Running head: WHAT’S IN A NAME 1

What’s in a Name:

Analyzing Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Brand Names

and Television Commercials

Jenna C. Wise

Queens University of Charlotte

WHAT’S IN A NAME 2

What’s in a Name: Analyzing Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Brand Names

and Television Commercials

Brand messaging is the opportunity for a brand to differentiate itself from competing

brands and stand out in the minds of consumers. Effective messaging means capturing just the

right language that embodies the purpose or personality of the brand and moving consumers to

seek to acquire that product with that specific brand attached. An effective brand message is four

things simultaneously: emotional and rational, believable, relevant, and simple (Kleinberg,

2013). For marketing and brand strategists in the pharmaceutical industry, constructing and

developing an effective brand message starts with a brand name and is supported by an effective

visual strategy.

The United States is one of only two countries in the world that allows direct-to-

consumer advertising (DTCA) of pharmaceuticals, a practice that began including television

campaigns in the U.S. in 1997 (Zimney, 2006; Donohue, Cevasco, & Rosenthal, 2007; Ventola,

2011). In the nearly twenty years since DCTA expanded, consumers have become a significant

portion of the target audience, an audience that previously consisted of only doctors due to the

scientific and medical nature of the products (Spiegel, 2009). Because of this policy change, drug

companies can name the drug and its purpose while only mentioning the major side effects. This

policy has helped to shift the power of pharmaceutical demand from the doctors to the patients

themselves, leading to a boom in pharmaceutical advertising. Highly advertised medications are

more likely to be prescribed (Zachry, Shepherd, Hinich, Wilson, Brown, & Lawson, 2002) which

could be due to increased doctor and patient awareness. According to Spiegel (2009), the Nielsen

Company estimates that an average of 80 drug ads are aired every hour of every day on

American television.

WHAT’S IN A NAME 3

As a result of the policy changes and subsequent advertising strategy redirection, DTC

pharmaceutical advertising expenditure grew from $0.84 billion in 1997 to $4.1 billion in 2004

(Anantharaman, Parthan, & Shepherd, 2005; Amaldoss, 2009). DTCA topped out around $5

billion in 2007, though there was some slow down by the end of 2009, dropping to $4.5 billion

(Ventola, 2011). In 2010, the industry’s budget for DTCA alone was reportedly nearly twice the

entire budget for the FDA (Greene & Herzberg, 2010). The expenses incurred are due partially to

gain market share before patents expire and generics hit the market (Wilson & Till, 2007; Crain,

2005; Whyte, 1993). In considering the significant increase in amount of money spent on

pharmaceutical advertising since 1997, it is worth considering also how branding, names

themselves in conjunction with visual aspects, has contributed to that increase.

I will study strategic brand messaging through brand naming and the content choices in

visual brand representation in the context of direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertisements.

Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription-based pharmaceuticals is a common practice

today, and with that comes extensive marketing momentum behind verbal design, i.e. creating a

name that will easily fold into consumer conversation. A considerable amount of time, effort,

and money go into the naming process. Once a brand name has been chosen and approved by the

appropriate regulating bodies, the advertising and visual design teams must either reinforce the

intended message of the brand name or pack the desired meaning into it. Using a content

analysis, I will examine the attributes and aspirations communicated through the drug name and

the connection between the verbal designs and their visually designed advertisements. A

rhetorical analysis of this relationship follows the content analysis to identify what, if any,

patterns emerge regarding how brand messaging is communicated through a brand name and is

then supported by its respective television advertisement.

WHAT’S IN A NAME 4

Literature Review

The literature review starts with a discussion of brand messaging both in general and as it

applies to pharmaceutical brands. Then I explore the powerful persuasive techniques of visual

branding, advertising, and visual rhetoric. I review general verbal branding literature and product

naming information, followed by an in-depth description of the process of pharmaceutical brand

naming. Finally, I outline the theoretical framework by describing the primary factors of Jürgen

Habermas' (1984, 1987) Theory of Communicative Action and pose the questions motivating my

research.

