Sep/17/2008 11:30
Can online
advertising be too targeted? Well consider the story
of a woman who has a profile on Facebook and received
ads that implied "she could stand to lose a couple of
pounds". Every time she logged in to her home page,
Facebook's ads screamed at her with all the subtlety
of a drill sergeant: "MUFFIN TOP." This particular ad
had a picture of someone with said affliction. For
those blissfully unacquainted with the slur, it's
when a woman wears too-tight jeans and a roll of flab
hangs over her waistband. Targeted ads can work but
you had better ensure that they don't offend people
in the process. Read
More...
Sep/11/2008 08:26
"Most
online health sites have become vibrant online
communities rooted in sharing experiences and advice,
rather than simply being one- way information
resources for the consumer". This quote is from a
recent article on eMarketer on Health Information on
the Web. The problem is that most pharma product
sites continue to "push" one-way information.
Read
More...
Sep/03/2008 11:38
When
Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon launched a
feature allowing patients to rate their doctor’s
office experience on a scale of 1 to 5, executives
figured it would be a hit with consumers. It is,
drawing about 270 physician ratings each week, plus
comments. The reaction among doctors has been
decidedly less enthusiastic. Many complain that they
can’t counter what is said about them without
violating patient privacy, and that they may be
penalized for important professional decisions, like
not prescribing antibiotics for a common cold.
Read
More...
Sep/03/2008 10:01
Unless you
were in a cave yesterday it's hard to miss the news
that Google is entering the browser wars with it's
own beta version called Chrome. While the version
unveiled yesterday in California is still in beta
(gMail is also still in beta even though it's been
out for about 3 years) and has some major
shortcomings we all need to look at this product as
what possibly is in store for the evolution of the
Web for consumers and marketers alike.
Read
More...
Aug/27/2008 11:51
A
study by the Center for Studying Health System Change
finds 56% of American adults got health care
information in 2007 from a source other than their
physician, up from 38% in 2001. The percentage of
people using the Internet for health care information
grew the fastest, from 16% in 2001 to 32% in 2007.
Read More...
Aug/25/2008 03:29
Google is so far
ahead of other search engines that it has become a
verb for people searching the Web. The problem
however for people searching the Web for health
information is that it's very easy to quickly get
overwhelmed with information. Where do you start and
which sites are the best for my needs? Well two new
search engines are betting that there is room for
improvement and while they are still in the early
stages of development they look very
promising. Read
More...
Aug/25/2008 08:11
"What we've seen
with research with consumers is that once they've
seen it, they tell everybody," a P&G marketing
person said, another reason for the emphasis on buzz
marketing vs. conventional media. "The feeling you
get is so unique, and women especially love it” .
People talk about toothpaste? Yes, John in fact
people do talk about toothpaste, underwear, cars, and
prescription drugs.
Read More...
Aug/25/2008 08:10
A
new survey reveals that 85.6 million U.S. adults have
doubted the opinion of their doctors or other medical
professionals when it conflicts with information
found online. That number represents about 38 percent
of the population. This could be a real problem for
physicians who are not used to having their
recommendations questioned but HCP’s had better get
used to patient empowerment. Read
More...
Aug/25/2008 05:52
During a conference
call to discuss Internet strategy recently one of the
agency people asked "why can't pharma website move
beyond Web 1.0 and do something that is more inline
with what is happening on the Web today?" This of
course led to a long discussion about Web 2.0 but
when you get down to the net results the bottom line
is that there are a number of barriers that can be
addressed to get to Web 2.0 but do DTC and eMarketing
people want to address them? Read
More...
Aug/13/2008 06:17
The growth of
broadband Internet connections is starting to level
off in the US but what is even more troubling is that
the US is far behind other countries in broadband
speeds. The average broadband connection in the US is
2-3 Mps per second while countries Japan have speeds
as high as 63 Mps per second. What does this mean for
marketers? Well broadband is going to go through
explosive growth again after some changes are made
and marketers had better be ready to reach consumers
on every device imaginable. Read
More...
Aug/06/2008 06:27
Harris Interactive,
which has tracked online health information research
for years, reported a slight dip in the number of
Internet users who said they had made such searches
this year. The polling company said that 150 million
US adults (81% of Internet users) looked online for
health info in 2008, down from 160 million who did so
in 2007. Read
More...
Aug/03/2008 08:38
According to a
report from Forrester 60% of eMarketing people
strongly agreed or somewhat agreed that they
“struggle to build a case for interactive marketing
within their companies”. 60% !? This, to me, is a
clear indication that a lot of marketing people don’t
understand the Web and instead are relying on
outdated business models that are irrelevant in
todays consumer empowered economy.
Read
More...
Jul/28/2008 07:18
I
had the chance to attend an online seminar, partly
sponsored by Forrester, on why a lot of companies are
not embracing Web marketing. As the presentation
began to unfold I was reminded of just how hard it is
for pharma eMarketing people to really move forward
with eMarketing initiatives. It is often an exercise
in frustration that leads to a “good enough”
mentality for online programs. Read
More...
Jul/07/2008 12:55
Consumer-opinion
websites have been a principal enabler of hardening
consumer attitudes. In this new world
marketers can not only lose control of their messages
but they may also experience greatly diminished
selling effectiveness because of a few bad reviews
& experiences on social media sites. That
suggests a vastly more critical role for advertising
research and testing, especially for products or
services that have, shall we say, checkered pasts
like pharmaceutical brands. Read
More...
Jul/03/2008 07:07
Another reminder
on Mr Macks BLOG
that
pharma is has not invested in the online channel
and continues to lag behind consumer packaged
goods marketers. According to the chart on Mr
Macks BLOG pharma has only spent 3.1% of their
budgets online while the overall trend is double
that. No matter where you go, there you are
! Read
More...
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