The DTC crunch: worse than anyone expected?

Apr/08/2008 05:44 Filed in: Current DTC
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My friend over at the Pharma Marketing Blog, John Mack, recently ran a survey to ask if pharma was in a recession. I'm not sure of the results of his survey but my informal survey of 15 DTC marketing people clearly shows a "retraction" of spending in all areas especially the Internet. In this informal survey with DTC marketers I asked questions like "are you planning to spend more. less or about the same on DTC ads" and "is it harder to get dollars for DTC programs this year than previous years". I was not ready for the venting that most DTC marketers unloaded on me and my ear is still ringing.



With my informal survey I was trying to get to the underlying attitudes of management when it comes to DTC advertising. What I heard was that DTC marketers are busy redoing PowerPoint presentations to try and justify ANY spend. Hardest hit will be the Internet. Most are scaling back search and other online media but nearly all are not planning any major changes to their websites. When I asked if pharma had dedicated eMarketing analytic people there was usually a silence on the phone and followed by a nervous laugh. As one marketer told me "they just don't understand the importance of the Internet as a strategic channel to meet brand objectives and I'm sick and tired of presenting and representing market information on the value of Web when it comes to health information."


One DTC marketer, based in New Jersey, told me that she had presented an online marketing plan to her boss and received preliminary approval only to find out later that the presentation to other executives only included one slide on Web tactics and as such her online budget had been cut in favor of other media, namely TV. When I tried to query her about the experience a little bit more she got angrier and said that she had all but given up hope that people in her organization understood the value of the Web.


I also had the chance to ask if the recent missteps with Vytorin had hurt DTC budgets. Some said that there is definitely more scrutiny by legal and regulatory and one person said "I think they are waiting to see if the courts decide that drug companies are excepted from liability exclusion , if they rule that FDA approval protects us from liability then I think you'll see a whole lot more dollars flow into our budgets".


After my talk with fellow DTC marketers I have to admit that I was taken back by their lack of enthusiasm. They all sounded drained and tired and if to say "I wonder what other train wreck is waiting to happen". To a person they are presenting and representing DTC ROI only to have to start from square 1 and do it all over again when managers change positions and move on. "My new manager came in from sales so you know what her priority is going to be, less DTC more for salespeople" said one.

Finally I asked "If you had to do it all over again would you go into DTC pharma marketing, knowing then what you know now". All except two people said "no". "I'm burnt out said one woman it's the same thing year after year after year and after awhile you have to ask yourself if it's worth it". "I got nominated for an award at the DTC convention later this month and once I have that I can move on and get out of DTC" said another, "there just aren't enough good senior managers who understand the value of marketing here anymore". Too bad...
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