- Vol. 3, No. 2: February 2004 – CONTENTS
Upfront — Is DTC Educational or Motivational?
DTC ads made their first, albeit inauspicious, appearance during a Super Bowl broadcast this year. Unfortunately, this may have attracted a lot of unwelcome attention to DTC (see article “Super Bowl DTC Debut: Was It Good for You?“). The FDA, for one, is paying more attention and has issued new draft guidances for DTC (see article “FDA Draft Guidance for Print DTCA: Less than Feared“).
It is clear that the FDA would like to see DTC ads play a larger role in educating consumers. It believes consumer-directed promotion of prescription drugs “can convey useful health information to patients.”
The Coalition for Healthcare Communication (an organization representing several ad agencies and health communications companies), on the other hand, asserts that “the primary goal of direct to consumer advertising is and should be to convince a consumer to discuss a medical condition with his or her doctor. To ask advertising to educate is to ask it something it is not capable of doing.”
So, what is the proper role of DTCA – educational or motivational? Is it capable of doing either? If so, how well is it doing?
The FDA believes its guidance will help DTC ads educate consumers about side effects of drugs and the medical conditions they treat. The draft guidance on disease awareness communications especially talks about this. Although disease awareness communications are not subject to FDA regulation, we might see more “Help-Seeking” ads sponsored by pharmaceutical companies in response to the guidance.
Personally, I have to agree with the advertisers who say that “awareness” is really not education. Education requires more depth and interaction than print or TV DTC ads can deliver.
So much for education, what about motivation?
According to a study by Prevention Magazine, the number of patients who talked to their doctors about an advertised medicine remained pretty steady at 31% to 32% between 1997 and 2001. That is, after several years of experience with DTC, the motivation needle hasn’t really budged.
As Kristine Nash-Wong points out in her article “Beyond Patient Education: Influencing Behavior Change,” motivating patients to change their behavior requires personalization, which is also something that traditional print and TV DTC ads cannot offer.
So, what’s a better idea?
Not enough effort or money, in my opinion, is spent to foster the synergy between DTC broadcast and print ads and the Internet. DTC ads focus on what may be a giant step for many people – go see your doctor. They don’t emphasize enough an intermediate step – i.e., go to a website to learn more about the condition, the treatment options and find motivational tools.
The FDA has urged that DTC broadcast ads refer viewers to an 800 number, website, or print ad to find more information. Print ads can include the full prescribing information and you can get brochures by calling the 800 number (although you might have to wait a long time; see article “Beyond DTC: Consumer Relationship Satisfaction“), but only the Web can offer in-depth education, interactivity, and personalization. This, not repetition of 30-second TV ads, is what’s needed to get more undiagnosed people to see a physician and to help motivate the diagnosed to stay on treatment.
John Mack, Publisher and Editor
editor@pharmamarketingnews.com
Article Summaries
FEATURE ARTICLE
Key Issues Facing DTC Marketers in 2004
By John Mack
Anti-drug company sentiment is at a high point, especially during this presidential election year. Along with attacks on drug prices, pharmaceutical company profits, the re-importation issue, there is much criticism of the value and appropriateness of direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription drugs, especially television advertising.
This article focuses on what marketers need to do to face the tough 2004 DTC environment. It summarizes a presentation made by Robert Ehrlich, CEO, DTC Perspectives Inc. at the Achieving DTC Success Conference in October, 2003. Ehrlich talked about TV ad creativity, government regulations, the issue of brand retention, DTC ROI, and the challenges of a consumer-centric approach.
Order the Full Article Reprint – $6.95
PMN32-01
Issue: Vol. 3, No. 2: February 2004
Word Count: 1828
TOPICS: Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Advertising & Marketing
Pharma Marketing Network’s 2004 “Hot Issue” Survey
We asked members of the PHARMA-MKTING online discussion forum to predict what issues would have the greatest impact on the pharmaceutical industry in 2004.
Download Survey Results.
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CASE STUDY
Online Content Management System for Sales and Marketing Representatives
Re:source RabbitTM
Evatone
Pharmaceutical and medical device companies have extensive, multi-versioned product and promotional materials. It is a challenge for Marketing to maintain these sales aids and other collateral materials, keep them up to date and compliant, and efficiently distribute them for use by the sales force while keeping costs down. The following case study illustrates a content management solution that addresses these issues while also offering the ability to customize collateral pieces on demand.
GUEST ARTICLE
Beyond Patient Education: Influencing Behavior Change
By Kristine Nash-Wong
What does it take to get patients to comply with their medication or healthcare programs? This is a question that pharmaceutical companies need to answer in order to sell more drugs and also help physicians provide better care to their patients.
Patient education has been touted as the true panacea to any number of marketing challenges, from increasing compliance to improving brand retention, enhancing doctor/patient communication, achieving persistence, providing a true partnership opportunity, and so on. Pharmaceutical companies are exploring new and more effective strategies for meeting these objectives, including behavior change programs. This article reviews how tailored behavior change programs can increase acquisition, compliance, persistency or brand loyalty. A smoking cessation program is presented as a case study.
Order the Full Article Reprint – $6.95
PMN32-02
Issue: Vol. 3, No. 2: February 2004
Word Count: 873
TOPICS: CME/Education
ARTICLE
FDA Draft Guidance for Print DTCA: Less than Feared
By John Mack
On February 4, 2004, the FDA issued long-awaited draft guidance documents designed to improve communications to consumers and health care practitioners about health conditions and medical products. The most eagerly anticipated guidance concerns the acceptable alternatives to the lengthy, detailed, and technically-written “brief summary” of risk information for consumer-directed print advertisements for prescription drugs.
This article reviews the new guidance and includes comments from Jack E. Angel, Executive Director of the Coalition for Healthcare Communication and Harry Sweeney, CEO of Dorland Global Health Communications.
Order the Full Article Reprint – $9.95
PMN32-03
Issue: Vol. 3, No. 2: February 2004
Word Count: 1319
TOPICS: Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Advertising & Marketing | Corporate Compliance/Government Regulation/Industry Guidelines
