Nauzene is an over-the-counter anti-nausea product that had entered a period of decline despite running national television advertising.

The brand's business was heavily dependent on flu season, limiting long-term growth potential. To scale, Nauzene needed to break free from seasonal reliance and establish consistent year-round demand.

Nauzene faced a dominant competitor in Pepto-Bismol, which controlled category share-of-voice and maintained consistent sales throughout the year. The brand faced three major constraints:

• Insufficient budget to compete on television share-of-voice
• Media spend limited to a traditional three-month flu-season flight
• Suboptimal shelf placement, where Nauzene was visually overwhelmed by Pepto-Bismol

Additionally, category messaging centered exclusively around symptom relief, reinforcing reactive purchase behavior. To grow, Nauzene needed to escape flu-season dependence, differentiate from Pepto-Bismol without superiority claims, establish year-round relevance, and maximize impact with limited media resources.

Jekyll + Hyde Labs identified an opportunity not in symptom competition — but in behavioral reframing.

Product + Category Repositioning

While Nauzene lacked strong superiority claims, it did offer a 4-minute formula that could be leveraged in messaging. Category analysis revealed that nausea was not limited to illness. Rather than targeting illness, we targeted overindulgence — holidays, celebrations, and cultural moments where people knowingly eat or drink too much. This shifted the brand from reactive remedy to proactive enabler.

Creative Strategy

We developed a disruptive radio concept built around overindulgence. The campaign, styled as a humorous game show called "Vomit or No Vomit," used pattern interruption and visceral language to capture attention in a passive listening environment. Holiday-specific scenarios dramatized overeating and overdrinking moments. Contestants were given three choices:

• Vomit
• Take "the pink stuff"
• Take Nauzene

Audience groans were used strategically after mentions of the competitor to create subtle negative association, while positioning Nauzene as the preferred solution. The creative reframed the brand as permission to enjoy indulgence — with confidence.

Media Strategy

Rather than compete on television, we removed Nauzene from TV entirely and transitioned investment to SiriusXM satellite radio, where the dominant competitor had zero presence, commercial load is approximately 50% lower than AM/FM, and audience engagement is significantly higher. This move allowed Nauzene to achieve near 100% share of voice within the chosen medium. Media was strategically deployed around high-indulgence holidays: St. Patrick's Day, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas — extending the brand beyond a three-month flu flight and establishing recurring annual activation points.

Within one year:

• Sales increased 30% year-over-year
• The brand generated $4.8 million in annual sales
• The campaign delivered 193 million impressions
• Nauzene successfully transitioned into a year-round advertiser

The strategy shifted the brand from seasonal dependency to consistent demand activation.

By reframing nausea from illness to indulgence, Nauzene unlocked new consumption occasions and escaped flu-season limitation.

Strategic media reallocation — away from an unwinnable TV battlefield and into an uncontested radio environment — created efficient scale without increased budget.

The result was sustained growth, improved mental availability, and a brand repositioned for year-round performance.