Professional pharma advertising, which is doing well compared to the slump in DTC advertising, is the main focus of the majority of registered attendees for the June 4 Networking Dinner Reception
Approximately 50% of registered attendees of the 4th Annual Networking Dinner Reception have indicated that physician marketing/education is their primary focus and another 14% say it’s their secondary focus.
At least 2 presenters — Paul Boidy from ReachMD and Shaun McIver from StreamLogics — will speak about alternative ways of reaching physicians. For more information, please see the agenda for this meeting.
Professional Marketing Doing Quite Well!
Last month I attended another black-tie awards ceremony in New York City — the Manny Awards — hosted by MedAdNews. Three things about this ceremony struck me:
- The awards were focused solely on the work of agencies producing professional (ie, physician-focused) advertising for the drug industry,
- I was a stranger in a strange land!, and
- Many of the ad agencies present were doing quite well and were hiring!
MedAdNews published the financials of many of these agencies and I noted that a good number of them had substantially INCREASED their headcount AND their incomes in 2007 vs. 2006. Obviously, pharma spending on physician marketing is alive and well and probably growing.
Spending on direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising, on the other hand, is DECREASING.
The recent May issue of MedAdNews lays out the facts in its 14th Annual Report on DTC: $5.37 billion was spent on DTC in 2007 vs. $5.61 in 2006 (a 4.2% decrease; see Table below).
Media-DTC Advertising Expenditure 2007 vs. 2006 (Source: MedAdNews/Neilsen Monitor-Plus; includes promotion via Website — not including search — and non-branded advertising.)
AbelsonTaylor, which won Mannies for the “Most Admired” as well as the “Most Feared” agency, increased its headcount from 325 in 2006 to 252 in 2007. Cline Davis & Mann, LLC, which won the Manny for Agency of the Year, increased its headcount from650 in 2006 to 735 in 2007. The list goes on.
Need to Learn More About Physician Marketing?
It appears that I need to learn more about the professional side of pharmaceutical marketing because that’s where the smart pharma marketing money is going. And a good place for me — and you — to learn more about that side of the business is at this year’s Pharma Marketing Networking Dinner Reception at the Princeton, NJ Marriott on Wednesday, June 4.
I hope to see you there!
REGISTER BEFORE MIDNIGHT, Friday, May 23, 2008 and GET A FREE ROUND OF DRINKS ON ME!
Sincerely,
John Mack, Editor & Publisher
Pharma Marketing News/Pharma Marketing Blog
Phone: 215-504-4164
Email: johnmack@virsci.com
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Premier Sponsors 
ReachMD
ReachMD, an innovative communications company, provides thought-provoking medical news and information to healthcare practitioners.
Streamlogics is a leading global provider of webcasting applications and services to hundreds of healthcare organizations, pharmaceutical companies, and CME providers.
Supporting Sponsors
The Arcas Group is driven by a singular focus: improving the connectivity between medical thought leaders, physicians, and commercially focused organizations. 
www.goodHealthAdvertising.com
Good Health Advertising offers online advertising, brand building, patient education, promotions and patient acquisition services in the Health and Medical category.
Literature Sponsors
Media Sponsor
If you wish to be a sponsor of this event please contact:
John Mack
215-504-4164
johnmack@virsci.com
Over 100 pharmaceutical marketing professionals attended the last event in April, 2006.
Comments from Attendees of Previous Events“It was an enjoyable event, I also always learn something and most of all any networking event is what you the individual make of it and how comfortable you are at the art of networking.” -Bill Amberg
“The evening was great, the food was wonderful, and it was well organized. We received a lot of positive response and requests to contact individuals for projects. Its gotten better every year and Im sure next year will be no exception.” -Jerry Mauder
“We enjoyed the dinner and sponsorship and look forward to more opportunities to participate.” -Stephen M. Carnevale
“Thanks again for putting on a great party! We definitely met some very nice people and a few interesting contacts that may lead to future business.” -Richard Shapiro
“I got a chance to meet some interesting people and talk about social media technology in healthcare.” -Fard Johnmar
Be sure to join us in 2008!
