Category Archives: Prescription drug DTC marketing

The conversion path to an Rx is rarely a straight line

Posted on December 19, 2011 | 1 Comment

With less people going to see their doctor and with non-compliance and adherence at record high levels the path to conversion for Rx drugs has become a journey from one point to another.  Pharma marketers have to ensure that their marketing mix is optimized for each channel so that DTC marketing can have maximum impact and ROI. Continue reading →

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Some new fundamental features that every health site should have

Posted on December 15, 2011 | 10 Comments

The Internet is moving at light speed but a lot of IT organizations move at a turtles pace compared to what’s happening with technology.   Here are some fundamentals that every health site (product.com website) should have now. Continue reading →

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Pharma continues to waste money on TV

Posted on December 13, 2011 | 5 Comments

Drugmakers spent nearly $3.1 billion during the first nine months of this year on DTC advertising, a 3 percent increase from $2.95 million during the same period a year earlier, according to Nielsen. .  The bulk of the recent spending was on television ads, which amounted to $1.93 billion, or 63 percent of all spending. Moreover, television ad spending rose 2 percent.  Why are DTC marketers so in love with TV advertising ?  Because they just don’t don’t get it. Continue reading →

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The most important paid media for pharma ? Websites !

Posted on December 8, 2011 | 1 Comment

CRM Metrix is a great resource.  They have just released their findings on the most important channel (media mix) for a number of products including pharma/OTC.  Number one for pharma was friends/family, followed by professional (i.e. physicians) and the most important paid media was a website.  So why do so many pharma website suck ? Continue reading →

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Physician visits by privately insured patients decline 17%:Recommendations for DTC Marketers

Posted on November 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

Physician office visits by privately insured patients younger than 65 have fallen 17% in two years, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis released Nov. 15.    The quarterly number of office visits by privately insured patients had reached 160 million by 2005 then was at a plateau until the recession hit, according to an analysis prepared for Kaiser at Stanford University using data collected by IMS Health. Continue reading →

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Healthcare is changing but DTC marketing still stuck in the past

Posted on November 15, 2011 | 1 Comment

Healthcare in America is changing. Hospitals are scrambling to buy hospitals. Doctors are leaving small private practices. Large insurance companies are becoming more dominant as smaller ones disappear because they cannot stay competitive. States are simplifying decades of Medicaid rules and planning new ways for poor and rich alike to buy policies more easily and less patients are going to see their doctor, spending more time online researching health and getting more involved in wellness.  Where are most DTC marketers ?  On the sideline watching it all happen. Continue reading →

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Digital marketing more effective than TV. So why doesn’t pharma spend more online ?

Posted on November 1, 2011 | 2 Comments

Information Resources has reported an average 8% lift in sales of consumer packaged- goods brands retail sales over the course of a year, as a result of TV advertising. This matches the sales lift comScore has observed from digital advertising over a three-month period. The faster sales lift from digital traces to a greater use of price and promotion messaging when compared to TV, but it is also caused by digital’s superior targeting ability, which allows more ad impressions to be delivered against a target audience in a given period of time.  So why hasn’t pharma gotten the message ? Continue reading →

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Survey: DTC not effective in majority of consumers

Posted on October 13, 2011 | 12 Comments

Each year, the Thomson Reuters Pulse Healthcare Survey collects information about health behavior, attitudes, and utilization from more than 100,000 U.S. households.  Nearly 8% of those seeing, hearing, or receiving ads were influenced to ask their doctor about a specific medication. This percentage decreases as respondents’ age and income rise. Continue reading →

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When market research trumps common sense

Posted on October 11, 2011 | 4 Comments

Let’s say that a pre-launch brand spends $2-$4 million in market research.  Based on the research you expect your brand to be a blockbuster but two to three years after launch sales are nowhere near forecast ?  Was it execution or the market research ?  More and more it’s proving to be the market research because too many marketers are afraid to say what they feel when it comes to gaining an understanding of how people think about healthcare choices. Continue reading →

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Huh? Really bad online advertising

Posted on October 11, 2011 | 5 Comments

I came across this online ad for Vyvanse and thought frankly that it was really bad.  First you don’t need fair balance because the product does not mention what it treats but beyond that what the hell is this ad supposed to convey to people?  Do the think that people are going to click on an ad when they have no idea what the hell the product is for ? Continue reading →

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How Pharma Marketing Can Improve (Guest Post)

Posted on August 25, 2011 | 3 Comments

This is a guest post by Brian Shields: Reading through blog posts and tweetchats over the last year, it is obvious that there is a growing angst among the professional marketers within the healthcare space.  Perhaps this is a biased sample, since I’m utilizing social media as the major information source and there are obvious frustrations for Pharma in this space.   However, a biased sample or not, it is difficult to argue with the data being presented.  Pharma marketers are on a path toward extinction and right now, their agency partners are the Paul Reveres ringing the warning bell. Continue reading →

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