My awards for the drug industry

So who are the people that are doing some really good work out there ?  Who has the best drug DTC and who is among the worst ?  Here is my list of some brands & people who are making a difference within healthcare marketing.  Believe it or not there are a lot of excellent marketers out there and people who “get it”. These are just some observations and I would welcome additions or suggestions as to whom I may have left out.  Anyone have some fun and the envelope please…

Best DTC TV ads

Lipitor - “What was I thinking” because it clearly shows that high cholesterol can cause CV disease and effect anyone.  Love the use of black and white video as well as images of people living life which is what it’s all about.

Cymbalta – “Depression Hurts”   Yes depression can effect caregivers and family and this commercial clearly shows that depression can hurt.  Well done with great sound branding.

Best Drug Company Product Website

Enbrel – Talk to a HCP live on the website and easy to use navigation that is intuitive with great use of images and layout.

Social Media Pioneers

Two companies I feel get this award.  Firs the folks at Sanofi for their efforts to reach out to diabetics and HCP’s and the people at Astra Zeneca who held their first Twitter chat around ways to get assistance paying for medications.

Best Pharma Blog (Industry News)

Without a doubt the must read is Pharmalot.  Ed gets great news and gives us the facts.

Best Pharma Blog (Opinionated)

John Mack’s Pharma Blog continues to challenge establish thinking and he is quick to call someone on the carpet when they screw up.

Best Pharma Conference

There are way too many of them but DTC National gets my vote because they have a wide range of industry people including policy decision makers.

Best Pharma People to Follow on Twitter

There are quite a few and I don’t mean to offend anyone if I miss you but here it goes:   @SpitzStrategy From Ignite @WendyBlackburn EVP for IntouchSol digital marketing agency.  @pharmalot Ed’s Twitter feed @ellenhoenig Simplify consumer and healthcare marketing for elegant solutions in a complex world. @pharmaguy John Mack tells it like it is. Zoe Elliott Dunn@zelliott New YorkDigital Marketing professional with passion for helping the Pharmaceutical industry communicate via Digital Channels. Eileen O’Brien@EileenOBrien

Best Industry Insider Research

Two sources. Manhattan Research and eMarketer.  They provide data that is easy to understand and provide essential insights as to why and how.

Now for the not so good…

Worst DTC Ads on TV -

Not from a creative standpoint but from failing to move the needle I have to say it is the current Viagra campaign urging men to “take action”.  Note to agency people: The reason don’t take action is because it is hard to admit you have a problem and embarrassing to ask your doctor for an Rx.  It’s not going to help men to ask for an Rx for Viagra.

Worst Pharma BLOG –

Jim Edwards on BNET goes out of his way to be negative about the drug industry and never has anything nice to say.  While it is true that the drug industry has done some stupid and dumb things to protect sales we also have to remember that a lot of people are living healthier longer lives because of Rx drugs.

The I’m sick and tired of these ads award

Cialis.  Sick of the music, sick of the tubs and can I please watch some TV without all of these ads ?

Most overrated industry person

Shwen – So what brands have you worked on and what drugs have you launched ?  None !??  What a surprise.

“I could have been a contender award”

Byetta.  Too many missteps and not listening to your audience and responding causing it to loose sales to new competitors.

Biggest Mistake By a Pharma Company

Pfizers merger is looking like a turkey that is too big as Pfizer now looks to sell off some of its businesses.

Biggest disappointment that we all should have expected

The FDA’s stonewalling on issuing social media marketing guidelines.  By the time they issue them social media will have evolved and changed so they are not relevant.

The whatever happened to

Rozerem ?  Probably the worst DTC ads every produced

Dumbest DDMAC Guideline

Not allowing one click to fair balance when brand is mentioned with health condition.  Notice to FDA-DDMAC nobody is going to ask for an Rx after reading a brand and health condition it treats on search engines.  They are going to do their due diligence first.

Worst Industry Insights/Research

Without a doubt Edelman who continues to issue “duh” research and poor findings.  Pharma is one of most trusted industries ? Really ?  On what planet ?