Author Archive | Bob Ehrlich

Obamacare Revisited ?Government does not have a track record of success…? -Bob Ehrlich It has been a long time since I commented on Obamacare. I want to revisit where I stand on it as Ihave been mixed in my past comments. I support most of its main goals. No one in America should be financially […]

23 and Me, DTC and You ?The upbeat ad is very well done…? -Bob Ehrlich Genetic testing company 23andMe started a $5 million DTC campaign recently done by agency Arnold New York. While the budget is modest by DTC brand standards, the advertising is extremely important. It shows the next generation of a lot of […]

New Study Links DTC and Increased Statin Use ?Society makes an economic and risk/reward decision on all such preventive care.? -Bob Ehrlich A study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine concluded that statin DTC ads raised diagnosis of high cholesterol by 16-20% and statin use by 16-22%. The study authors, from Cornell University, […]

DTC in Perspective:? Who Wins Latest Rating Sweeps 18-49? ?Giving Hispanic consumers the story in their native language…? Perhaps the above question is better asked in Spanish. Univision won that key demographic in July and for the first time ever it topped the big 4 networks. Univision runs original programming in the summer and that […]

Drug Out of Pocket Costs to Rise ?The rise in… drug costs will incent consumers to be more demanding? -Bob Ehrlich The cost of prescription drugs to consumers is going to rise for most people under Obamacare.? A study by HealthPocket, a company that measures the cost of insurance plans, says consumers will pay about […]

Obesity Drugs Ready for DTC ?Qsymia meets all the criteria for a broad awareness campaign.? -Bob Ehrlich Vivus, maker of obesity drug Qsymia, said that they completed formulating a DTC strategy for implementation in fall of 2013. This comment was made at an investor presentation June 18th. I have previously urged Vivus to do DTC […]

How Much Do You Want to Know? ?When is it worth knowing our health future?? -Bob Ehrlich The Angelina Jolie story shows both the benefit and downside of having predictive health information.? Genetic testing revealed a high risk of breast cancer and Ms. Jolie took the bold step of undergoing a double mastectomy before any […]

Painful DTC ?Agencies can excel without excess creative devices? -Bob Ehrlich There are two DTC ads I think do a great job of telling consumers about pain prevention and remediation. One is branded, the other a disease education spot. Neither is brand new but I thought they deserve some positive comments for delivering strong, effective […]

Pfizer Puts The Double D in DTC ?This is a bold step for a drug company…? -Bob Ehrlich While traditionally DTC refers to direct advertising to consumers, we have a case where the “D” also means distribution directly to consumers. Viagra, a heavily counterfeited drug, is now available to consumers directly from Pfizer. Since this […]

The Future of Point of Care ?POC will be at least 10% of DTC budget allocations in 5 years..“ -Bob Ehrlich Point of Care (POC) advertising has been around a long time. It is the advertising done at physicians? offices and pharmacies. Most drug companies use it and have for over 20 years. My best […]