tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8550428.post185356740645518167..comments2024-03-10T05:12:12.373-04:00Comments on Pharma Marketing Blog: APA Report Rips Pharma a New One!Vladhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04114063498108633047noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8550428.post-87712385956930360512007-12-12T14:46:00.000-05:002007-12-12T14:46:00.000-05:00John,Sounds like a very cool experience and progra...John,<BR/><BR/>Sounds like a very cool experience and program--probably ahead of its time, indeed. It really is fun experimenting with other people's money! <BR/><BR/>You're also right about general booth creativity/quality. I go to 4-6 major meetings/year, and although I go for scientific reasons now, I do keep an eye out for what designers are doing these days, and it's rare that I see something that really impresses me. Mostly the same stuff recycled over and over again. Then again, I don't think the budgets are what they used to be... There was a pretty cool, large, Minority Report-like display at EULAR in Barcelona last spring -- I forget whose booth it was, though. Now that I think about it, I suspect we'll be seeing a lot of iPhone-inspired display interfaces over the next year...<BR/><BR/>Videodisc? Good lord!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8550428.post-26728379169673029492007-12-12T13:48:00.000-05:002007-12-12T13:48:00.000-05:00I know what you mean about an amazing creative exp...I know what you mean about an amazing creative experience... especially when using someone else's money!<BR/><BR/>In a previous life, I designed computer-based pharmaceutical sales training programs. One project i worked on (in 1993 or thereabouts) used interactive video, animation, blue-screen live actors superimposed over computer-generated 3-D backgrounds, etc. All delivered on videodisc! Remember that? <BR/><BR/>It was a take-off on Fantastic Voyage -- in our case, actors playing sales reps were "shrunk down and injected" inside a body to fight off an infection with a new antibiotic! The audience -- real sales reps at a product launch meeting -- helped them along their journey using an audience polling system to answer questions. The system controlled the videodisc sequence as well as displayed polling results in bar graphs.<BR/><BR/>To create the 3-D vessel, we used the same software that was used to create Robocop!<BR/><BR/>I really learned a lot about the technology available at the time -- and you know what? Even with the mega-advanced technology of today, I haven't seen anything to compete with it! It cost about $300,000 and was probably used only once.PharmaGuyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10211557578124130640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8550428.post-14351474468629929912007-12-12T13:33:00.000-05:002007-12-12T13:33:00.000-05:00Ha! In a previous lifetime I worked at the agency ...Ha! In a previous lifetime I worked at the agency that conceived and designed that huge maze-like tunnel at the 2002 APA. Was it extravagant? Perhaps. But it was also very innovative and effective<BR/><BR/>One thing you have to remember is that when it comes to exhibits, it's not just the Pharma company that wants to up the ante, but also the agency's designers--creative people by nature--who want to challenge themselves and push the artistic and technological envelopes. <BR/><BR/>That is, it wasn't big and complex for the sake of being big and complex; instead, we had a (rather large) budget, and used it to make something completely original, dramatic, and at the time, quite advanced. (Trust me, these were not merely audio and video presentations, as if you just walked from screen to screen. This was--and forgive the agency-speak--an immersive 1st-person experience more akin to something you'd see at Epcot.) And for that, we were very proud and happy. And our client was happy that they had people lining up around the booth every day waiting to walk through it. <BR/><BR/>If I remember correctly, it really only took 2 full days for setup and breakdown...maybe 3. And we did use it at other meetings besides APA.<BR/><BR/>While some might look at that exhibit as a monstrosity, a sign of Pharma excess of the times, or an affront to medical congresses, from a purely creative point of view, it was probably the most amazing project I've ever been involved with just from the sheer challenge and scope.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8550428.post-78602301672810266192007-12-12T09:10:00.000-05:002007-12-12T09:10:00.000-05:00Alex,Thanks for your comment.I don't think anyone ...Alex,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your comment.<BR/><BR/>I don't think anyone is suggesting to take away pharma's "right" to lobby. I also have the "right" to lobby, but I doubt if I'd get even close to a US Senator! If I donated a lot of money to that Senator's re-election committee, then I MIGHT have a shot!<BR/><BR/>Regarding the link between marketing and high drug costs, I had this thought: do high drug costs in the US finance the high cost of direct-to-consumer advertising? That is, drug prices are not high because DTC causes doctors to prescribe higher-cost drugs, but because pharma needs to bankroll its marketing machine. I guess it's a kind of vicious circle. Although there may be a link, I still don't believe that limiting DTC will result in lower drug prices.PharmaGuyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10211557578124130640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8550428.post-6609881652674139362007-12-12T08:56:00.000-05:002007-12-12T08:56:00.000-05:00Isn't there a natural bias since psychiatrist are ...Isn't there a natural bias since psychiatrist are able to prescribe drugs, while in most (or is it all) states, psychologists cannot. Undoubtedly, this is a conflict of interest on the part of the American Psychological Assn. <BR/><BR/>Of course, pharma does have a powerful lobby, but so do the health plans, PBMs, the AMA, NAMI, the NRA, the oil industry, and many others. Last I checked, the right to lobby is covered by the 1st Amendent.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com