Brand Messaging

Brand messaging is the opportunity for a brand to differentiate itself from competing

brands of the same or similar products and stand out in the minds of consumers. Effective

messaging captures just the right language that embodies the purpose or personality of the brand

and moves consumers to seek to acquire that product with that specific brand name attached. An

effective brand message is four things simultaneously: emotional and rational, believable,

relevant, and simple (Kleinberg, 2013). According to Igor International (2011), a brand agency

based in California, the best product names require the least advertising because they are

advertisements in and of themselves. Igor writes:

Successful product and company names may appear to have been created by magic, but it

is possible to develop names that are dynamic, effective and fully leverage a brand's

potential if you have the right process in place. A process that is clear, insightful, logical

and focused will lead to a name and tagline that are powerful components of your brand

strategy, and pave the way for buy-in throughout your organization. (p. 3)

WHAT’S IN A NAME 5

For marketing and brand strategists in the pharmaceutical industry, constructing and developing

an effective brand message starts with strong positioning: to decide the purpose of the brand

name and support it with an effective visual strategy.

According to Hansen, Carpentier, and Modicom (2011), to generate revenue,

pharmaceutical companies must rely more on marketing strategies that focus on a customer-

centric versus product-driven approach which begins with creating awareness and understanding

of a brand's value. The ultimate goal is to motivate the consumer to purchase a particular brand,

not just a product. The pharmaceutical market strategist, then, must have an in-depth knowledge

of consumer behavior and play to those factors to encourage sales. Navarro-Bailón (2012)

studies integrated marketing communication (IMC) strategies and finds that, compared to a

message repetition strategy, IMC campaigns with a consistent message lead to more positive

brand associations and brand attitudes. Similarly, Jung, Rhee, and Kim (2012) find that message

familiarity determines the effectiveness of message framing and that positive attitudes toward

advertisements lead consumers to ask their doctors for more information or a prescription for the

brand.

Visual Branding, Advertising, and Visual Rhetoric

Scholars agree that visual rhetoric fits into an interpretative approach that suggests an

image and text are likely to carry the meaning intended by the advertiser (Durand, 1970;

McQuarrie, 1990; McQuarrie & Mick, 1999; Mick & Politi, 1990; Scott, 1994). Barthes (1964)

and Durand (1970) both find that advertisements are made up of two parts, the denoted and the

connoted, and creativity in advertising is based on transforming rhetorical figures into images,

thus creating visual rhetoric. Phillips, McQuarrie, and Griffin (2014) describe visual brand

identity as the "holistic look and feel of a brand, manifest as consistency among the brand, its

WHAT’S IN A NAME 6

strategy, and all its individual visual elements, ongoing over time" (p. 328). In their discussions

with a group of art directors, they find four primary visual elements of a brand's visual identity

represented in advertising: logo, typography, color, and layout. They also find that visual brand

identity development can serve one of four purposes depending on how strong or weak the brand

is overall and the number of constraints enforced by the client, brand as icon, springboard,

handcuffs, and clay. Their research is indicative of how a brand's visual identity must be

appropriately constructed and reconstructed in advertising in a way that supports its verbal

identity and overall positioning in the market. Visual components contribute to the completeness

and understanding of a brand.

Amidst the many television advertisements for cars, soft drinks, electronics, and fast food

restaurants, prescription-based drugs are frequently run. Wilson and Till (2007) built and tested a

model to measure the effectiveness of DTC advertising which explores the consumer

characteristics and behavior that lead to this effectiveness. Their results show that consumers

who are involved in their own healthcare and have a positive attitude toward DTCA are more

likely to talk to their doctor about the medical condition and the brand being marketed via

DTCA. Weissman, Blumenthal, Silk, Newman, Zapert, Leitman, and Feibalmann (2004) come to

a similar conclusion, demonstrating that DTCA motivates people to play a more active role in

their treatment while Wosinska (2005) finds that DTCA improves patience compliance with

prescribed medications. Advertisers who can generate mass market appeal in a way that moves

customers who are already highly involved in their wellness to respond will see a great return on

their advertising investment.

