Monthly Archives: July 2010

Web first place people go for health information. But you knew that already didn’t you?

Posted on July 21, 2010 | 6 Comments

Some interesting data from eMarketer this morning.  The first tidbit was that the first place people go for health information is the Internet.  If this is surprising to you one has to wonder where you have been over the last couple of years.

So the next logical questions is “why do people turn to the Internet first for health information ?”.    The answer to that of course is that it is always there 24/7/365.  As to what drives people to look for health information ?  Think triggers like:

  • Having a personal health issue and determining if I should go see a doctor, which takes time out of my busy day, or whether I can self treat.
  • Family member having a health issue. I want to know what it could possibly be and whether I need to seek additional medical care.
  • Family member diagnosed with medical condition.  I want to know what to expect and health treatment options.
  • I am not feeling the same/feeling worse since I started taking my Rx and want to know if it’s the medicine or me.

Make no mistake about it consumers are spending time online self-diagnosing to a certain extent and they want a bigger role in their healthcare choices.  Sure a medication can help control high triglycerides but if it causes extreme muscle pain is it really worth it ?

The other bit of information from emarketer is that the most appealing factor about health communities is that the information is available 24/7.  I’m not sure I buy this one.  I believe the most appealing factor in online health communities is that the information is usually from other patients.  People want to hear and share their experiences not read a sales sheet of what to expect.  As for info being available 24/7 ?  I think you could say that about the entire Internet not just health information.

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Posted in Internet

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62% of consumers not interested in hearing from pharma on social media

Posted on July 19, 2010 | 14 Comments

There’s a lot of good information in the Rodale DTD Study and it validates the research that I have been doing for a client for a better part of the year.

To me the biggest validation was that people want to hear from other people like them via social media and do not want to hear from pharma or insurers.  You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out why;

  • Trust in the pharma industry, and the FDA, is still at an all time low.
  • “Who would be speaking to” was a common concern among people who use social media for health when asked if they would follow pharma brand via social media.
  • Finally, there is the issue of privacy.  When you join groups on social media it is, in most cases, there for the whole world to see.

According to the Epsilon Study:

Pharma can have a limited voice – to validate what people say

“The study showed that consumers are not resistant to Pharma actively participating in social media to some degree.” “When consumers read a post about a medication concern 45% would like someone to validate the accuracy of that comment.”

Of course the problem is that they usually can’t validate the concern on a branded website unless they try and read through the label and warnings.  Even then they may not be able to find the information they were looking for because all too often label language is too damn hard to understand.

While the FDA decides on the how much interaction consumers can have with drug companies patients are using alternate sources for information with sites like patients like me and Rate a drug.   The FDA needs to determine the extent that content on these sites is both accurate and credible and how patients are using these type of sites in healthcare decision making.  One could argue that these sites can do some good in educating patients but there is also the possibility that, after reading some content, that people could stop taking their medication or not fulfill their Rx.

Are sites like these providing credible information and what effect are they having on patients behavior ?

The FDA needs to better understand HOW consumers & patients are using the Internet for healthcare.  With consumers trusting each other a lot more than drug company websites these types of sites could become more impactful in helping or hurting patient behavior.

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Posted in Social media and healthcare

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Prevention Magazine: DTC ads in print and TV are balanced but not online

Posted on July 16, 2010 | 4 Comments

According to Prevention Magazine’s 13th annual national surveyConsumer Reaction to DTC Advertising of Prescription Drugs, consumers are paying attention to the FDA regulated “fair balance” mandate between risk and benefit information on all DTC ads; the majority believe pharmaceutical advertising in magazines and television is presented “both fair and balanced.” Conducted by Prevention, Men’s Health and Women’s Health magazines, published by Rodale Inc., with technical assistance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communication (FDA-DDMAC), the survey is one of the primary consumer studies informing the FDA’s stance on DTC issues.

For five consecutive years in a row, consumers reported consistent balance of awareness and attention paid to both risks and benefits in TV and magazine ads:

  • 79% of consumers have “seen and heard” the TV DTC Ads Risk; 76% pay a lot / some attention and find the information very or somewhat useful.
  • 73% of consumers have “seen and heard” TV DTC Ads Benefits; 63% pay a lot / some attention; 75% find the information very or somewhat useful.
  • 48% of consumers have “seen and heard” Magazine DTC Ads Benefits; 66% pay a lot / some attention; 75% find the information very or somewhat useful.
  • 52% of consumers have “seen and heard” Magazine DTC Ads Benefits; 63% pay a lot / some attention; 76% find the information very or somewhat useful

Consumers also reported that they feel online DTC ads need to work harder to improve consumer awareness of DTC Ads Risks:

  • Only 37% have “seen and heard” Online DTC Ads Risk; 69% pay a lot / some attention; 75% find the information very or somewhat useful.
  • 54% have “seen and heard” Online DTC Ads Benefits; 57% pay a lot / some attention; 76% find the information very or somewhat useful.

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Posted in Focus on patients, in the news, Internet

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The best award any pharma marketer can get

Posted on July 13, 2010 | 3 Comments

We’re at that time of year again when a lot of people start getting awards for their work on DTC campaigns.  There have been, in my opinion, some really good one (Cymbalta, Lipitor) and some horrible ones (Omnaris) but what the judges and I think doesn’t matter because at the end of the day it’s “what did consumers think and did they take action ?”

When I was on the Cialis team and we did research with women to ask about the effect of ED on their marriage there was a lot of anguish and pain from the focus group.  Some women blamed themselves other loved their husbands but their husband inability to take action hurt them on a lot of different levels.  That’s when I knew we had to have content on the website targeted at women so they could help their husbands address the problem by asking for Cialis.

One of the nicest experiences I had was reading a letter from a patient who was diagnoses with breast cancer, now in remission.  She basically just wanted to say “thank you” to someone for developing the drug that helped her beat her breast cancer and for the information that led to early detection.  I still here from her once in a while and she is cancer free for over 5 years now.

With all the meetings, Power Points and politics I think a lot of DTC marketers lose sight of the fact that what we do can help consumers/patients lead a better quality of life.  How many people are able to fight off CV disease because they take Lipitor ?  How many people who just want to sleep all day are able to lead a more normal life because they take Cymbalta ?   Just a little over 25 years ago a diagnose of HIV was paramount to a death sentence but now people with HIV are leading productive lives.

I love listening to and talking with patients because once you talk to them as a person and not a marketer you can learn a lot.  Today people really do want to believe that the medications they take are helping them stay well or get better but the industry has done a lot to violate that trust.

The best award any pharma marketer can get ?  A feeling of knowing that they helped someone, somewhere lead a more productive and better life.  If that isn’t enough to motivate you than you are in the wrong business.

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Posted in Working in the industry

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