A very happy Holiday to all....

Dec/24/2007 06:58 Filed in: Life inside pharma
Christmas Tree
To all the readers of my BLOG I would like to wish you a very merry Christmas. I write my BLOG because I am passionate about the reason we are all here; and that is to help patients make more informed choices about their healthcare decisions. All DTC marketers should spend some time with their patients so that they can understand what they go through in treating a variety of medical conditions.



I am a realist and as such realize that business objectives are the primary factor when making DTC decisions and media choices. However we, as DTC marketers, need to put ourselves in our patients shoes as they try and navigate a maze of healthcare choices. Yes TV is a great channel for raising awareness but once the awareness level has reached a certain level the Internet can take that awareness and translate it into a new Rx. Yet most DTC websites are push information with actors (Cialis.com) which tells me that either DTC marketers don't understand the channel or understand that consumer now have a hell of a lot more power then they ever had before.


It's up to each one of us to convince management that in order to move forward with smaller budgets we have to take risks with new program and new channels. We all have to be more transparent and learn to embrace the truth rather than hiding data (see Vytorin). As I have said in previous posts all new drugs should have a warning to patients that the product was just approved by the FDA and ongoing clinical studies will continue to evaluate the drugs effectiveness. Patients could then access a website that is updated with data in clear English that reports on new side effects reported by ongoing clinical studies. Yes some may leave but the physician is the one who is the gatekeeper and he can work with the patient on determining if the risk is acceptable. It's certainly a better option than "hiding data" only to have headlines appear later in a national newspaper.


We all have challenges in the coming year and certainly the downsizing in pharma is going to lead to a talent drain in DTC marketing. But at the end of the day the war can be won by winning the smaller battles that we all face each day with a conviction that our customers always should come first.
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