From a general visual branding standpoint, Moriarty (1987) conducted a content analysis

of visuals used in print media advertising and found that photographs are the most commonly

WHAT’S IN A NAME 7

used visual style and symbolic visuals are used more that literal visuals. She identifies the

following categories as key functions in advertising: literal visuals including brand identity,

description, comparison, and demonstration; and symbolic visuals including association,

metaphor, storytelling, and aesthetics. She notes that literal visuals communicated factual

information while symbolic visuals present concepts and impressions. Specific to pharmaceutical

advertising, Main, Argo, and Huhmann (2004) researched the type of appeals, rational or

emotional, used in print DTC advertising as compared to over-the-counter remedies and dietary

supplements and the impact of influence tactics on consumer behavior. Their results indicate

DTC advertisements, while informational, do not rely solely on rational arguments; in fact, they

incorporate more emotional appeals, both positive and negative, than over-the-counter

medications and dietary supplements.

Mullen and Fisher (2004) combine two methods of rhetorical analysis developed by

Sonja Foss to practice a technique called elaboration to her methodological concepts and apply

the elaboration to prescription drug advertisements in magazines. Mullen and Fisher's

elaboration, the process of combining methods that have similar concepts or analyze similar

phenomena, is a technique to study how an analysis of a visual message is enhanced by the

combined methods. While their study's ultimate purpose was to attempt to improve methods for

analyzing visual images, their elaboration does suggest that examining interactions among both

presented and suggested elements in an advertisement can provide additional explanatory power

of the tension created between visual and verbal elements in a particular advertisement. Mzoughi

and Abdelhak (2011) apply rhetoric to images in advertising to test the impact of stylistic

elements in advertising that form visual and verbal rhetorical figures on imagery, recall, and

favorability. They find that rhetorical figures represented as visual images in advertising

WHAT’S IN A NAME 8

increases the likelihood of a consumer remembering the ad because of mental connections made

and subsequent positive attitudes generated. In other words, consumers feel a sense of

accomplishment when they believe they have interpreted the meaning of the advertisement. This

creates a positive attitude toward advertising in general but can also lead to a consumer's seeking

out a particular brand.

Sheehan (2014) identifies three common types of DTCA: health-seeking ads in which

information is shared about a particular condition with no mention of a brand, though it is

sponsored by a particular manufacturer; reminder ads that simply mention the brand name

without making claims or identifying the treatable condition (this type is not allowed in the

U.S.); and, the most familiar type, brand advertising in which a brand name is given along with

product-specific information including side effects and effectiveness. Between the two types of

ads allowed in the United States, Kolsarici and Vakratsas (2010) find that brand advertising is

more effective than its more informational counterparts, especially after competitive entry. Rod

and Saunders (2009) argue that pharmaceutical ads that are both informative and persuasive can

coexist in today's marketplace because of the increase in and success of relationship marketing,

even though DTCA is often seen as a contentious practice.

Of course, websites for prescription drugs play a significant role in brand success as well.

Macias and Lewis (2004) conducted an exhaustive content analysis of stand-alone prescription

drug websites, finding that they used advertising appeals similar to those found in print ads but

also included more monetary incentives and much more medical information about both the drug

and the condition it intends to treat. Their data suggest that websites may be better suited to

following FDA guidelines because they are able to include so much informational content, not

just promotional appeals.

WHAT’S IN A NAME 9

Verbal Branding & Product Naming

Names make our lives easier by helping us to figure out what to pay attention to, explains

Altman (2013). A name is frequently the first impression we have of a brand, and because it is a

compact, easy-to-communicate piece of information, developing a name that commands

attention, tells a story, or piques interest is imperative. Product namers, or verbal branders, have

to be very good at being creative while operating under tremendous constraints; they are

responsible for evoking multiple shades of meaning within a single word (Frankel, 2004).

