Sales & Marketing

Advertorials were shown to be more effective than branded ads in terms of generating interest, providing valuable info, and provoking follow-up discussions

Direct-to-consumer advertising officially becomes a "tweenager" this August-and, oh my, how it has grown. DTC was officially born in 1997 when FDA gave the green light to companies to advertise their drugs to consumers. In the first year, pharmaceutical marketers bounded onto the scene and spent more than $1 billion. Years passed. Debates ensued. Patients learned more about drugs. And, yes, spending grew. The latest available figures for 2006 show that the industry spent $4.8 billion on DTC advertising, a 13 percent increase over 2005 and the second year of double-digit growth.

When it comes to corporate reputations, it's clear the pharmaceutical industry doesn't quite get it. (Just pick up any newspaper.) But here's the latest newsflash when it comes to managing a bad rap: You get what you pay for.

When it comes to direct-mail marketing, tiny envelopes and wordy letters just don't cut it. But for a fraction of the cost of a sales call, you can create an eye-catching mailer that will land on physicians' desks rather than in the circular file.

Have the confidence to step outside the norm. A targeted, humorous campaign will attract attention more quickly.

The pharmaceutical industry is abuzz with discussion: What will "tomorrow's" sales force look like? How will the job profile and competencies for sales reps change to better serve customers? How do we recruit and hire this new breed of sales reps? Steve DeMorro, president of Publicis Healthcare Recruiting, identified several key characteristics of the new biopharma representative, and how he believes these will become a standard part of the job profile for recruiting-and developing-sales reps in the future.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act-or SOX, as it is dubbed (not always so affectionately)-requires companies to provide greater control and quality assurance across a vast spectrum of business processes. In practice, SOX plays out differently industry by industry and even company by company. But for pharma, one of the most pressing consequences is the need to improve the accuracy of revenue recognition.

McCann HumanCare will launch Pfizer anti-smoking drug Chantix.

Let's face it: no brand manager wants their drug listed on the third or fourth formulary tier. But the reality is that brands often do wind up with low coverage, making them more expensive for consumers.

Pharma companies today are focused on driving prescriptions. But just because physicians are prescribing a brand doesn't mean that they are committed to it. Who's to say a doctor won't jump ship the moment a flashier new drug comes on the scene?

By pumping the science behind a brand, pharmaceutical companies can garner early loyalists—before a drug even hits the market.

Gardasil embodies the kind of links between science, commercialization, and humanity that typify great pharma breakthroughs. It turned a medical success story into a campaign of empowerment. Merck used visionary science to produce a vaccine with the potential to eradicate the third-most-common cause of cancer worldwide, and taught girls how to talk about sensitive issues.

Pharma can receive twice as much revenue from detailing than from DTC. For every dollar spent detailing, firms should expect about $10 in revenues. The return from DTC advertising is more in the range of $5 to $6.

One fortunate consequence of a slower job market is that tenure levels are increasing: 80 percent of sales managers now have at least two years experience under their belt.

Pharma companies today are focused on driving prescriptions. But just because physicians are prescribing a brand doesn't mean that they are committed to it. Who's to say a doctor won't jump ship the moment a flashier new drug comes on the scene?

How hard is it to spot an emerging threat or opportunity in time to actually do something about it? Is it as hard as spotting a scud missile in the deserts of Iraq? As hard as identifying an underwater threat to a submarine using only sonar? As hard as spotting a consumer trend in a vast and complex business like financial services?

Doctors like direct mail as long as the message is concise and to the point. The minute you ask the doctor to actually do something with the direct mail, that's when your effectiveness starts to go downhill.

From hedge clippers to balancing elephants, the 20th annual Rx Club Awards honored a display of ads featuring the most creative concepts from around the world.

Long turnaround on ad reviews adds new complications to the process of developing marketing plans.

Noncompliance causes 125,000 deaths and more than $100 billion in increased healthcare expenses.

Marketing effectively to physicians in today's pharmaceutical industry is more important than ever. No longer can companies rely solely on DTC and sales force efforts to increase drug and therapeutics revenue.

Cost-shifting is still one of the favorite tools in almost all employers' cost-cutting toolboxes. But many fear that shifting too many costs to workers will backfire. Low co-pays keep people healthy and on the job: a big return on investment.

A sales rep's sensitivity to the doctor's marketplace, and his understanding of the pressures on physicians-from formularies and HMO rules to the practices of affiliate hospitals-makes him a greater asset in the customer's eyes. Getting to know a doctor involves understanding the responsibilities of personnel in his office. Reps need to know who the doctor relies on most to get things done.

When people ask how health seekers look and act on the Web, there's no one answer: The online universe has become just as diverse as the rest of the world. Nowhere is this more evident than in the latest e-health statistics that, when taken together, paint a picture of customers who are beginning to find their feet-and new finesse-online.

For the fifth year in a row, Pharm Exec invites Professor Bill Trombetta of St. Joseph's University to analyze the pharma industry's financial performance with a battery of business metrics old and new. The highlights: Two top biotechs race neck-and-neck for first place, Forest delivers another strong performance, and AstraZeneca squeezes past Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline into the top four for the first time ever. And the winner is . . .