Lately, we've been witnessing a regression of sorts in the quality of DTC (Direct-to-Consumer) Rx drug ads. The recent "Viva Viagra" ad, for example, is a throwback to the days before Congress was serious about banning DTC or imposing more restrictions on DTC (see "Viva Viagra Ad is No Cure for Morte Sales").
The Viva Viagra campaign also reneges on Pfizer's pledge back in 2005 to focus more on disease awareness in its DTC advertising. At the time, I said that erectile dysfunction (ED) ads would be the litmus test for this change in policy (see "Pfizer DTC Pledge: ED is Litmus Test"). Well, it seems that Pfizer has failed the test.
Viva DTC Old-school Style!"Unfortunately," says Richard Meyer of World of DTC Marketing, "Viva Viagra is another reason that real good DTC is on life support and maybe DOA."
It should be noted, however, that in the Pfizer press release about its pledge (which no longer can be found on Pfizer's site), the phrase "in 2006" was used to qualify the terms of the pledge. I guess now that we are well into 2007 and Congress has removed any mention of mandatory DTC moratoriums in the PDUFA legislation, there's no longer a need to look good in public. So party on, you DTC marketing animals!
Not only do these ads fail to live up to promises of educating the public about medical conditions, they also STINK! At least in terms of delivering return on marketing investment. Rozerem is definitely spending more on marketing than it is getting in return (see "Rozerem Ad Spending Exceeds Sales!"). The same fate may await Viagra -- it's difficult to imagine the ad enticing more men to talk about erectile dysfunction with their physicians, which is Pfizer's stated goal for the ad.
"I worked with the DTC team on the launch of Cialis and learned first hand the barriers that many face to seeking treatment for this condition that effects couples. These barriers cannot be overcome with a jingle of images of couples in bathtubs." -- Richard Meyer.Why Do DTC Ads Stink?
Why do these ads stink at delivering ROI although they are highly memorable and score highly in typical focus groups?
Lee Weinblatt, CEO of The PreTesting Company, which tests the ads and commercials of over 300 of the world’s largest companies, thinks he knows why. The typical methodology for measuring DTC effectiveness, claims Weinblatt, "is leading pharmaceutical DTC advertisers down the wrong path."
What, then, is the right path?
Podcast Today at 1 PM!
Tune in today to a live podcast interview of Weinblatt in which he will answer that and the following questions:
- What major problems have you seen with DTC ads? Are drug ads too much like package goods ads?
- What about the agencies that drug companies use to create their ads? Are they up to the task? If not, why not?
- Why are recall and likability of ads meaningless?
- What should be the measure of ROI for DTC campaigns? Does increase in market share figure into that calculation?
- What does the Pharma marketing executive need to know about how ad performance? How does Pretesting deliver on that? How do Pretesting Company's techniques differ from other company's techniques?
- Live Podcast Date: Wednesday, July 25, 2007, 1 PM Eastern US time
- Duration: Approx. 35 minutes
- Go to the Pharma Marketing Talk Channel Page to listen LIVE at the designated time or afterward to listen to the audio archive on the Web with your browser. After the live podcast you can also click on a button below to listen to the streaming audio archive on your computer or to download the show for playback on your iPod or other portal audio player.
Smell ya later! Ha, ha!
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-11-2005/0004086664&EDATE=
ReplyDeleteHere is the press release
Thanks! For the record here is the entire press release;
ReplyDeletePfizer Announces Improvements to Consumer Advertising for Prescription Medicines
---
Fundamental Changes Will Make Pfizer Ads More Effective at Communicating Risk
and Benefit Information and Reinforcing the Doctor/Patient Relationship
---
New Non-Product Ad Campaigns to Address Important Public Health Issues and
Promote Patient Assistance Programs
NEW YORK, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Pfizer Inc today announced changes to
our direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription medicines to better
meet patients' and physicians' needs for health information. The full set of
changes will be in place in all Pfizer advertising directed to consumers
before the end of 2005, with many of them taking effect immediately.
Pfizer's ads will be consistent with the recently announced pharmaceutical
industry's "Guiding Principles" on DTC advertising, which were adopted by the
Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA) on August 2.
The Pfizer changes are designed to help patients achieve better health by
encouraging valuable patient/physician dialogue, improving consumer
understanding of the risks and benefits of prescription medicines, and
motivating people to overcome barriers to healthy behavior.
"DTC advertising is demonstrably helpful to patients, but it should be
refined to be even more helpful," said Pfizer Vice Chairman and President of
Pfizer Human Health Karen Katen. "DTC ads have encouraged millions of patients
to get earlier medical attention and to talk with their healthcare providers.
The problem it addresses is real: too many Americans who need medical help
postpone action, suffer unnecessarily, delay treatment until their health
deteriorates, and end up suffering higher medical costs and more-acute
interventions than necessary. Today, we're announcing changes to our DTC
advertising to strengthen its educational benefits -- and to motivate patients
to take earlier action and work with their healthcare providers to take
more-informed control over their health."
Studies show that consumers want and need health information to better
engage in today's health care environment. But significant barriers still
prevent tens of millions of Americans from taking action around their health,
especially for serious medical conditions such as high cholesterol, high blood
pressure, depression, asthma and diabetes. These barriers include lack of
awareness, denial, misinformation, low health literacy (inability to
understand medical information), perceived stigma and lack of insurance
coverage for prescription medicines. A strong record of research shows that
DTC advertising can be an effective vehicle for getting important health
information to consumers and motivating them to consult their doctors.
In fact, over 65 million patients have talked with their physicians after
seeing a DTC advertisement and 29 million of these patients mentioned a
condition for the first time, according to a 2004 Prevention magazine study.
