BEST OF THE BUNCH: Which were the winningest OTCs/HBCs launched in 2004?

The Hamacher Resource Group provided the information for this article. The Milwaukee company provides marketing services and business intelligence to the healthcare industry. Wholesalers, manufacturers, and retailers partner with Hamacher Resource Group to improve their profitability. For more information, visit http://www.hamacher.com/

With almost 6,000 health and beauty care (HBC) items introduced during 2004, competition for market share was especially fierce. The big stories last year were in the cough and cold, oral care, and diabetes care categories. New players on these teams connected with consumers and delivered even better than expected sales results.

Nine new items added to Hamacher Resource Group's planograms during 2004 performed so well they earned a spot on our exclusive list of the top 1,000 HBC best-sellers. Another 13 planogrammed new items joined the top 2,000. The list of new headliners is a little shorter than for 2003, however, since 2004 lacked the extra boost provided by the cough and cold Rx-to-OTC switches of the previous year.

Planogram placement standards Only about 13% of all HBC items sold in the United States have what it takes to earn a place on Hamacher's planograms. Our analysts review all new items before their release and rank them according to their anticipated ability to generate sales. Among the criteria for inclusion are product innovation, profit potential, market acceptance, marketing support, market growth, and manufacturer track record. If a new item ranks within the top 4,000 HBC products, it makes the first cut onto most medium-sized planograms. To be granted a spot on the smallest planograms, items must show signs of outselling 93% of currently available products. Making the final cut requires a new item to show strong ability to outsell one of the items in its own department's current planogram.