Insight Driven Business Planning

Meda Consumer Healthcare is the US subsidiary of Meda Pharmaceuticals – a Swedish company with products distributed across 120 countries globally.

In 2008 the Meda/US organization purchased DrNatura, an all-natural colon cleanse supplement sold almost exclusively online.

Ascension was engaged by DrNatura to address key strategic issues impacting growth and the long term viability of the brand:

• How is the colon cleanse market segmented?
• What is the usage and repurchase dynamics of colon cleanse buyers?
• How did DrNatura revenue performance compare to key competitors?
• What should DrNatura do with the brand?

Due to the online nature of the colon cleanse supplement business no category shipment or competitive performance data existed.

The IRI’s and Nielsen’s of the world do not track or publish competitive data on the colon cleanse category.

Without data and critical customer insights Meda management was challenged to make key strategic planning decisions for the brand.

Using online Google + Bing search activity data Ascension created a multi-year regression analysis that used competitive brand online search activity as a proxy for competitive brand performance and market share information.

Ascension also designed and implemented a custom research program to better understand the attitudes/perceptions of DrNatura customers relative to the brand and the overall colon cleanse category.

The combination of online search analytics + consumer insights helped inform the company’s going forward business strategy.