The latest from DTC Perspectives

The Advertising Deduction Up For Grabs

Friday, 26 June 2009, 08:18 AM

What has raised tremendous concern lately for DTC practitioners is the Rangel comments on cutting the advertising tax deductions. Charlie Rangel, the powerful Congressman from New York, said ending deductibility of ad spending is on the table to help fund the health care reform bill. read more

Eye on the Hill - Eating our Seed Corn

Thursday, 25 June 2009, 12:48 PM

Jim Davidson reports on what to expect in the coming year from Washington. According to a recent report, the pharmaceutical industry is considering giving up its business expense deduction for the cost of advertising. It’s a “troubling” development, our Capitol Hill observer reports. read more

Washington Promises Swift Resolution on Healthcare Reform - What it Means for DTC Marketing

Monday, 22 June 2009, 01:00 PM

What Does the Newly Proposed Healthcare Policy Mean for DTC Marketing? DTC Perspectives Provides the Latest News and Invites You to Find Out More read more

Old Can Be New Again

Friday, 19 June 2009, 08:16 AM

A very interesting DTC campaign started this month that shows that marketing and positioning can revive an old concept. That campaign is Abbot’s Trilipix, a new drug for raising HDL cholesterol and lowering triglycerides. The new drug is part of an old class of drugs popular before statins were introduced. Statins primary benefit is lowering bad cholesterol with some minor raising of good cholesterol. Trilipix is the first of this class of drug to be approved with use with statins. read more

Media Spend Declines

Friday, 12 June 2009, 08:06 AM

First quarter 2009 DTC spending numbers, just released by Nielsen, show a total DTC decline of 11.5% versus year ago. These declines are large but expected and in line with the 12% decline for the total of all ad categories. No DTC media type escaped decline, also expected. Television declined less at 8.3%, with magazines taking a big hit at 16.8%. So we now have annual spending at a running rate of about $4.3 billion for 2009, down from $ 4.8 in 2008. read more

Planning for Uncertainty

Friday, 05 June 2009, 07:36 AM

Planning DTC efforts for the next few years has become an exercise in multiple scenarios. First, we have the massive health care reform we are promised by President Obama. Next, the expectation of declining media rates makes the decision to buy upfront or wait for spot prices a tough one. Third, the FDA is tinkering with risk disclosure requirements making creative ads more difficult. Finally, promotional budgets are getting cut as drug companies look to protect the profit line. read more

DDMAC Offers Guidance

Friday, 29 May 2009, 08:19 AM

The recent release of the long-awaited draft guidance on risk is sure to have drug marketers studying the lengthy and nuanced 27 page document. I give DDMAC a lot of credit for attempting to better define what is acceptable and violative in print and television ads. They tried to add some meat to previous guidances so marketers and internal drug company regulators can understand what FDA will be thinking about when they screen ad submissions. read more

Free Drugs, Fine Idea!

Friday, 15 May 2009, 07:45 AM

Pfizer is showing terrific smarts in starting a program providing free drugs for the unemployed. The program is for current users who have had a history of using the Pfizer drug for at least three months prior to losing their job. I like this kind of thinking. It rewards current customers and makes the company name more important to consumers. Studies have shown most consumers do not know the name of the company that makes their drug. This type of program helps the company derive some goodwill value from their name. read more

Congressman Wants To Ban ED Ads

Friday, 08 May 2009, 08:17 AM

Do I have your attention? Actually the proposal is to ban ads before 10 pm. Jim Moran(D) of Virginia is tired of seeing ED ads during the day on sports shows and feels they are indecent. He wants to ban all ED ads until the late viewing hours so kids will not hear the terms erection and sex. read more

Consumer Reports Rips Sally Field

Friday, 01 May 2009, 08:16 AM

Consumer Reports, a publication I have long respected, has been very critical of DTC for years. They have recently started a periodic web review of individual DTC television ads where they deconstruct product claims. The process they use is to have correspondent Jamie Hirsh interrupt the reviewed commercial with video commentary as well as a blog. read more

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