Pharma and Device Blog Watch

Are Drug Companies Doing TV Product Placement? (BrandweekNRX)
In his blog, Jim Edwards considers whether drug companies are making deliberate efforts to get their brand drugs mentioned in TV after a story published in the Indianapolis Times showed that the number of drug product placements on TV has doubled. 

“A small number of companies have made paid efforts to get their brands mentioned. Organon is one of the few companies that has come out of the closet about its relationship with the show Scrubs, which often features the NuvaRing logo on its props and in backgrounds.”

While most companies deny that they have established similar relationships, Edwards says he’s noticed product placement agencies who had drug companies as clients, as well as some drug companies that deny making payments to get their brand on TV, but won’t hesitate to send products over if a show needs props.

“The rationalization here is that if the company isn’t directly paying a TV producer or network to get a mention, then it isn’t actually product placement.”

When It’s Time to Tighten the Belt, Online Is First to Go (World of DTC Marketing)
Direct-to-consumer marketers don’t understand the web and would rather spend their money on TV or print, writes Richard Meyer in his blog. Consequently, when faced with budget cuts, online advertising is often sacrificed first, while TV ads are left, he continues.

“Online media is a measly 4 percent of ad spending in the medicine-and-remedies category. While the category is the fourth-largest in terms of measured media, spending $9.2 billion in 2006, it ranks ninth in online ad spending, according to TNS Media Intelligence, at $380 million.”

Meyer cites a poll run by the Pharma Marketing Blog showing that people think TV is the most overused media channel, “yet when it comes to allocating dollars, the first to know are media buyers for TV, and the first to go, when the budget cut looms, is the web,” he writes.

He speculates that this may be due to corporate politics, as it’s easier for a brand team leader to present a new TV spot at a meeting than to present banners for the web. Most ad agencies also don’t have the expertise to leverage the online channel, he adds.

“If you have to test everything, then you are not in touch with your customers. If you don’t have psychographics of your market, then you are marketing blind, and if you don’t invest dollars into the web for online advertising, then you are missing one hell of an opportunity.”