The "DDR on DTC" column in the August 2012 issue of MM&M magazine ripped into a print ad that showed a woman migraine sufferer being able to mop the floor after taking the Pfizer anti-migraine headache drug Replax.
"DTC ads used to be over-aspirational," said the author, Deborah Dick-Rath, "we saw relieved arthritis sufferers running marathons or playing Frisbee. With Relpax, the insight seems to be that sufferers just aspire to do such everyday activities as mopping the floor...We hope that Relpax is a success for Pfizer and that migraine sufferers find relief. We also hope they get (strictly aspirationally) excused from swabbing the deck" (see "DDR on DTC: Relpax").
Here's the ad that DDR reviewed:
This is probably the result of Pfizer's conservative view of what modern women aspire to at 11:00 Am in the morning (note the clock).
I couldn't find this ad in a recent issue of People Magazine, which is the publication in which DDR found the above ad. Instead I found this much more politically correct, although still not too inspirational, ad:
In this version, two hours after taking Replax, the migraine sufferer is able to go out and do whatever her business is -- probably commuting to work given that the clock is showing 8;00 AM (or is it PM?).
Perhaps Pfizer read DDR's column and revised the print ad campaign, at least as far as image is concerned. Surprisingly, however, the Replax.com Web site still portrays the woman mopping the floor:
It appears that it takes longer to swap out a Web image that a print ad image.
Pfizer is asking Replax.com visitors to tell their "stories" by submitting photos or video. "Tell us about your experience with migraines by submitting a story," says the promo page (here). "Your story can include a photo or video. If chosen, your submission could be featured on RELPAX.com."
I don't imagine a single submitted photo or video will feature a woman mopping the floor. Do you?
You can tell that pharma marketers are getting desperate when they have to beg consumers to submit stories to compensate for the fact that their image of the modern consumer dates back to the 1950's. read more..
Friday, 24 August 2012
Migraine Sufferers-Relpax-Pfizer-Replax
Monday, 4 June 2012
Health Connections-Corporate Blog-Search Result-Breast Cancer-Drug Product
Last week I reported that AstraZeneca (AZ) posted an ad for CRESTOR on its "AZ Health Connections" corporate blog (see "AstraZeneca's Timely CRESTOR Branded Blog Post: Did It Violate Its Own Policy?"). The post included the indication for CRESTOR and also the "Important Safety Information" (ISI) that is required by the FDA whenever a drug company talks about a brand and its approved indication.
I wrote about that only because it was the first time -- to my knowledge -- that a pharma corporate blog promoted a branded product and I wondered if such posts violated AZ's own posting policies (turns out that it may or may not depending upon what you mean by "may" -- see the post for details).
Today, I noticed an AZ Health Connections blog post that talked about another AZ drug - ARIMIDEX, which is approved for "adjuvant treatment (treatment following surgery with or without radiation) of postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer."
This time, however, the post (find it here; see screen capture above) did NOT mention the approved indication. It is, by FDA definition, a "reminder ad." According to the Pharma Marketing Network Glossary:
Reminder advertisements are identified as an exemption to the advertisement regulations, including provisions to provide a brief summary. Reminder advertisements " . . . call attention to the name of the drug product but do not include indications or dosage recommendations for use of the drug product. . . . and, optionally, information . . . containing no representation or suggestion relating to the advertised drug product." Reminder advertisements cannot make a representation about the product or suggest a use for the product.The AZ Health Connections post does "call attention to the name of the drug," but it also directs readers to ARIMIDEX Direct, which is a program that "allows eligible patients to receive ARIMIDEX delivered to their homes for $40 a month, including shipping and handling." Sounds like a good deal, although I did not investigate what the eligibility requirements were.
AZ deserves credit for reaching out to the online community to learn more about how it can make its drugs more accessible. Recall that AZ was the first pharma company to host a Twitter chat "to raise awareness about helping patients save money through prescription savings programs" (see "OMG! AstraZeneca Hosts Twitter Chat & World Does NOT End!").
PhRMA "forbids" Reminder Ads, But Not on Internet!