Moreover, DTC advertising has helped one in four patients who asked about a
DTC advertised product during a doctor visit get a diagnosis for a previously
unknown medical condition; approximately 43% of these new diagnoses were for
high priority conditions such as asthma, high blood pressure or diabetes
(Harvard University and Harris Interactive).
Advertising Changes
Since Pfizer started advertising to consumers on television in 1998, the
company has regularly consulted with physicians and patients to better
understand what is working and how DTC advertising can have a greater impact
on healthy behavior. Based on this input, Pfizer makes its patient health
information more understandable and easier to read in accordance with its
Clear Health Communication Principles.
Now, Pfizer is announcing changes to its advertising in three major areas,
as well as announcing additional actions, all of which are consistent with the
industry's "Guiding Principles" recently adopted by PhRMA.
"Our advertising is meant to do two things. We want people to be aware of
serious medical conditions and our medicines that treat those conditions, and
we want to motivate them to talk to their doctors," said Pfizer U.S.
Pharmaceuticals President Pat Kelly. "We believe it's our responsibility to
communicate this information effectively so patients can work with their
healthcare providers to make informed decisions about their health and get
appropriately diagnosed and treated."
Below are the improvements Pfizer is making to its consumer
advertisements.
1) To help encourage valuable patient/physician dialogue that can lead to
early diagnosis and appropriate treatment, Pfizer will:
* Educate physicians about new prescription medicines prior to beginning
product TV and print advertising so that doctors can be well-informed
about a new medicine before patients start conversations about it. The
length of time used for physician education will be no less than six
months and will vary depending on the relative importance of informing
patients of the availability of a new medicine, the complexity of the
risk-benefit profile of that new medicine and health care providers'
knowledge of the condition being treated.
* Include language in its product TV and print ads and on product Web
sites informing patients that their doctors may recommend alternative
treatments, such as diet and exercise, when appropriate.
2) To help consumers better understand the risks and benefits of
prescription medicines, Pfizer:
* Will fundamentally change our approach to communicating risk and
benefit information to improve educational value while continuing to
motivate people to overcome barriers to healthy behavior.
-- Pfizer has submitted to the FDA for review a new consumer-friendly
and consumer-tested print brief summary, the part of the print ad
that extensively lists the risks of a medicine. Should the FDA
approve this new version, Pfizer will use this new format in all its
print advertising and on all of its product Web sites.
-- Pfizer will fund research to find ways to further improve risk
communication in DTC TV advertising. We will conduct this research
with input from the FDA and third parties and will adjust Pfizer's
communications based on the results.
* Will provide use, risk and benefit information in all product TV and
print prescription medicine advertisements. This means Pfizer will no
longer create "Go ask your doctor about a medicine" TV and print
advertisements that do not include the benefits and risks associated
with the advertised medicine. In cases where a product is mentioned as
part of a sponsorship package, such as "This event is brought to you
by Brand X," risk and benefit information will not be included because
these communications are about support for the sponsored entity, not
the Pfizer product.
3) To motivate people to overcome potential barriers to better health,
starting immediately, Pfizer will:
* Include information about the industry's "Partnership for Prescription
Assistance (PPA)" in a new dedicated "Pfizer Helpful Answers" TV and
print ad campaign. PPA offers a single point of access to more than
275 public and private patient assistance programs, including more
than 150 programs offered by pharmaceutical companies.
* Air a dedicated, nationwide TV and print advertising campaign
promoting "Pfizer Helpful Answers" to raise awareness among Americans
without prescription coverage about Pfizer's patient assistance
programs that provide savings on Pfizer medicines or Pfizer medicines
for free, depending on income.
* Include "Pfizer Helpful Answers" contact information in all Pfizer
product print ads and Web sites.
* Educate doctors, other healthcare providers and their office staff on
Pfizer patient assistance programs.
In 2006, Pfizer will invest a meaningful amount -- on par with what it
spends on a branded advertisement campaign -- to:
* Create more disease awareness with advertisements that do not mention
a product, such as the recent "Why Live With Depression" campaign that
featured actress Lorraine Bracco.
* Address other important public health issues such as health literacy,
compliance or improving the patient/physician relationship through
additional non-product advertising.
* Continue our dedicated advertising campaign and efforts to promote
"Pfizer Helpful Answers."
In addition to the three areas of change, Pfizer also commits to:
* Submit to the FDA for review all new DTC TV ad campaigns, and those
that have major changes, for comment in advance of airing.
* Review the placement of our current advertising to ensure that it will
be targeted to avoid audiences that are not age appropriate. For
erectile dysfunction ads, this means that all TV ads will be aired
during programs that have more than 90 percent adult viewer-ship.
* Clearly indicate in all product TV and print ads that the medicine is
a prescription medicine.
Pfizer Inc
Pfizer Inc is committed to helping people improve their health by
discovering and developing medicines, as well as informing consumers and
health care providers about our medicines and the medical conditions they
treat. Through multiple initiatives, Pfizer aims to ensure access to
treatments and educate, empower and motivate consumers to take the necessary
steps to lead longer, healthier, happier lives. For more information about
Pfizer's patient assistance programs, visit
http://www.pfizerhelpfulanswers.com.
For information about PhRMA's "Guiding Principles" on direct-to-consumer
advertising, visit http://www.phrma.org.
SOURCE Pfizer Inc
ON the VIva Viagra TV ad..this ad was on the 6PM NBC news the other night (Friday I believe). I though these type of Rx were not to advertise until appropriate times such as after 9 or 10 PM? I was with my 4 year old daughter when I heard the words such as erection!!
ReplyDeletePfizer has pledged to run these ads ONLY on shows that have a 90% or higher adult audience, regardless of the time of day or the fact that Nightly news shows many have millions of kids under the age of 18 watching!
ReplyDelete