Does DTC Marketing have a future?

I don't think that any other industry has as many challenges, and threats, as the drug and medical device companies.  While some of the problems are the direct result of poor management, i.e.

By Richard Meyer on Sep 8, 2009

I don't think that any other industry has as many challenges, and threats, as the drug and medical device companies.  While some of the problems are the direct result of poor management, i.e. Pfizer's marketing of Bextra,  there are other challenges that are changing the basic principles of marketing.

 

 

Empowered patients-More patients seek health information online than from their HCP's and want to be empowered with it comes to their healthcare decisions.

Healthcare costs-While Rx drugs only account for 20% of every healthcare dollar spent prescription drugmakers are in the crosshairs of politicians.

Aging population- An aging population means that more and more people are going to need critical care.

FDA in transition- The FDA is under enormous pressure to get tougher with the drug industry and does not seem capable of issuing new marketing guidelines based on how people actually obtain and use health information.

On top of all these challenges some big name drugs are due to come off patent within the next few years and the days of really big multiple blockbusters maybe coming to an end as insurers ask for clinical proof that new drugs provide better patient outcomes than generics.   The drug industry for the most part has responded by laying off thousands of people but this alone is not the answer for a slow and sluggish industry.  The answer lies in smaller, leaner organizations that are built around customers and patients rather than mass channels that are not effective anymore.  This has been the area that the drug industry has neglected and it could mean the end of DTC marketing as a force within the industry.
There are some good leaders within the drug industry that have been able to keep their companies focused while going through bad times.  Amgen, for example, has weathered a stormy sea and has managed to stay focused on delivering new products that have a lot of promise.  However other companies CEO's have chosen to hide in the executive suite rather than address the problems of the industry.  They should, for example, be telling their DTC marketing people to push the envelope when marketing new products rather than to "play it safe" with traditional channels that are not effective anymore.  This means that if DDMAC challenges one of their programs than they need to push back to let DDMAC know why they believe it's important in today's climate rather than hide from any potential DDMAC letters.
I remember reading an interview with the CEO of Pfizer some years ago in the TImes on his companies marketing of an antibiotic.  At the time he said that he wanted his marketing people to take risks because he understood that marketing was changing.  He even said that he viewed DDMAC letters as letters of accomplishment rather than slaps on the hand because it showed that marketing was pushing the envelope.  Of course that is a little drastic but if the industry really believes that DTC marketing provides consumers with health information that they really need than the industry has to push back when they feel they are in the right and especially when there are no traffic signs on the marketing highway from DDMAC.
If DTC marketers believe that people are going to see an ad on TV and then run to their doctor to ask for an Rx than I want some of what they are drinking.  Yet with research that shows that TV ads have an ROI of 18% you would think that TV works wonders.  It's time for DTC marketing to become relevant again and to do that DTC marketers need to understand that they con't control the message anymore and that if they continue to talk to consumers the way they have been they are going to alienate audiences even more.
Can DTC marketing evolve?  That depends on the passion of marketing people like myself to make changes within the industry because we believe in what we are doing.