POST SUMMARY: Web analytics can provide a wealth of information allowing brand teams to determine if they are on target with the global launch of new prescription drugs. By developing a digital global launch excellence template organizations can benchmark if their message is cutting through the clutter to reach consumers who are likely to ask about your product.
Category: Prescription drug DTC marketing
POST SUMMARY: IBS affects between 25 and 45 million people in the United States (10 to 15% of the population). About 2 in 3 IBS sufferers are female. About 1 in 3 IBS sufferers are male. IBS affects people of all ages, even children. Although IBS is common in the general population, few seek medical care for their symptoms, so I have to wonder why Ironwood and Forest are taking such a bad approach to the DTC marketing for Linzess.
Women with children in the household are the primary users of online health information—they are the “chief medical officers” of their families. Roughly three-quarters of US women use the internet for health information, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, and many of them do so nearly daily. Yet when it comes to unifying the customer experience cross-channel less than one quarter of companies report they “always succeed,” while more than 60 percent “often or sometimes fail” according to a Forrester study .
According to Business Intelligence “The TV business has had its worst year ever. Audience ratings have collapsed: Aside from a brief respite during the Olympics, there has been only negative ratings growth on broadcast and cable TV since September 2011, according to Citi Research.” While the national network news seems to be sponsored by pharma companies consumers are consuming media elsewhere and time shifting their favorite shows because repetitive tv commercials are downright annoying.
If the FDA wants to make DTC TV ads relevant to consumers they need to revisit the guidelines they established years ago. For example, the requirement to add a “see our ad in…” is completely worthless. Does the FDA really believe that consumers are going to remember that ? Then there is the fair balance which is a bit of an oxymoron. What the FDA really needs to do is look at how people are reacting to these ads and better understand the steps they go through as they decide on which drugs they are going to ask about.
According to today’s Times “The market for testosterone gels evolved because there is an appetite among men and because there is advertising,” said Dr. Joel Finkelstein, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School who is studying male hormone changes with aging. “The problem is that no one has proved that it works and we don’t know the risks.” Many experts say that pharmaceutical advertising promotes excessive and inappropriate drug use by convincing patients that they are ill — or have a more serious condition than is genuinely the case — and need medicine to treat it. While television viewers are barraged with advertising warning men they may have “low T,” Dr. Finkelstein said, “There is no such disease.”
I never thought I would say this but pharma maybe putting too much emphasis on digital. Before you drop your coffee let me explain… The report from Compas released yesterday clearly showed the best way to reach physicians is with an integrated channel approach using digital and off-line channels. But what about patients and consumers? My thoughts are that the same thinking is needed along with an in depth understanding of each disease state psychographics.