Drawing from work suggesting sound symbolism in brand names conveys relevant

messages, Doyle and Bottomley (2011) argue that visual characteristics of brand names convey

messages of their own. This is important because different messages may be received depending

on the method of delivery, i.e. whether or not the consumer hears or sees the brand name. Their

research shows that even typeface contributes to a brand's multitude of message interpretations:

"The perceived smooth-rich-creaminess of a brand name can be continuously varied by

manipulating the visual characteristics of a single letter in a name. Hence the visual channel is a

potentially powerful way of communicating connotations" (p. 758). Along a related path, it is

noteworthy that consumers gravitate toward visual symbols that represent the brand. A brand

being accompanied by a consistent logo, typeface, or other visual treatment is a now prominent

practice that gained popularity in the early twentieth century when the literacy rate was low and

brand recognition needed to come in multiple forms (Morris, 2004). Together these studies

suggest a powerful relationship between not only how the word sounds aloud and looks on a

page but also how the brand is communicated via advertising.

Landau (2011) explores the darker side of verbal and visual rhetoric in a pharmaceutical

campaign as she studied the impact of the message presented in Merck's "Tell Someone" ad

WHAT’S IN A NAME 10

campaign for HPV and Gardasil. She demonstrates that the campaign implies that all women,

especially middle- to upper-middle-class white women, will get cancer. Landau finds that a

direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical ad campaign that is presented as educational is problematic.

Her research contributes to the argument that verbal and visual rhetoric are a powerful and

persuasive combination.

Pharmaceutical Brand Naming

Pharmaceuticals have a series of three names that become decreasingly scientific-

sounding the closer they are to the consumer market: the chemical compound, the

generic/nonproprietary name, and the brand or trade name. The chemical compound is the most

scientific and the most difficult to communicate to the general public. The generic name is an

international standard that includes letter strings or affixes known as stems that indicate the drug

class, e.g. generics ending in -vir represent an antiviral (World Health Organization, 2015). The

WHO oversees the international nonproprietary nomenclature, providing an extensive list of

stems that must be used or avoided depending on the medication. The FDA regulates DTCA and

any product claims made within the marketing communications of a particular product, including

the brand name itself (Food and Drug Administration, 2014). Brand names must be free of

generic stems and be differentiated in a way that prevents prescription confusion or error. They

must sound different and they must look different from other drugs in both type and handwriting

because incorrectly prescribed medications can lead to drastic consequences including death

(Boyle, 2013). They must also avoid making unsubstantiated claims or over-promising their

indications (Martin, 2014), but it is okay for a name to conjure any number of poetic references,

mythology, or imagery (Frankel, 2004).

WHAT’S IN A NAME 11

Regulations aside, like any consumer product names, drug companies want their products

to be easily pronounced, memorable, interesting, and oftentimes related to desired product

attributes. Verbal designers develop neologisms that tend to fall on a name type spectrum

ranging from descriptive to abstract or arbitrary (Roman, 2014). Given the spectrum, they may

link the drug name to its generic name somehow, link it to what the drug is intended to do, taking

either a literal or evocative approach, or it may be an empty vessel or blank canvas: a name with

no inherent meaning or association, allowing the company to rely on its unspoken appeal or fill it

with meaning through advertising.

With these standards, regulations, restrictions, and considerations standing in the way of

name development, it is this intersection of verbal and visual that I hope to discover the ways, if

any, pharmaceutical companies capitalize on the marketing opportunities that remain to develop

their strategic brand message. I will be analyzing 40 brand name drugs marketed directly to

consumers through television commercials. I am interested in the rhetorical messages being

presented in pharmaceutical verbal branding and the accompanying visual design to investigate

the brand’s message.

