By Ingrid Mota
Twitter: @ingridmotta
In terms of health, depression is a mental illness or disorder characterized by sadness, low mood, loss of interest in everything, and decreased mental function.
In the 1980s, depression ceased to be a medical problem exclusively to become a success of the marketing, thus imposing a fashion. Those who suffered from it had access to a chic and very cool world.
interbrand it is to blame for popularizing these depressive symptoms, which attacked a large part of the world's population in the last century. In 1984 they develop the name of what would be the best-selling antidepressant worldwide: Prozac.
More Marketing and Less Prozac
Interbrand is a subsidiary of Omnicom Group Inc.., The group of advertising largest in the world that is focused on the creation of brands, and repositioning of existing ones through its own methodologies. Likewise, Interbrand is responsible for determining the value of brands in the market.
With all this knowledge and creation of the most valuable brands in the world, Interbrand achieved differentiation and determined the success of Prozac, moving it away from the pharmaceutical names associated with antidepressant drugs, and strengthened it with a suggestive and very powerful name for a society in permanent competition.
He Who Laughs First Laughs Best
Thus, they etymologically mixed the prefix Pro which means in favor or ahead and Zack Which in Hebrew means laughter.
And yes, marketing managed that in the 90's depression became an inspiration for a society in need of controlling its frustrations and that was reflected in books such as: “Prozac Nation”. Released in 1994, it pushed the marketing effects even further, telling the autobiographical story of Elizabeth Wurtzel and her time dealing with a major depression and coping while finishing college and working as a writer.
Later, another strong stimulus would be given to the subject, presenting an adaptation of the book at the Toronto Film Festival, starring Cristina Ricci, which sold more than 120,000 copies that year. Likewise Steven Soderbergh in the film "Side effects" shows a New Yorker taking pills to attack her anxiety and Prozac is the necessary link.
The result: 26 years after the creation of Prozac, the name is a benchmark and a redefinition of taboos on mental illness.
Now you can save yourself the relaxation time by having a cup of tea and on the contrary having a Prozac moment” when in a bar you ask for the drink with that name and they give you a mixture of sambuca and aguardiente.
Dose: The one that the marketer indicates
Prozac is a clear example that a good marketing strategy is the key to creating a brand that not only breaks social stereotypes, but also one that reinvents them.
The years play in your favor when you have achieved the creation of a strong and globally recognized brand for the real benefits, or not, that it brings to society and its acceptance in the market.
In conclusion, Prozac is a brand creation that has changed the lives of thousands of people in many countries and the discourse on mental illness. What effects will it have now with the Viagra brand, also created by Interbrand?
In a few more years we will know for sure.