4th Annual (2008)
Networking Dinner Reception
- DATE/TIME: Wednesday, June 4, 2008 * 6:00 PM to 9:30 PM
- LOCATION: Princeton Marriott Hotel and Conference Center at Forrestal, 100 College Road East, Princeton, NJ
Register Now! Featured Speakers
See Agenda below for details 
Paul Boidy
Executive Vice President, Sales and Customer Solutions at ReachMD 
Craig DeLarge
Associate Director, eMarketing & Relationship Marketing at Novo Nordisk Inc. 
John Mack
Publisher of Pharma Marketing News 
Shaun McIver
CEO, StreamLogics, Inc. 
Marc Monseau
Director of Corporate Communications, Johnson & Johnson 
Michael Parks
Vice President of Corporate Communications, Centocor, Inc.
- 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM: Sign in. Freely mingle to meet and network with colleagues. Beverages. Cash bar. Make your Elevator Pitch for the Vendor Video Showcase DVD!
How to join, receive updates by email, communicate with other members, participate in special ‘members-only’ forums, and take advantage of this Web 2.0 site to advance your business. Keynote Presentation Speakers:
Marc Monseau (video bio), Director of Corporate Communications, Johnson & Johnson and chief blogger/editor at JNJBTW. Marc joined one of Johnson & Johnsons operating companies more than a decade ago after a stint at Bloomberg Business News where he worked as a reporter.
Michael Parks (bio), Vice President of Corporate Communications at Centocor, Inc. and chief blogger/editor at CNTO411. As chief communications officer and management board member of Centocor, Michael leads the companys public relations, organization communications, and corporate reputation management efforts.
Title: Blogging: A Giant Leap for Pharma!
Marc and Michael (M&M) will focus on their experience as the first pharmaceutical executives to embrace Web 2.0 technology.
For any vendor wishing to work with pharmaceutical companies on new media marketing initiatives it behooves them to understand how Monseau and Parks worked to prepare their companies to take steps towards closer engagement with customers – first with corporate and then on to the more sensitive area of product-related posts.
M&M are sure to offer their suggestions for what the industry’s next steps might be in this area and what the hurdles are. They will also list the vendor attributes they think are important for success.
Featured Presentation Speaker:
Paul Boidy (bio), Executive Vice President, Sales and Customer Solutions at ReachMD. Prior to joining ReachMD, Mr. Boidy was director of neuroscience marketing for Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America.
Title: Marketing to the “Long Tail Physician” Segment
For many brands 50% of the total market for prescriptions come from prescribers OUTSIDE of the highly targeted top 20%. With new and yet to be developed communications and education platforms marketers will be able to cost-effectively reach a significant portion of the other 80%. That would be good for everyone.
In this presentation, Boidy gives you a “former insider’s” point of view on this topic and presents an overview of ReachMD’s ability to cost-effectively reach the long-neglected physician “tail” segment.
Featured Presentation Speaker:
Shaun McIver, co-founder, President and CEO of Streamlogics, Inc., one of North Americas leading providers of webcasting applications and services.
Title: Trends Driving Physician Education and Branded Communications Online
Pharma sales force cutbacks have put significant pressure on marketers to adopt other channels for reaching physicians.
In this presentation, McIver will focus on this and other trends that are creating a “perfect storm” enabling webcasting applications and services that allow healthcare organizations, pharmaceutical companies, and CME providers to cost-effectively deliver CME and marketing programs to physicians.
Special Guest Presentation Speaker:
Craig DeLarge (LinkedIn Profile), Associate Director, eMarketing & Relationship Marketing at Novo Nordisk Inc.
Title: Life Sciences Profiles of Color
DeLarge will speak about the Life Science Profiles of Color Project, the goals of which are to encourage and offer guidance to young people seeking to achieve success in the life sciences industry and to highlight the contribution of people of color in the life sciences.
- 8:30 PM to 9:15 PM: Dessert and Structured/Unstructured Networking
- Networking Dance Card Contest: All attendees will be given a “dance card” at the door. This card lists all the names of attendees with interests similar to those you selected during the registration process. The goal is to meet as many of the people on the dance card as possible and obtain their initials. If you meet with the minimum number of people indicated on your card, you are eligible to enter your business card to win a $200 dollar gift certificate in a drawing.
- 9:15 PM to 9:30 PM: Closing Comments and Good Byes
Hope to see you in Princeton on June 4th!
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