Theoretical Framework

This thesis will be a content analysis measuring attributes of brand names and an

accompanying television commercial followed by a rhetorical analysis of the relationship

between the findings from the content examination. The rhetorical analysis is a methodology that

deconstructs the text to articulate how the author uses language to serve the purpose of the

writing, i.e. identify the rhetorical strategies of appeal and style that are engaged to have the most

impact on the intended audience. Appeal types include ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos represent

ethical appeals, those that appeal to credibility or character. Logos are the logical appeals that

WHAT’S IN A NAME 12

use reason and rationality to make a factual argument. Pathos, pathetic appeals, are used to evoke

emotion. I hypothesize that many, if not most, pharmaceutical names and advertising use pathos

as their primary appeal and the style details will contribute to my interpretation of the appeals.

Pharmaceutical companies want brand names that are easy to say, read, and write. Not

only do they want to give the audience information about the drug, they want the audience to ask

their doctor about their brand specifically and hopefully those same consumers talk about the

brand elsewhere. To achieve this purpose, while keeping regulations in mind, companies can

choose to use a particular naming strategy, ranging from descriptive to evocative to empty

vessel, to convey their message in a single word. In the brand names, I will analyze the use of

rhetorical strategies of style, including details such as analogies and figurative language,

imagery, and tone. In the advertising platform, I will analyze the style details of the script as well

as visual details such as color, emphasis, associations, and imagery. Overall, I want to identify

any trends in the findings and determine whether appeal and style help to achieve the intended

purpose of the pharmaceutical companies in their naming strategy.

Guiding the rhetorical aspects of this study will be the Theory of Communicative Action

developed by Jürgen Habermas (1984, 1987). Habermas built on the work of The Frankfurt

School scholars who developed the concept of "culture industries," pop culture products that are

created for mass consumption. Pharmaceutical companies fall under this title of culture industry

because they not only create medications, they brand them, market them, and advertise them

across platforms to the point where brand names are used in everyday conversations and

references. Viagra is a prime example of this phenomenon; it has become part of our lexicon

after being introduced as a medication. Language is important to Habermas as he views it as a

specifically human means of communication. Speech acts are the primary means of

WHAT’S IN A NAME 13

understanding and are the smallest units of verbal communication. Brand names are part of these

speech acts, and it's crucial for consumers to understand name developers' intended meaning to

buy into the message and the branded product. This understanding may come through the brand

name itself or will be understood after being exposed to the supporting advertising.

Commonly used in a discourse analysis to examine the claims of discourse in specific or

isolated communication messages (McArthur, 2015), Habermas puts forth four validity claims in

assessing information: intelligibility, truth, truthfulness, and legitimacy (Burkhart, 2009).

Intelligibility: Is the sender expressing the message using proper grammar, spelling, or

familiar language? Do the sender and receiver mutually agree upon the meaning of the

message?

Truth: Do the sender and receiver believe or agree that truth exists in this message?

Truthfulness: Do the sender and the receiver demonstrate trust?

Legitimacy: Why did the sender say or do this particular thing? What values are being

communicated? Is the message valid? Note that legitimacy doesn't exist if the other three

claims are not met.

If a pharmaceutical company is successful in translating their intentions, consumers will

understand the brand message and be persuaded to ask their doctors not only about the product,

but the brand specifically. Finding consensus in the meanings results in an ideal speech situation,

according to Habermas. Though strategic action is success-oriented, the consensus-oriented

communicative action is used for understanding - delivering messages that consumers may be

seeking. Are pharmaceutical companies taking a strategic or communicative approach in their

brand messages?

WHAT’S IN A NAME 14

There has been significant amount of research regarding how DTCA affects consumer

reactions and behavior but relatively little on the rhetorical relationship between a drug's name

and its advertising message. My research will serve to fill that gap by asking the following

questions:

RQ1: What are the characteristics of prescription drug brand names?

RQ2: How do prescription drug television commercials reflect naming structures, if at all?

RQ3: What does a comparison of a variety of prescription drug brand names and a television

advertisement for each brand demonstrate about the importance of naming in DTCA?

