SUMMARY: AZ is using non-branded DTC to educate lung cancer patients about different biomarkers. Why haven’t all the companies that offer lung cancer drugs joined forces to educate a public when only 40% of lung cancer patients get their tumors tested?
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KEY TAKEAWAY: While patients are going online to research new drugs and treatments, pharma websites are becoming a less important part of the decision making. DTC marketers need to focus more on digital and less on TV.
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KEY TAKEAWAY: Pharma agencies either have not communicated what effective reach and frequency is or DTC managers are spending money so they don’t lose it. Either way, what I learned in analyzing quantitative data is that people are tired of the same ads that are repeated over and over.
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IN SUMMARY: Proponents of DTC advertising argue that advertisements can raise awareness about treatments and health conditions, though others say that DTC advertising can lead to overprescribing. However, the authors of a recent study found that information seeking behavior following exposure to DTC advertising. Some of these studies associated information seeking more strongly with patients with chronic conditions and those with a more positive view of DTC advertising.
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IN SUMMARY: Launching a new drug in today’s challenging market can be tough. Your first objective, when it comes to DTC marketing should be to reach your target micro-segments with relevant messages. Today, one message for all segments doesn’t work. More emphasis on digital that works and less emphasis on mass channels.
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IN SUMMARY: According to a recent study in Scientific American, ” the FDA’s assumption that more risk information leads to greater concern about risk is misplaced. Across six experiments, comprising of over 3000 US participants, we reliably find that when drug commercials include all side effects (both major and minor), in line with the FDA’s regulations, consumers’ judged the overall severity of drug side effects to be lower than when exposed to only major side effects. This lowered assessment of severity led consumers to prefer the drug more—and made them willing to pay more for the drug”. This, to say the least, is a hugely flawed study.
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