What the new "tougher FDA" means for DTC marketing
The announcement this week from the new head of the FDA that they are going get tougher on marketing could not have come at a worse time for drug companies who are already realing from a hostile ma
By on Aug 7, 2009The announcement this week from the new head of the FDA that they are going get tougher on marketing could not have come at a worse time for drug companies who are already realing from a hostile marketing environment. While I am one that believes that the FDA needs to get tough with flagrant violations that deceive consumers and HCP's many within the drug industry to already be risk adverse and a new tougher stance will ultimately translate into marketers taking less risk because of legal and regulatory people who are don't understand the new marketing environment.
In science we always try to start with saying "what do we know?'... well we know that more patients are going online for health information than ever before and that on the average patients have less time to spend with HCP's to talk prevention and lifestyle issues that effect overall health. We also know from research that consumers do not trust DTC TV ads (eMarketer) nor are they likely to use a drug company website to push them over the edge to ask for an Rx. In fact, depending on the health condition, women are more likely than men to research health on the Internet and the collection of information consists of the search for credible information thus many sites. Yet with all this information DTC marketers to a large extent still rely on TV way too much. TV is great for driving awareness for awareness does not translate into an Rx. So rather than take the information to where the "eyeballs" are marketers would rather spend their dollars wasted on TV ads. Why does this happen?
The Internet has grown faster than any other mass market channel in history, yet with this growth it is the least understood by marketers because to understand the Internet requires a new type of thinking: thinking like a consumer rather than a marketer ! How novel ! The web is all about users not marketers or messages..if visitors don't like your message they can turn you off with a click of the mouse and consumers love having this power. While marketers will spend hours and hours working with market research to validate DTC TV ads and show management that they provide ROI they usually don't have the necessary web tools to show them that the web is providing a positive ROI. The difference between a good eMarketing and great eMarketing person is that a great eMarketing person can translate web metrics into meaningful insights that raise eyebrows and get the light bulbs turned on. For example, by analyzing web paths thru the site a great eMarketing person can identify how people are going through the decision process in determining is a product is right for them. They can then take this information and optimize websites with something I call "intuitive navigation" which arranges navigation based on the way consumers think about product or brands.
With all these tools it is unlikely that marketers will venture into uncharted waters however. They will chose the safe road and thus the ROI of traditional DTC will continue to suffer. More importantly it is consumers and patients who will suffer because if we believe that DTC educates and informs patients will have to spend way too much time searching for health information. Recently I heard that consumers are overwhelmed with health information and want to quickly get the information they need without having to sort through millions of web pages.
Drug companies that deceive and hide information from customers and consumers should be punished severely but the FDA has to ensure that the message they said send is not one that will limit innovation of marketing.