Ahnal Purohit, PUROHIT NAVIGATION

Ahnal Purohit

PRESIDENT AND CEO | PUROHIT NAVIGATION

One of most common mistakes that marketers make during a recession is to focus on cost rather than outcomes. For example, a comprehensive e-learning program may seem expensive initially, but over time it may deliver a greater return on investment, such as behavior conversion, long term loyalty, and heightened product awareness. Selecting tactics that provide amortized value is more effective than short term, less expensive tactics. Initiating a pharmacoeconomic study, say, can lead to various benefits that can be applied in more than one promotion, such as incorporating pivotal data into sales aids, communicating to managed care groups, and demonstrating value to physicians and patients.

Ahnal Purohit

The FDA's move of "acting in the best interest of consumers" may actually open a Pandora's box. It could allow a rise in advertising from online pharmacies, counterfeit drugs, and alternative therapies—all of which are easily available online and are not as strictly regulated as the pharmaceutical industry.

It will be some time before the FDA issues greater clarification on how to best approach online marketing. In the meantime, marketers do have choices. The first is to redesign their banner ads to include information, such as the generic name and fair balance, in a larger pixel-size format (good luck!). The larger format will incur additional costs for companies, so a closer analysis of the return on investment will need to be made.