The Mentholatum Company of Canada has launched a new kind of arthritic pain therapy medicine targeted straight at the aching, arthritic joints of Canada’s aging population.
Called Menthacin, the over-the-counter medicine is the first available in Canada to feature the long-term pain relief provided by a relatively new ingredient called capsaicin with the short-term benefits of menthol.
Capsaicin is an arthritis medicine developed specifically for arthritis sufferers. It is made of all natural cayenne pepper extract, originally used by the Incas to relieve pain.
When a person suffers from a chronic arthritic pain in a joint, in simple terms it means the area is flooded with something called substance p, a neurotransmitter that tells your brain that pain exists.
‘What this product does is deplete the substance p, blocking the pain message to the brain,’ says Rick Gazzola, director of sales and marketing at Mentholatum Canada, which is headquartered in Fort Erie, Ont.
He stresses that the medicine must be used properly to be effective. ‘It is key that it’s used two or three times a day for seven to ten days continuously.’
Because the remedy does not relieve pain immediately, a menthol component has been added to the cream to give users some instant relief.
Gazzola suspects the arrival of the Menthacin product in Canada is just the beginning of an explosion in the category, and is confident Mentholatum’s delivery of a capsaicin product to the Canadian market first will allow it to entrench a dominant position here.
‘It’s the next level in topical analgesics… There were always heat rubs, then there were ice gels, which are the biggest thing now. There’s an emerging market now in the category of capsaicins,’ says Gazzola.
In the u.s. it’s already called the capsaicin category.
In retail dollars, the total topical analgesic category is worth $25-27 million in Canada, according to Gazzola, who also notes that for the time being the category will remain somewhat flat, at least until the baby boomers begin to experience the aches and pains that come with aging.
Over 3 million Canadians suffer from arthritis, and research conducted by Devon Healthcare Marketing in Toronto for Mentholatum, shows that over two-thirds of them are chronic sufferers.
Today, over 12% of the Canadian population is over the age of 65, and that figure is expected to grow to about 15% by the year 2000.
For older people, the Menthacin product has the added benefit of being all-natural, which in this case means more than being trendy. There is no danger of this product creating complications in those people already taking one or more medicines for other reasons, such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
‘If you’ve got a sore ankle or knee, why take something systemically which is going to affect all of your body, when you can take this topically,’ says Gazzola.
The product is targeted at arthritis sufferers, and is not intended for use on other types of pain.
The advertising, created by Olnyk, King & Duda Advertising in Hamilton, is intended to promote trial and educate arthritis sufferers about the benefits of capsaicin.
A national radio advertising campaign featuring hockey-great Gordie Howe and wife Colleen broke last week, and tv is a possibility later in the year. Print ads will be seen in a number of publications read by older people.
Mentholatum also offers 24-hour a day access to a registered nurse over a 1-800 number.
‘That was a big hit with the retailers. They saw us as having a different product and taking the idea a step further,’ says Gazzola.
Mentholatum is a 106 year-old company with head offices and product development facilities in Buffalo, N.Y. Six cousins started the company and drew straws to see who would expand to Canada. The one that got the short straw set up shop across the water in Fort Erie and went home every night to Buffalo for dinner.
The company now distributes in 163 countries.
Mentholatum’s Deep Heating Rub is the No. 1 selling topical analgesic in the world, selling well in less-developed markets such as Asia and Europe but not North America.
In Canada, Deep Cold Therapy is the company’s number one product.
‘We go after niche categories as opposed to taking on the Procter & Gambles and Warner-Lamberts and companies like that,’ says Gazzola.
Competitors include Carter Products’ A-535, Bayer’s Myoflex, W.K. Buckley’s Pain Relief Rub, Pfizer Canada’s Ben Gay and Chattem Canada’s Flex-all 454.
