WYETH-AYERST AD TIES-IN CHAINS

LISA SAXTON

RADNOR, Pa. -- In conjunction with the introduction of its liquid Bonamil formula, Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories here ran a newspaper ad that mentioned many of the country's top supermarket chains.

The cooperative ad, which ran in major U.S. newspapers last month, boldly touted that consumers could save up to $32 per month with Bonamil products. However, while the ad compared nutrition contents with Ross Laboratories' Similac product, it did not make an actual price comparison.

Wyeth-Ayerst launched its concentrated liquid and ready-to-feed formulas in September. The product has been available in powdered form since the end of 1994.

Each ad was a black-and-white, quarter-page piece and contained a tag box that read "Look for Bonamil at:" followed by that market's major retail chains.

According to a source at Wyeth-Ayerst, each regional trade sales force and broker network worked out individual programs with its retail accounts. It is not known whether Bonamil will continue with this particular campaign, said the source.