Direct to Consumer (DTC) Advertising in Pharmaceuticals - Shift from Traditional Mass-Media Platforms towards Personalization via Online and Social Media

Summary

GBI Research, the leading business intelligence provider, has released its latest research, Direct to Consumer (DTC) Advertising in Pharmaceuticals - Shift from Traditional Mass-Media Platforms towards Personalization via Online and Social Media, which provides insights into the up-and-coming trends of DTC advertising in the US and of awareness campaigns in Europe. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the types of marketing channels available to pharmaceutical marketers. In particular it focuses on how pharmaceutical marketers can make the most of digital media channels, including online advertising and social media.

The report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research and in-house analysis by GBI Researchs team of industry experts.

In 2006, over $5 billion was spent on DTC advertising, most of it on the most expensive medium, television. Since then, DTC expenditure has decreased. This is due to a number of reasons, notably the emergence of new media for advertising. Since advertising moved onto the internet, there have been many developments which have revolutionized the way that products are promoted. Pharmaceutical companies were slow to move their advertising online but are now beginning to use it to their advantage. The internet has proven itself to be one of the most cost-effective forms of advertising; full campaigns can be run for the price of one television advertisement.

Social media is another risky yet rewarding method of promotion that pharmaceutical companies are beginning to explore. Through social media, consumers expect to be able to have a public conversation with the representatives of a brand; consumers will always expect their questions to be answered and will not hesitate to discuss adverse effects and any other problems that they consider to be the fault of a brand. However, through social media, pharmaceutical companies have an opportunity to improve their brand image through their responses to these enquires. Another huge advantage of social media is the sharing between friends and peer groups that it enables. A recommendation from a friend is trusted by 90% of people and 70% trust consumer opinions posted online (Google, 2011), so campaigns that are spread between friends by word of mouth can be more effective than traditional methods of widely broadcast DTC.

Scope

- Data and analysis of traditional media channels and newer channels such as online and mobile platforms.
- Suggestions of how the ROI (return on investment) of a social media campaign can be measured.
- How to target a campaign to appropriate audiences by altering the media mix.
- Examples of successful and violative campaigns.
- Examples of pioneering use of online media channels.
- How DTC advertising techniques can be transferred to unbranded campaigns in countries where DTC is not permitted.

Reasons to buy

- Understand how DTC advertising has changed over the last decade.
- Develop the use of new media types such as social media and mobile.
- Create a more tailored advertising campaign designed to reach a targeted audience.
- Develop key strategic initiatives by understanding the way that patients use different media.
- Accelerate the delivery of marketing messages through word-of-mouth communication.