QUICK READ: The MedAd News Manny Awards were last night. Congratulations to the winners, but the bar has been set higher if pharma is to really demonstrate they care about patients. Award winners should see their awards as a head nod and understand they have a LOT more work to do.
QUICK READ: More TV DTC spots are airing, but DTC marketers are losing the battle between awareness and conversion because of all the noise online. Product websites are stagnant, and online health seekers are going elsewhere to learn about your medication’s side effects and cost.
QUICK READ: There is so much money in healthcare that every company wants their share even if patients get hurt. The amount of money Pfizer is going to make from their vaccine borders on obscene while PBMs quietly take a cut of every Rx transaction without really adding any value. It’s going to continue until we put politics aside and say “enough.”
QUICK READ: Here are some recent stories that you should all be aware of. Last month I hit 80,000 readers when accounting for email, social media, and direct traffic. I love the industry, and although I want to see some changes, I know there are many good people trying every day to make it happen.
QUICK READ: At times, the public health response to coronavirus (COVID-19) has been scary, characterized by antimask behavior, antivaccine beliefs, conspiracy theories around the development of the vaccine, and a general belief that even COVID numbers are false. These people are doing more harm to others than they know, and they are generally making themselves irrelevant.
QUICK READ: According to the Times 89% of all media stories on COVID have been negative. While less tan 5% of people who get COVID will require hospitalization both Democrats and Republicans believe that number is a lot higher. The simple reason why there are so many scare headlines around COVID is that they lead to traffic which means higher ad revenue for publishers. It’s time to seek the truth rather than rely on sensational media stories.
QUICK READ: According to Setup 30% of Brand marketers say they’re likely/somewhat likely to switch Agencies in the next 6 months. While the consolidation of agencies may be a priority for some pharma companies a good digital agency can add a lot of value. There is a lot of downside to letting your main ad agency do your digital work.
QUICK READ: Some deaths will occur during the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, but these deaths would have happened for other reasons and are unrelated to the vaccine. Vaccine-hesitant groups are peddling misinformation online and conspiracy theories aimed at eroding trust in the COVID-19 vaccine are everywhere forcing people to conduct more research.
