Super Bowl Launches Future of DTC Advertising
The pharmaceutical industry continues to have major concerns about potential future tightening of FDA regulations, specifically around direct to consumer advertising (DTC) for prescription medications. While there are some politicians who would like to see DTC advertising disappear, this type of regulation would be devastating to the pharmaceutical industry and to the consumers who currently receive a huge benefit in disease awareness education through DTC advertising.
The pharmaceutical industry is gearing up to confront the issues they face with congress. While there are no quick answers to the outcomes of political process, I think the pharmaceutical industry can continue to improve its position with congress and with consumers by doing more to show that the industry truly cares about the people who use its products.
King Pharmaceuticals®, Inc. is taking the lead for a new approach to education by launching a three-year sponsorship of the American Heart Association’s high blood pressure website with a :60 national spot that will air during Super Bowl XLI.
According to King Pharmaceuticals, the ad aims to increase public awareness of high blood pressure and other risk factors and the impact it has on a person’s overall risk of serious cardiovascular disease by driving consumers to the new website and an easy-to-use online high blood pressure risk assessment tool/questionnaire that runs in Flash.
While I will have to wait to see the spot during the game this weekend, it sounds as though the ad will be highly engaging to consumers, and will certainly get the target audience’s attention. When/if consumers visit www.BeatYourRisk.com, they will find a simple online test that takes 2 to 3 minutes to complete. (People must have a rough idea of their current blood pressure in order for the test to be effective.) Results from the test will help people understand their risks of heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, etc., specifically in relation to their blood pressure and will help them assess their needs for changes in diet, exercise levels, alcohol consumption, smoking, and other lifestyle issues.
What I find most remarkable about King Pharmaceutical’s involvement with this website is that there is very little promotion of King and their hypertension drug, Altace®. On the website there is a King Pharmaceuticals logo and the following text: “King Pharmaceuticals, Inc., maker of Altace® is a proud sponsor of the AHA Hypertension Web site.” If you click on the King Logo, the link takes you to another page within the AHA website and provides more information about King. There is a short invitation to visit King’s website, but again, nothing about Altace.
This appears to be a well developed campaign and I believe it will be:
1. Successful
2. A leader in true DTC educational advertising that others will follow
Comments
DTC (direct-to-consumer) Advertising is one of the most controversial practices the drug industry uses to market its various products.
Total spending on pharmaceutical promotion grew from $11.4 billion in 1996 to $29.9 billion in 2005. Although during that time spending on direct-to-consumer advertising increased by 330%, it made up only 14% of total promotional expenditures in 2005. Direct-to-consumer campaigns generally begin within a year after the approval of a product by the FDA.
Supporters of this form of advertising, which is banned in nearly almost all countries (excluding the United States and New Zealand) say it provides a real service to consumers, informing them of new drugs and alerting them to health problems they may be unaware of.
Critics feel this form of advertising promotes only the most expensive new blockbuster drugs, when older and cheaper versions of drugs might be just as effective, thus driving up overall health care costs, with much emphasis placed on the high costs of prescription drugs.
Aggressive promotion can pay off big time. Merck, maker of Vioxx, the most promoted drug, spent $161 million advertising it in 2000, and sales of Vioxx quadrupled to $1.5 billion.
In fact, Merck spent more advertising Vioxx, according to NIHCM (National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation), than the $125 million spent promoting Pepsi or the $146 million spent on Budweiser beer ads. It even came close to the $169 million spent promoting GM's Saturn, the nation's most advertised car.
The drug industry says its ads not only educate consumers but also prompt people who might otherwise go undiagnosed to see their doctors. Many doctors agree.
What’s your opinion as to whether or not prescription drug advertising costs are a direct reflection to the high costs of prescription drugs in the United States.
Posted by: William Hill | January 13, 2008 11:27 PM