Vol. 9, Issue No. 10: DECEMBER 2010 – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Pharma’s 2010 Christmas Wish List for Santa Upfront Commentary

What do you wantA few people helped me put together a short wish list for the US pharmaceutical industry to send to Santa this year. There are only a few items on the list so far that merit Santa’s urgent attention.

Included on the list: FDA social media guidelines (Duh!), pharma-friendly biosimilar regulations, increased drug pipeline, and others that you can read about in this OpEd piece, which provides not only my take on these issues, but useful data and links to resources.

Santa may not be able to solve all these problems, but it’s worth a shot!

Read this entire OpEd piece by John Mack here:
http://www.news.pharma-mkting.com/PMNews_910_UpFront.pdf
New Media Privacy Issues & Online Health Marketing Plugging Into NPs and PAs

Not Another Web CookieRecently, online privacy issues have been in the news as Congress exams whether it should enact legislation requiring a do-not-track function in Web browsers to allow consumers to opt out of the extensive data collection by Internet companies. The Wall Street Journal, for example, published a series of investigative articles on online privacy under heading “What They Know.”

What you should know is that the current focus on privacy in the new media advertising world may have a very substantial impact on marketers.

In a complaint filed on November 23, 2010, with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), U.S. PIRG, Consumer Watchdog, and the World Privacy Forum called on the FTC to investigate “unfair and deceptive adver-tising practices” that consumers face as they seek health information and services online.

This article is a summary of the CDD complaint and a review of the issues. The article also ncludes a compilation of more than two dozen “innovative” online marketing products/solutions mentioned in the CDD complaint.

Topic headings include:

  • Online Privacy in the News
  • FTC Says Self-Regulation Has Failed
  • Cookies Are a Joke!
  • CDD’s Criticisms of Online Marketing Tactics
  • The Issues Transcend Healthcare Marketing
  • PMN survey results (chart)
  • CDD Demands that FTC Take Action
  • Hype vs. Reality
  • The Relevance of HIPAA
  • FTC May Weigh In on FDA’s Social Media Guidelines
  • Empowered Patients or Duped Targets?
  • Risks of Online Healthcare Marketing
  • Being Pro-Patient is the Bottom Line
  • A Cornucopia of Digital Marketing Solutions

Download PDF file

Ad Execs Not Viewed as Innovative By Americans Says AstraZeneca Survey

Ad Execs Not Viewed as Innovative By Americans Says AstraZeneca Survey

Sorry to break this to you, but Americans don’t think advertising executives are very innovative.

The AZ survey shows that Americans think advertising executives are only as innovative as teachers, but much less innovative than doctors, artists, engineers, or scientists

Read more here:
http://ec2-54-175-84-28.compute-1.amazonaws.com/pharma-mkting.com/news/pmn910-article02.htm Pfizer’s SamplesDirect eSampling Program Sales Reps Have 48 Hours to Beat It or Join It!

Easy ButtonPfizer has become the latest drug company to offer doctors the option of using the Internet to order free samples of its drugs, a trend illustrating the diminished role of sales representatives, whose ranks continue to decrease. The service is called SamplesDirect.

The fear among Pfizer reps was that online sampling would only further erode their job function. But Pfizer reached a compromise with its reps: when a physician places an e-order, it’s flagged to his or her sales rep, who has 48 hours to step in and personally take over the order. If the rep doesn’t act, the order is filled electronically.

Whether or not eSampling assuages the fears of current reps, it does not bode well for the sales force in general and for hiring new reps to replace the old. I also believe that physicians may be ticked off about Pfizer’s “compromise” with its sales reps.

Read why here:
http://ec2-54-175-84-28.compute-1.amazonaws.com/pharma-mkting.com/news/pmn910-article03.htm