AZ's post raises some interesting questions regarding the promotion of Rx drugs on the Internet that neither the FDA nor the pharma industry has addressed. For example, PhRMA's "Guiding Principles for Direct-to-Consumer Advertising" (here) prohibit reminder ads on TV but NOT on the Internet:
Principle #10: "DTC television advertising that identifies a product by name should clearly state the health conditions for which the medicine is approved and the major risks associated with the medicine being advertised." [Alos see "Reminder Ads - Pharma's Dodo?"]AZ, I believe, is a signatory to these voluntary guidelines. Since these guidelines only apply to TV advertising, AZ is not in violation. It's still the "wild west" on the Internet with regard to reminder ads; i.e., It's perfectly fine to run "reminder ads" on the Internet. This is usually the case when pharma companies buy Adwords (paid search ads) from Google, especially after the FDA came down on Adwords that included the indication with the brand name.
Another interesting issue is how pharma companies can manipulate "natural" (aka "organic") Google search results to display what is essentially a branded product ad that includes the brand name and indication, but no ISI.
Search Google for "arimidex" as I just did and you will find this:
The #4 (or #3, depending on how you count) search result leads you to the home page of the www.arimidex.com Web site. Note that the search result looks like an read more..
Saturday, 10 March 2012
Social Media Marketing-Personal Experience-Insurance Marketers-Insurance Marketing
Often, when proponents of pharma eMarketing get together at industry conferences, or cry into their beers at receptions afterward, they lament the fact that the drug industry isn't doing as much as other industries in the "e" arena. Sometimes, they cite eMarketing campaigns of companies like Procter & Gamble (P&G) and ask, Why aren't drug companies doing that?
The responses to that question generally fall into the category of "It's Regulations, Stupid!" That is, FDA regulations are hampering what pharma marketers can do online. The packaged goods industry -- of which P&G is a member -- is not regulated like the drug industry is regulated. True that!
So, let's look at another industry that IS regulated: the insurance industry. Where do insurance marketers spend their dollars and how does that compare with pharma? It just so happens that I came across some data that might shed some light on that (see the chart below; click on the chart to enlarge).
The data come from Kantar Media. The Internet data does NOT include search advertising. The insurance data is for the first three quarters of 2011 (total spend = $3.56 Bn) whereas the data for pharma is for 2010 (total spend = $4.3 Bn). To compare apples to apples, in 2010 the insurance industry media spend pie looks like this: TV, 54%; Print, 6%; Internet, 21%.
No matter how you look at it, the insurance industry favors Internet over print whereas the opposite is true for pharma. Why?
Here's what I have learned from personal experience. In my family -- and probably in your family too -- health decisions and purchases are generally the domain of my wife, whereas insurance decisions and purchases are my responsibility. It's no secret that pharma marketers target mostly women. My wife reads magazines like Prevention, etc. that feature a lot of drug ads. I don't read these magazines. While I have seen print ads for insurance companies, they haven't made much of an impression on me, whereas TV ads have.
So, from my personal experience, it's logical that both industries allocate a big portion of their media spend on TV advertising, but only the drug industry spends a lot on print advertising.
What's surprising, however, is the insurance industry's 28% of total media spend on the Internet (versus 5% for the pharma industry).
Coincidentally, yesterday I received an e-mail message from Geico about their "Family Pricing Program" for my son Greg. (We are Geico customers, having both our car and home insurance with them.) The message said:
"If Gregory is getting ready to graduate, preparing for a new job, or looking to establish a little independence, our Family Pricing program allows you the freedom of moving Gregory to his own policy while he continues to receive the same great rates you're currently receiving."That spooked me a bit because Greg just started his first full-time job after graduating and I mentioned to my wife that soon it will be time for Greg to get his own insurance policy! I tweeted:
"Got email from Geico about transferring my son 2 his own car insur plan now that he has a job. How'd they know I was just thinking that?"Of course, they didn't know what I was thinking, but it was nice to know that they anticipated what I may be thinking! Geico knows a lot about me and my family. They know our ages, our sex, our driver's license numbers, our driving records, what kinds of cars we own, etc. I had to give them that information to get insurance. No big deal.
So, it would be easy for Geico to anticipate that Greg recently graduated and that he may have a new job. Further, they know from experience that parents want to get their kids off their insurance plans ASAP.
After I posted that tweet, I received this response from "Shay" tweeting from the @GEICO_Service Twitter account:
"We would be more than happy to give him a quote! He can go to geico.com or give us a call at 1-800-861-8380. -Shay"That was a pleasant note th read more..