OPENING: TV is great at creating awareness, but it can also scare patients away if one of your side effects is “may lead to death.” This is one side effect that stands out when your target audience watches your spot along with “serious heart rhythm problems” and “new cancers have happened during treatment.”
DTC TV Ads
QUICK READ: How has the pandemic affected DTC TV ads and what are people doing to learn more about new prescription drugs? These were the questions we posed in an online and phone survey. Here is what we learned…
QUICK READ:
- DTC conferences are a waste of time and don’t acknowledge the rapid changes of online health seekers.
- Patients don’t ask about new drugs because of DTC.
- Too much money is being allocated to TV.
- Websites are being ignored.
KEY IDEA: We live in a post-truth world. The institutions that were once trusted sources of truths are now regarded with deep skepticism by citizens and consumers alike. That’s changing the face of advertising.
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.
- DTC advertising is designed to provide scientifically-accurate information to patients so that they are better informed about their health care and treatment options.
- There is never any requirement or obligation for physicians to prescribe a particular medication, as was confirmed by 91 percent of physicians in FDA’s survey.
- Beyond increasing patient awareness of disease (including undiagnosed conditions) and available treatments, DTC advertising has been found to increase awareness of the benefits and risks of new medicines and encourage appropriate use of medicines.
- In addition, DTC encourages patients to visit their doctors’ offices for important doctor-patient conversations about health that might otherwise not take place.
KEY TAKEAWAY:Per STAT news “in 2016, the most recent year in which data are available, [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]spending on drug ads reached an estimated $7.6 billion, counting both traditional and digital channels.[/inlinetweet] Most that money still goes to TV and print, the industry’s old stalwarts for reaching a mass audience”. Allergan pointed to the company’s historically large national TV advertising budget as an opportunity for cost-cutting. Will others follow?
According to STAT “a drug advertising conference this week in Boston was packed with self-congratulatory sessions celebrating inspiring campaigns. But there was an undercurrent of unease about the prospect of a federal crackdown on pharma commercials”. Despite what you hear or read DTC advertising is not going anywhere.