The development of the Lantus® identity. A look back at an iconic pharmaceutical brand developed by Brand Acumen.

1. The Lantus Case Study

2. Case Study: Lantus
The Client: Sanofi-Aventis
Sanofi-Aventis is a diversified global healthcare company that discovers, develops, and dis-
tributes therapeutic solutions to improve the lives of everyone.
The Task: Brand Name Development
The task was to create a global brand name for the first 24-hour long-lasting insulin to come
to market. This allowed patients to only administer one injection per day instead of multiple.
Naming Strategy
In our project kickoff meeting, it was understood that the primary attributes the name should
convey are convenience, reliability, and pioneering.
Name Creation
Our team created an initial list of over 90 potential brand name candidates. This list was nar-
rowed to 8 names after rigorous global linguistic analysis and trademark screening.
Names in Validation Phase
Relipa Laneven Solos
Sangide Ollage
Extine
Glycent Lantus®
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3. Each of the 8 brand
name finalists was
subjected to
our ScoreCard
analysis,
based on the
following
categories:
Scriptability
Aural Comprehensibility
Visual Aesthetics
Phonetic Viability
Syllabic Balance
Evocative Semantics
Durability & Longevity
Ease of Pronunciation
Gender Properties
Phonemic Simplicity
Case Study: Lantus
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4. ScoreCard Analysis – “Lantus”& Runner-Up Name Candidates
Case Study: Lantus
Lantus Laneven Solos Extine Relipa Glycent Sangide Ollage
Scriptability
8 9 9 7 7 7 8 5
Aural
Comprehensibility
7 7 7 8 6 5 5 6
Visual Aesthetics
7 7 9 7 7 5 6 6
Syllabic Balance
9 8 7 5 8 7 4 5
Phonetic Viability
9 6 7 8 6 6 4 4
Evocative Semantics
7 8 8 7 6 6 6 6
Durability
&
Longevity
7 7 6 6 7 7 7 7
Ease of
Pronunciation
8 6 7 7 8 6 4 4
Gender Properties
6 6 5 8 7 6 8 8
Phonemic Simplicity
10 8 6 7 7 6 7 6
Quantitativ
e Score/
100
78 72 71 70 69 61 59 57
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5. 100
50
50
General Practitioners
People with Diabetes
Pharmacists
We interviewed 200 respondents regarding each of the
8 brand name candidates. Respondents included
phy- sicians, pharmacists, and patients.
Case Study: Lantus
QualiQuantitative Interviews
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6. Brand Name Recommendation: Lantus®
Respondents quickly connected with Lantus®. Lantus was noted as future forward (LAN
computing was popular at the time), grounded, regulated, and constant. It’s syllabic and
aural qualities suggest balance and “tus” suffix is a nod to Aventis, the company that
developed it.
Brand Name: Solos
Brand Name Feedback:
Respondents noted that Solos
im-
plied “soluble” as well as
“singular”,
referring to its once daily dosage.
Brand Name: Relipa
Brand Name Feedback:
Respondents noted that Relipa
implied “reliable”. It also
alludes
to recombinant human insulin
and
lipids.
Brand Name: Laneven
Brand Name Feedback:
Laneven served as our secondary
recommendation.Respondents not-
ed feelings of “balance” and
“stabil-
ity” with the brand name candidate
as well as messaging to patients
“even” glucose levels.
Case Study: Lantus
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