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August 24, 2007
Pharma & DTC: Continuing to Refine
Direct-to-consumer advertising is one of the pharmaceutical industry's top promotional tactics. Television advertisements, in particular, have in the past fueled public and regulatory criticism for some brazen messages as well as perceived opportunism. Nonetheless, advertising agencies and pharmaceutical companies have become more self-regulated and more conscious of advertisement messages, viewing audiences, and the need for more balanced discussion of indications and side effects.
The debate about whether DTC advertisements are beneficial to pharmaceutical companies without a corresponding benefit for patients' health has existed since the inception of pharma DTC advertisements. However, according to the recent article, "Direct-to-Consumer: Creativity Through Understanding," in the July 2007 Pharmaceutical Executive, the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted a study five years ago which found that DTC advertising influenced people suffering from significant conditions who were not getting diagnosed and treated to get help.
The study also found that there were mistakes made by the pharmaceutical industry and some opportunism. However, as Mel Sokotch explained, "At the end of the day, more people get treated as a result of communication that informs consumers that a disease or symptoms can be dealt with effectively if they talk to their doctor."
So while there is room for the pharmaceutical industry and advertising agencies to make improvements in terms of their DTC campaigns, there is a lot of good coming from these efforts. In particular, the non-branded disease awareness campaigns can be instrumental in helping patients learn about their diseases and symptoms as well as to encourage further discussion and exploration with their physicians.
As the Pharmaceutical Executive article pointed out, even with all the regulations and standards pharma advertisements need to adhere to, there is still a lot of opportunity to be creative and have a positive impact on patients' lives. It is no secret that DTC advertising makes business sense for pharmaceutical companies - obviously the returns are there, but the truly valuable advertisements are those that deliver results for companies but also keep patients' well-being at the forefront as that is the most important thing.
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Posted by Amanda Zuniga at August 24, 2007 11:56 AM