Feb/27/2007 10:06 Filed in:
Media
(Internet)
Google grabbed
25% of the $15.7 billion companies spent for
online ads last year. That's almost $4 billion
for a web property where users spend less than 5%
of their time. That's right, Internet users spend
less than 5% of their time actually searching the
rest of the time they are visiting their favorite
sites via bookmarks. One has to wonder if
marketers are actually thinking about the way
their customers use the Web? Read
More...
Feb/25/2007 05:39 Filed in:
Current
DTC
While the ads
with Abe Lincoln and beaver continue to air a
recent snapshot of site visits indicate that
although Rozerem.com lags far behind AmbienCR.com
that it has taken over the number two spot. That
said the ads are still horrible and many people I
talk to within the industry have quietly informed
me that it will be a cold day in hell before they
ever use AT for their DTC. Read
More...
Feb/25/2007 09:07 Filed in:
Current
DTC
Web MD has
relaunched their site with a new look & feel
and many features. However one gets the feeling
your walking in Times Square and experiencing
sensory overload when you go to their home-page.
There are so many different calls to action that
it's hard to determine where to go or what to do
first. This is what happens when you try to be
all things to all people rather than look at your
audience needs and segment your message to to
THEIR needs, not yours. Read
More...
Feb/23/2007 07:07 Filed in:
Pharma
Business
Someone once
said that insanity is doing the same thing over
and over and expecting different outcomes. I
think that could be applied to the magazine for
DTC called DTC Perspectives. This week in the
mail I received a flyer about their upcoming DTV
National in Washington DC. Although there are
some good speakers on the agenda again we have
presentations from other DTC marketers about
their successful campaigns blah blah blah. Rather
than listen to these boring presentations how
about inviting people who stir the soul and
invite innovation. People like Steve Jobs or Seth
Godin. It's time to think about new ways to reach
consumers not recycle old "been there done that"
stories. Read
More...
Feb/20/2007 07:36 Filed in:
Current
DTC
The last thing
you expect to see when watching a family movie,
like Miracle on 34th Street, is an ad for an ED
product yet that is exactly what happened over
the holidays. In December
alone, an ad for impotence drug Viagra aired at
around 9 p.m. during "Prancer," a G-rated movie
about a young girl who nurses one of Santa's
reindeers back to health; another spot for rival
medicine Levitra appeared during an afternoon
showing of the comedy "Pee-wee's Big Adventure;"
and another for Cialis graced an early-evening
presentation of the holiday classic "Miracle on
34th Street." In addition to the questions of
"why this would happen" one has to ask "why the
hell are ED marketers still using TV and ignoring
the Web? Because they are ignorant and still
don't understand today's media.
Read
More...
Feb/18/2007 12:25 Filed in:
Pharma
Business
There are 150
cases of alleged fraud by pharmaceutical
companies on the Justice Department docket.
J&J recently disclosed of illegal payments in
connection with the sale of its medical devices
in foreign countries. InterMune agreed to pay a
fine of $36 million to settle charges of
"off-label" promotion of one of its drugs. What's
going on here? Well the author of this BLOG feels
that the environment in which we market is
changing and it's time to redraw the line and
ensure that we stay well clear of its
boundaries. Read
More...
Feb/16/2007 06:19 Filed in:
Current
DTC
Smart, good
marketers are hard to come by these days. Smart
marketers know what drives customers to purchase
brands and they also are aware that they are
coming under increased scrutiny for every
marketing dollar that is spent. While a lot of
marketers are allocating more dollars to online
and testing new consumer generated media pharma
marketers remain stuck in the past with little
being allocated to online media and websites that
are updated once in a while. A quick look at
Cialis.com shows that the website has had no
major updates, except a relationship quiz, in
over two years. Viagra's website has gone some
minor updates as has Levitra.com. Why is this?
Because somewhere in the pharma maze there are
marketers who don't get it...who believe TV
rules...and who are stuck in the past.
Read
More...
