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By Leroy Leo and Puyaan Singh
(Reuters) - Abbott Laboratories will use a mix of TV advertisements and guerilla marketing as well as seek to personalize health data to tap people without diabetes for the U.S. launch of its glucose monitoring device, CEO Robert Ford said on Thursday.
The company plans to launch the over-the-counter device, Lingo, this year. It could be a multi-billion-dollar product for Abbott, Ford estimated, adding it was still in its early days.
Lingo and Libre Rio, another of Abbott's devices, received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's last month.
Lingo targets consumers who want to better understand their health, while Libre Rio is for adults with type 2 diabetes who do not need insulin.
Abbott is a key player in the market for continuous glucose monitors sold under prescription to diabetes patients, along with rivals DexCom and Medtronic.
FreeStyle Libre, Abbott's blood sugar monitor, generated $1.6 billion in sales globally in the second quarter. However, the company said the marketing for a consumer product would greatly differ from that for a medical device.
"I don't think, given our experience here, that you can just go on TV, blast TV advertising and you'll get this big uptake. You are going to have to do some on-the-ground kind of guerilla marketing," Ford said during an analyst conference call.
Guerilla marketing uses tactics such as on-ground outreach, social media campaigns, among others, and usually involve low budgets.
Ford expects sales growth for Lingo to ramp up over time as the company builds the market.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Shagun Singh does not currently model much in sales of Abbott and Dexcom's OTC products, but believes the market would be significant.
Abbott is "literally just launching it this summer. So there will be a lot to learn for us, but substantial opportunities for both companies," said Singh.
(Reporting by Leroy Leo and Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
