Marketing mania

It's all about creating a bigger shelf presence. By presenting different packs, types and claims, a brand stands out from its competitors - unless they're playing the same game too.

Fifteen of the 22 painkillers we found were either Nurofen (which contains ibuprofen) or Panadol (containing paracetamol). If you have a packet of Nurofen Tension Headache in the medicine cabinet, do you need to buy Nurofen Back Pain when your back starts playing up? Will Panadol Rapid bring faster relief than Panadol Back + Neck?

Formulation

There's no difference in formulation or, usually, price, between Nurofen Tension Headache, Period Pain and Migraine Pain. They're sold as 12-pack caplets and cost $6.99 in a supermarket.

Nurofen Back Pain has the same formulation as the other three. But it's sold in packs of 24 caplets and we paid $12.99 for our pack. So are these products any different from regular Nurofen caplets, which cost $7.24 for a 24-pack in the same store?

The manufacturer, Reckitt Benckiser, says its research has shown that consumers look for products that are suitable for their particular pain. The targeted products help customers quickly identify the best product for their pain. They cost more than regular Nurofen because they contain a different form of ibuprofen that's faster-acting but more expensive to produce.

Panadol Back + Neck caplets are the same as Panadol Rapid and cost the same - around $1.30 more than the same-sized (20) pack of regular Panadol caplets.

GlaxoSmithKline says Panadol Rapid is for a younger market that wants a fast reaction, while Panadol Back + Neck targets older shoppers. Both these products contain sodium bicarbonate so they're absorbed faster than regular Panadol.

• Tip: The house-brand painkillers (Pams is sold in New World and Pak'n Save; Signature Range in Woolworths and Countdown) have the same level of active ingredients as their regular leading-brand counterparts. But they cost $2 to $3 less for a similar-size packet.