Feb/15/2007 05:45 Filed in:
Pharma
Business
Well, well..talk
about a turn around ! It seems that the law has
sided with Eli Lilly on the leaks in the Zyprexa
case. The judge in fact labeled the reporters
conduct "reprehensible" and issued an injunction
against the attorney who leaked the information
to the press as well as an "expert witness" for
the plaintiffs. Unfortunately this may be like
putting water on a fire after it has been
extinguished. Read
More...
Feb/13/2007 11:39 Filed in:
Pharma
Business
From
Today's Wall Street
Journal: A cancer
drug's effectiveness has long been measured in
two important ways: whether it shrinks a tumor
and whether it extends patients' lives. But
researchers and regulators are paying increasing
attention to another criterion: how a patient
feels while taking the medicine
Read
More...
Feb/11/2007 09:26 Filed in:
Pharma
Business
The
return of Michael Dell, as CEO of Dell Computers,
was hailed as good news by Wall Street which is
ironic because the problems at Dell were
primarily caused by trying to please the Street.
CEO's today not only have to please shareholders
but more and more have to cater to Wall Street
analysts who don't understand the meaning of the
word strategic and all too often are focused on
short term outlook rather than long term growth.
This is especially true in the pharma business
where CEO's are caught in the middle trying to
please MBA analysts while focusing on the longer
term outlook of their companies.
Read
More...
Feb/07/2007 07:11 Filed in:
The future
of DTC?
Why is it that
Starbucks, after continually failing taste tests,
can command a premium price for a cup of coffee?
Why do Starwood hotels have the highest ROI per
square foot of rooms compared to Marriott? The
answer is that these two companies provide their
customers with a superior customer experience.
People today don't buy brands..they purchase
experiences and if your not charting the
touch-points with your customers then you are
wasting time and money. Read
More...
Feb/06/2007 11:17 Filed in:
Current
DTC
Customer
Relationship Management, we all talk about it but
very few pharma companies do it and do it well.
There is a wealth of information in your database
but before you start data mining you have to know
what the key business drivers are that can
motivate your customers. Read
More...
Feb/06/2007 05:28 Filed in:
Current
DTC
Surely the folks
at the American Heart Association could have
found a better way to spend $2.6 million than the
"your at risk" spot that ran. I can just see it
now..let's leave the most exciting game of the
season to see if I am at risk to get heart
disease. Give me a break. The problem is that
with $2.6 million allocated to online targeted
media the AHA could have driven 1 million people
to its website and more importantly informed
people as to the dangers of heart disease.
Read
More...
Feb/03/2007 05:56 Filed in:
Pharma
Business
Gardasil is
getting used less than doctors would like.
Pediatricians and gynecologists from Arizona to
New York are refusing to stock Gardasil because
of its $360 price for the three doses required
and "totally inadequate" reimbursement from most
insurers. Rather than Merck working with
physicians and insurers to resolve this problem
they are using the standard reply "Merck, which
notes Gardasil is covered by 96 percent of
insurance plans, recently added Gardasil and its
other adult vaccines to its patient assistance
program, but only about 800 doses total were
given away in the last three months of 2006".
This is a prime example of what's wrong with
pharma and adds to the public perception that
pharma is only in it for the money.
Read
More...
Feb/03/2007 07:18 Filed in:
Pharma
Business
Congress is
kicking off efforts to pass big reforms of the
Food and Drug Administration, and that could
produce some bitter pills for the pharmaceutical
industry: potentially, tougher safety rules and
provisions to reduce the cost of medicines. Tying
new reforms to the FDA's budget the Congress
wants to give the FDA more enforcement power but
the real question is how can this be done without
adding another layer of government
bureaucracy. Read
More...
Feb/01/2007 06:44 Filed in:
DTC
Environment
This week we
conducted two days of qualitative market research
to listen to our customers. Although I believe
that a lot of marketers spend way too much time
and money on market research it's great to get
out and listen to our customers to see what's on
their minds. What I found was that they are more
than willing to share their opinions and insights
about diabetes, today's health care environment
and the Internet. Read
More...
