For years, marketing has begun with the brand, the campaign, and the big idea.? It has been shaped by what we want to say, how we want to say it, and how many times we want our ?targets? to hear it. We would spend months and months developing headlines, copy, TV spot, print campaign, email […]
October 21, 2014
What Do YOU Find Important in Your Partnerships?
This past summer, independent advertising agency RPA and USA TODAY released a survey revealing how crucial trust among agencies and clients is to creative success. The results, shared at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, showed that the overwhelming majority (98%) of executives from both the agency and client-sides believed ?that the best work […]
By Bob Ehrlich
August 18, 2014
DTC in Perspective: Drug Pricing Criticism
The Senate is after drug maker Gilead to explain its high price for hepatitis drug Solvadi. The request came from Ron Wyden and Chuck Grassley and asked about differences in U.S. and foreign pricing. Solvadi is expensive at about $80,000 for a course of treatment. I think these senators are asking what they already know. […]
By Bob Ehrlich
June 23, 2014
DTC in Perspective: FDA New Guidance
The FDA is slowly trying to deal with Internet reality with two new guidance documents. One guidance is an attempt to deal with what happens when social media gets factually incorrect postings. How can a drug company respond if it has to provide fair balance and risk/side effect information? Well, it could not under the […]
By Bob Ehrlich
June 2, 2014
DTC in Perspective: FDA to Do Advertised Price Research
The FDA is planning some new research on DTC ads?highlighting?the price of the drug. The vast majority of DTC ads do not?currently?state price of the drug?or compare price to competitors. Some ads, which use price support, will tell consumers they get a rebate or coupon.?Some show a price the consumer will pay with the price […]
By Bob Ehrlich
May 27, 2014
DTC in Perspective: Speakers Needed, Share Your Success!
One of our annual challenges for the DTC National is getting good pharma case studies to present to the audience. I always wonder why legal departments appear afraid to discuss the advertising that is already public and has been seen by 100 million people. Some companies seem to have a blanket policy against speaking but […]
By Bob Ehrlich
May 12, 2014
DTC in Perspective: The DTC National Recap
From ?4/22-24 we held our 14th DTC National in Washington. My general observations are as follows. DTC is still young as an industry. While DTC is about 20 years old, starting with some heavy print in 1993 and exploding in 1997 with branded television, it is still a maturing field. This is particularly true in […]
By Bob Ehrlich
April 15, 2014
Can I Get A Price Please?
We have a crisis in healthcare that has not been solved but will likely be in the next five years. That is price transparency for medical services. American consumers are being asked to pay high deductibles and co-pays for medical procedures and services. That means most of us are basically self-insured for the first several […]
By Bob Ehrlich
April 8, 2014
Obesity Category May Heat Up
I saw some buzz from a financial site that Belviq, the newest Obesity drug, may start DTC television very soon. A Bank of America analyst was critical of Vivus for not doing DTC on Qsymia. The first drug to be approved for obesity in years took a very conservative approach to their launch and has […]
By Bob Ehrlich
March 17, 2014
DTC in Perspective: An Rx to OTC Mega Brand
The widespread stories about Pfizer trying to take Lipitor OTC bring up some important issues for drug companies trying to extend their statin brands to retail shelves. First, there is the concern about taking the doctor out of the direct decision chain to prescribe a drug for cholesterol reduction. Second, will consumers be able to […]
