthening the Migraleve wording. Black and silver ‘go faster’ stripes were added, indicating urgency and fast action. Comet-style capsules were then incorporated, zooming across the top of the lettering. And the product was renamed Migraleve Pink and Migraleve Yellow – previously it was Migraleve 1 and Migraleve 2 – which had confused consumers, causing some to believe one was stronger than the other.

Blue Marlin creative director Dave Hodgson says: ‘We got the pink and yellow from the existing capsule colours. Vision is one of the first things to go with migraine sufferers, but these have an obvious contrast in your hand. Also, we had to show that it is a very strong product which works very quickly.’

He explains that silver was chosen to give a modern, clinical touch. ‘It is simple and forthright,’ Hodgson says.

Blue Marlin strategic planning director Simon Jones adds: ‘Repackaging Migraleve has been a real challenge for us. Over-the-counter medicine packaging has to fulfil a number of different functions and comply with specific regulations. We feel that the Migraleve brand can now compete in the analgesic market, as well as carve out a niche for itself as the leading over-the-counter migraine treatment.’

Designer: Blue Marlin

Client: Pfizer Consumer Healthcare