The challenge for the next evolution was to keep that core idea working hard, while making it feel fresher, more human and more relevant to the everyday moments when pain gets in the way. Rather than reinventing the campaign, Spruik looked at how we could bring “Unwind Your Pain” into real-life situations people recognise.
People don’t necessarily experience pain as a medical condition. They experience a stiff neck after sleeping awkwardly, tight shoulders after a day at a desk, or pain when turning their head. They search for answers in the language of those experiences, rather than terms such as “muscle spasm”. That gave us an opportunity to make Norflex’s difference easier to understand.
While many OTC pain relief products work at the site of inflammation to provide temporary symptom relief, Norflex works on muscle spasm — helping muscles relax and reset. The strategic opportunity was to move beyond the familiar “rub it where it hurts” mindset and help consumers understand that sometimes the source of ongoing pain needs attention too.
We brought the original red vice concept into a more human, live-action world, using movement and metaphor to make the feeling of being physically “clamped” tangible. An everyday moment of tension and restricted movement became the creative expression of pain, before abstract visuals build a feeling of discomfort and constriction, before resolving.
The result is an evolution, not a departure. “Unwind Your Pain” remains at the heart of the campaign, while the creative language around it has become more relatable and grounded in the situations people actually experience.
The new TVC launched across television and digital, with placements during sports matches helping put the campaign in front of a predominantly male audience — an audience particularly relevant to the physical, active and everyday moments brought to life in the creative.
A familiar idea with a fresh perspective and an everyday reason to Unwind Your Pain.
Norflex® is a prescription medicine containing Orphenadrine Citrate 100mg per dose. Norflex® is used to help relax certain muscles in your body to relieve the pain and discomfort caused by sprains, strains or other injury to your muscles. Norflex® is also used to treat tension headache and persistent hiccoughs. Norflex® has risk and benefits. Consumer Medicine Information can be obtained from www.medsafe.govt.nz. Ask your doctor if Norflex® is right for you. Always use strictly as directed. If symptoms continue or you have side effects see your healthcare professional. Norflex® is a fully funded Prescription Medicine. Normal doctor’s charges apply. Distributed in New Zealand by Radiant Health Ltd, Auckland. This site is intended for New Zealand residents only.