Method

This analysis will examine the construction of pharmaceutical brand names and the

content of the brand’s corresponding television commercial advertisement. Brands included in

the analysis will be collected from television advertisements played on a variety of channels at

varying times of day to ensure a range of target audiences, medical conditions, and

manufacturers. The sample will include approximately 40 brands. The commercial

advertisements will be collected via YouTube.com or via the brand's website so that repeat

viewings are possible for analysis.

Code Sheet Development

A modified code sheet with three sections will be created to record information regarding

the brand name and the television commercial (see Appendix). This code sheet includes variables

included in previous content analyses of direct-to-consumer print and website advertising (Bell,

Kravitz, & Wilkes, 2000; Macias & Lewis, 2003; Moriarty, 1987) as well as variables

appropriate to name construction and television advertising. To answer RQ1, I will identify the

brand name, the generic name, and the medical condition being treated. To classify naming

construction strategies, I will note the name type (descriptive, evocative, empty vessel) and the

WHAT’S IN A NAME 15

tone (feminine, masculine, neutral) on a Likert scale while taking notes of key letter strings or

word parts. To answer RQ2, I will fill in notes regarding dominant colors/aesthetics, metaphors

and imagery, associations, and storytelling or language choices for television commercials. On a

grid, I will circle the types of emotional and rational appeals present in the commercial while

also taking note of other drug information being shared not covered by any of the above sections.

Each drug will be examined on its own page using the coding and notes for RQ1 and RQ2. Then,

to answer RQ3, again using a Likert scale to measure Habermas’ four factors, I will mark the

levels of intelligibility, truth, truthfulness, and legitimacy present in the relationship between the

brand name and the advertisement. The responses on each page will be examined for any

emergent patterns, noting if and what varying ad scenarios reflect different relationships among

intelligibility, truth, truthfulness, and legitimacy.

Challenges and Limitations

One of the challenges in this content analysis is the quantity of pharmaceuticals being

analyzed, resulting in a sampling of just 40 brands. I am also limited by the availability of

material as I am analyzing only brands with television commercials that are uploaded to

YouTube.com or available for download from the brand's website to maintain consistency.

Another challenge is that, though the breadth of DTCA research is vast, there has been relatively

little academic research regarding pharmaceutical brand naming itself and the rhetorical

relationship between naming and advertising.

WHAT’S IN A NAME 16

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WHAT’S IN A NAME 23

APPENDIX

Code Sheet for Content Analysis

SECTION 1 – Brand Name

Brand Name: ______________________ Generic Name: ____________________________

Medical Condition being treated: __________________________________________________

Name on the spectrum:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7Descriptive Suggestive / Evocative / Associative Empty Vessel

Notable letter strings or word parts used:

Tone:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7Masculine Neutral Feminine

Notes regarding tone:

SECTION 2 – Television Advertisement

Style Details:

Dominant Colors/Aesthetics:

Metaphors or Imagery:

WHAT’S IN A NAME 24

Associations (Character/Lifestyle/Celebrity):

Storytelling/Language Choices:

Appeals:

Emotional

Love/Romance/Sex Fear Vanity/Ego Admiration Fun/Leisure

Health

Family Other:

Informational/Rational Product Benefits Proof Effectiveness Other:

In addition to side effects, other drug information being shared:

WHAT’S IN A NAME 25

SECTION 3 – Rhetorical Analysis using Habermas' TCA

Intelligibility: Is the sender expressing the message using proper grammar, spelling, or familiar language? Do the sender and receiver mutually agree upon the meaning of the message?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

None Low Somewhat Low Neutral Somewhat

High High Very High

Factors affecting intelligibility rating:

Truth: Do the sender and receiver believe or agree that truth exists in this message?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

None Low Somewhat Low Neutral Somewhat

High High Very High

Factors affecting truth rating:

Truthfulness: Do the sender and the receiver demonstrate trust?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

None Low Somewhat Low Neutral Somewhat

High High Very High

Factors affecting truthfulness rating:

Legitimacy: Why did the sender say or do this particular thing? What values are being communicated? Is the message valid?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

None Low Somewhat Low Neutral Somewhat

High High Very High

Factors affecting legitimacy rating: