Resolutions jump-start diet aid, anti-smoking product sales
More than $100 million will be spent on New Year’s resolutions this month, according to a report issued by the Nielsen Co. in December. According to the company, U.S. consumers are expected to purchase more than $61 million in anti-smoking and smoking-alternative products and more than $46 million in nutritional diet aids in January.
For the 52 weeks ended Nov. 3, sales of anti-smoking products increased 3.3 percent to $707.1 million across all channels (including Wal-Mart), according to the Nielsen Co. Corresponding diet-aid sales were $473.6 million (not including sales of GlaxoSmithKline’s alli), reflecting a slight decline of 0.5 percent.
“As New Year’s Eve marks the end of the holiday party season, shoppers take their resolutions straight to the stores,” stated Todd Hale, senior vice president of consumer and shopping insights at Nielsen Consumer Panel Services. “Manufacturers of anti-smoking products and nutritional diet aids should brace themselves for a banner month.”
January is destined to be a banner month regardless—this is the first year dieters resolving to lose weight can pick up GSK Consumer Healthcare’s over-the-counter diet aid alli.
Because it’s a diet aid that’s advertised as “not for everyone,” GSK Consumer Healthcare this year will embark on a different kind of New Year’s education campaign to appeal to the many consumers who are resolving to lose weight in 2008.
And there’s no better time than January. According to a survey of 2,058 adults, conducted in late November by Harris Interactive on behalf of GSK, 52 percent of Americans said they plan to make a serious attempt to lose weight this year.
Sales of anti-smoking products and diet aids| Category | Dollar sales* | % change | Sales period |
| Anti-smoking | $707.1 | 3.3% | 52 weeks ended Nov. 3 |
| Diet aids | 473.6 | –0.5 | 52 weeks ended Nov. 3 |
| Anti-smoking | 61.6 | 2.3 | 4 weeks ended Jan. 27, 2007 |
| Diet aids | 47.0 | 91.8 | 4 weeks ended Jan. 27, 2007 |
| Anti-smoking | 7.7 | 42.1 | week ended Dec. 9, 2006 |
| Diet aids | 12.9 | 9.0 | week ended Jan. 13, 2007 |
| * in millions |
“[January] is the time of year when adults are really bombarded with weight-loss claims, messages and promises [that] lead to a lot of confusion and frustration,” noted Isha Williams, GSK’s senior brand manager of alli. “To make this year different, [GSK is] providing adults with free access to registered dietitians and pharmacists so that they can ask those experts any questions they have about their weight-loss resolutions and get guidance about safe and proven strategies for weight loss.”
GSK’s program is unlike the bikini-clad before-and-after ads that typically flood the market. GSK underwrote free access to expert advice from healthcare professionals as part of its promotion of alli.
From Jan. 4 through Jan. 7, alli sponsored its “Make This Year Different,” a weight-loss event designed to make it easier for consumers to access expert advice.
Dieters were able to access that free healthcare advice with one phone call—866-551-DIFFERENT—where they were connected to either a dietitian or pharmacist. Prerecorded diet, nutrition, behavioral and exercise tips also are available through the phone line, and that information remains accessible through Jan. 31.
Individuals also were able to visit www.MakeThisYearDifferent.com between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. EST for live online chats with dietitians or pharmacists, in either a private or group chatroom discussion. The Web site features diet and exercise videos and answers to common questions about the alli weight-loss program.
Dieters value such education, GSK stated, though they rarely take advantage of it—73 percent of U.S. adults who plan to make a serious attempt to lose weight in 2008 believe that outside help from a dietitian, pharmacist or other healthcare professional would help them achieve their weight-loss goals, but only 13 percent plan to seek such support.
In all, anti-smoking and smoking alternative products generated 8.7 percent of annual dollar sales in January last year, an above-average share, while nutritional diet aids generated 9.9 percent of their annual dollar sales during the same period. In both products.