When and why did pharmaceutical brand names become so weird? Generic drug names need identify their underlying chemistry, so they aren’t intended to be understood by patients. But you’d think that their brand names, which are so broadly advertised to potential users, would describe or at least suggest what they do as simply as possible.

While all drug names must straddle regulatory and trademark hurdles before coming to market, there are so many bizarre brand names to absorb. Then again, maybe this approach isn’t so unintentional and stupid.

What’s so smart about being weird?

These days, there are so many remarkable advances in pharmaceuticals. While there’s always been patient-driven advertising, the need to seed awareness and preference for competing prescriptions has never been greater.

For this reason, drug developers must get their brand names out there as quickly and seamlessly as possible. The reality is that clear and simple names are more likely to get stuck in the regulatory pipeline and potentially get outpaced by competitors. Creating an obscure name may work better towards this end, for developers if not for end-users. Some of these brand names, like their generic cousins, speak to their pharmacology rather than their benefits. But, at the same time, they’re bewildering to patients. They’re likely more difficult to say, remember, and differentiate.

Sometimes, pharma clients or advertisers look to me to create a clear and simple name, as I’ve been accustomed to doing over the years. But at other times, they direct me to create names that are purposefully obscure, such as all those we see on TV every day.

If the name doesn’t matter, what else can?

While reinforcing a product’s distinctive brand colors isn’t a new idea, it has become increasingly important in helping patients differentiate the choices.

Let’s consider examples in the current diabetes/weight loss space – Ozempic and Jardiance.

These have taken direction from the classic Pepto Bismol playbook. Not only are the packaging colors distinctive, but the clothing, scenic backgrounds, and even messaging platforms, are driving recall of the weird brand names, with songs and theatrical vignettes staring the patients.

A newer supporting tactic is to build meaning in the obscure name

While the Ozempic name seems meaningless, the “O,” has provided a way forward. The musical reprise “Oh, Oh, Oh Ozempic,” reinforces the name. Also, the patient is shown within an “O,” which represents a tri-zone that keep the patient in control of diabetes in three ways. The patient is shown managing his or her daily activities while in this zone.

Jardiance has taken this theatrical theatre one step further. The Jardiance name is supported by a full-cast song and dance number built around the reprise, “It’s a little pill with a big story to tell.”

A third player in this space is Wegovy, which has taken a similar but somewhat different approach to name recognition. Color is still a tactic, but a bit less so. Instead, Wegovy speaks to a sense of community centered around the ‘We’ in the name.

Messaging still reinforces using the drug to manage diabetes (and loss weight), but it does this within a broader context of belonging to a group of like-minded people. In short, Wegovy represents ‘The power of we.’

But some new pharma brand names actually are pretty good

While the majority are obscure, some do a better job of describing or suggesting their purpose or benefit. Two of these are Breztri and Evenity.

The drug Breztri for COPD and other breathing problems, while not purely descriptive, does a good job of speaking to better breathing with three key ingredients.

The drug Evenity for post-menopausal bone loss is packed with meaning in a name that is attractive and easy to say and remember. ‘Even’ means regular, smooth, and unbroken, while ‘Eve’ clearly address its female audience.

So, the takeaway

Naming, pharmaceutical or otherwise, always faces a degree of clearance risk. And perhaps the risk and time for clearance greater for drug names which are simpler to understand and remember.

However, names such as Evenity demonstrate that, with some creativity and commitment, a drug brand name doesn’t have to be so weird as to defy clarity and simplicity.

New Pharma Names Struggle to Be Clear and Simple