As a business, DewGibbons + Partners have attended the Nicholas Hall European OTC insight conference for several years. This year, in the beautiful surroundings of Munich, we had the honour of leading an Action Workshop session on creative brand extension.

 

It was an enlightening to see OTC colleagues, from companies large and small and at varying levels of seniority, getting to grips with the challenge of stretching well-established OTC brands into new digital formats, creative collaborations with other brands and innovative ideas for integrated campaigns. The popular vote-winning campaign envisaged a Weight Watchers style support app and community for smoking cessation brand NiQuitin, closely followed by feminine analgesic, Feminax’s brand collaboration with Lindt.

 

Even more importantly perhaps than the actual ideas generated, was the participants’ appetite to get to the heart of the brands’ challenges and their openness to knowledge share their insight and experience. Something that utterly typifies the whole Nicholas Hall conference experience. There simply isn’t another OTC event (nor any beauty, wellness or otherwise we attend) that offers the same unbounded positivity to improve the industry for the benefit of everyone (businesses, consumers and participants); where there is a marked spirit of generosity in both keynote presentations and the general conversation alike. We came away with lots of contacts and inspiration for our own work, but also with an incredibly positive feeling about the future of the OTC industry. We’re already looking forward to next year in Barcelona!