Direct-To-Consumer Advertising of Rx
Medicines Falls Short of Potential in Return of Investment
The following is a
news release from Consumer Health Information Corporation.
For more information contact us at (703) 734-0650.
McLEAN,
VA - A leading patient education authority says many direct-to-consumer
(DTC) campaigns are falling seriously short of their potential
because consumers are not getting the take-home message that
pharmaceutical companies think they are sending.
At a recent Drug Information
Association (DIA) seminar in New York entitled "Marketing of
Pharmaceuticals: How To Be Aggressive and in Compliance," Dr.
Dorothy L. Smith, President of Consumer Health Information Corporation,
told the audience: "Programs that meet all the regulations but
cannot be understood by consumers become very expensive ...
and perhaps a waste of money. It just doesn't make sense to
produce materials that are medically accurate and meet the legal
and regulatory requirements, but don't meet the needs of the
person who is going to use the product."
"It is certainly in a company's
best interests to develop a patient compliance strategy for
each product, integrate it into the marketing plan, and make
the effort to develop messages that can be understood and 'mean
something' to the consumer," said Dr. Smith.
"Marketers often dismiss
the patient education component of a DTC program as simply a
'value added' service that has little or no impact on the bottom
line," noted Dr. Smith. "They may believe that if their DTC
campaign or patient information program gains FDA approval and
meets the requirements of their company's legal, regulatory
and clinical groups, their program is ready for distribution
to the public."
"However, nothing could
be further from the truth," Dr. Smith said. "The success of
any drug therapy hinges on how well consumers understand and
believe the information they are given about the medication."
According to findings reported
in Prevention magazine's 1999 National Survey of Consumer Reactions
to DTC Ads, out of every 100 consumers who view a DTC ad:
"Because only one person
will follow through to a fourth or fifth refill, companies have
lost more than half of their potential refill market - which
is larger than the initial prescription market," she pointed
out.
"These statistics remind
us that the consumer makes critical decisions about whether
to fill or refill a prescription," Dr. Smith said. DTC messages
for consumers can only reach their full potential when they
integrate effective patient compliance strategies and behavior
modification techniques, she said. In addition, the content
must be translated into language the average consumer can understand
and reinforced with a "patient-friendly" design that encourages
acceptance and understanding.
"A product manager should
never think the job is done just because they have been able
to bring the wording down to the grade 6 to 8 level," she said.
"Words such as 'red meat' and 'high fat meal' cannot be understood
by many patients even though these words are at the grade 4
level. The key is ensuring that patients can understand the
words."
Dr. Smith noted that a medication
can only be safe and effective IF it is taken correctly. It
is in the best interests of every product manager to develop
a patient compliance strategy for each product, to make that
strategy an essential part of their marketing plans, and to
develop messages that patients can easily understand and comprehend,
she said.
"It can be a win/win situation,"
Dr. Smith said. "The product manager can enhance the effectiveness
of the DTC campaign by developing programs that focus on retaining
patients who received a prescription because of the DTC campaign.
Once this is done, patient outcomes will improve, and product
sales could more than double."
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Consumer Health Information Corporation is an international
leader in patient education, compliance, retention, behavior
modification, and direct-to-consumer communication programs.
Founded in 1983 and located just outside of Washington, DC,
Consumer Health Information Corporation is unique because all
of its programs are based on years of actual experience in counseling
patients in clinic settings and firsthand knowledge of what
patients want and need to know about their medicines. The company's
President, Dr. Dorothy L. Smith, is the author of 23 books that
provide consumers with clinically accurate, easy to understand
advice on how to use prescription medicines. The company also
has years of active leadership in national regulatory issues
relating to patient education and national patient medication
safety issues. It has professional liaisons with the major national
medical, pharmacy and consumer organizations, and is a member
of the Board of Directors of the National Council on Patient
Information and Education (NCPIE). The company is also affiliated
with many schools of the pharmacy across the U.S. and serves
as a specialized drug information-teaching site for senior Doctor
of Pharmacy candidates.
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For more information about
the services provided by Consumer Health Information Corporation
and how they can help increase the ROI for your company's prescription
drugs, contact us at (703) 734-0650.