(Morrisville, N.C.) Full-service advertising and branding firm The Marketing Machine recently finished an ambitious, innovative rebranding project for Danadams Pharmaceuticals Industry Limited to help overcome literacy and distribution challenges with patients in Ghana, South Africa. The firm utilized its award-winning design services team to redesign all of Danadams branding and packaging using intuitive visual icons and color elements to indicate the type of drugs and dosages and better display information more clearly and legibly. Danadams Pharmaceuticals is currently the only manufacturer of anti-retroviral drugs in West Africa. It also manufactures and sells anti-malarials, antibiotics, analgesics and other opportunistic infection drugs for the West African market.
“Many people in Africa affected by endemic diseases such as malaria, typhoid and HIV are illiterate. Danadams wanted to redesign its packaging to help patients more easily identify the different types of drugs and dosage levels, and to help the healthcare professionals dispensing the medicine” said Greg Fawcett, VP of client relations for The Marketing Machine, adding that the healthcare system in parts of Africa is completely different than what patients see in the U.S.
“What we would call a regular pharmacy over there is a 10-by-10 outdoor stand with stacks and stacks of drugs on top of each other. With the number of generic drugs flooding into Africa in nondescript cartons and poor quality labeling, Danadams wanted to ensure its drugs were packaged in the best possible way,” he said.
According to Fawcett, his firm had to come up with an iconic system for people to understand how the many different Danadams drugs were supposed to be used, creating a way of determining things such as what age group the drugs were intended for.
“We had seven different drugs to deal with, for patients ranging from infants to adults, and we needed a way to highlight who each drug was for right on the box,” Fawcett said.
The project management and design teams at The Marketing Machine researched each individual drug, drug class, and dosage, and developed individual icons and colors for each to help patients understand which drugs they needed, regardless of their ability to read.
“In terms of product colors we wanted each class of drug to be easily identifiable; since the Ghana colors are vibrant, we wanted to mirror that, using the colors that are in their national flag, but have them different enough to avoid confusion,” Fawcett explained.
Similar to work the firm has done with other consumer healthcare and pharmaceutical manufacturing clients, The Marketing Machine functioned as a virtual creative design and marketing arm of Danadams, in this particular case working directly with a contractor hired by Danadams who would travel between South Africa and the U.S. The rebrand took the better part of a year from concept-to-marketplace, with The Marketing Machine creating everything from the ground-up on the new drug packaging, as well as developing the Danadams brand, logo design, pocket folders, envelopes, business cards and website. The firm also helped Danadams set up its fledgling design studio, ensuring that its impact would persist in the company even after the project ended.
Danadams is Ghana’s leading manufacturer in the health sector and is ranked 6th overall on Ghana’s prestigious Club 100 list. The company was named West Africa International Magazine’s Most Innovative & Multipurpose Pharmaceutical Company in West Africa in 2011. In Europe, the company was recognized with the International Arch of Europe 2011 Gold Award for Demonstrated Excellence and Sustainability, as well as the Majestic Five Continents Award for Quality and Excellence in 2011.
More information is available online at www.danadamsgh.com.
The Marketing Machine manages marketing, advertising, and public relations for a number of companies across a myriad of industries including pharmaceutical manufacturing, software and engineering. The firm boasts award-winning resources for branding, graphic design and marketing collateral materials as well as public relations and website development.
To learn more visit www.theMmachine.com.
About The Marketing Machine
The Marketing Machine is the Triangle’s leader in effective and innovative corporate branding and customer communication, providing full-service marketing, advertising, and public relations to businesses of all shapes and sizes. The Marketing Machine is conveniently located minutes from RDU and RTP, and is a proud member of the Morrisville Chamber of Commerce. For more information, visit www.theMmachine.com
