A recent study conducted by a US consulting firm Cutting Edge Information has found that digital marketing spend has
continued to rise for pharmaceutical brand teams. CA recent study conducted by a US consulting firm Cutting Edge Information
has found that digital marketing spend has continued to rise for pharmaceutical
brand teams.
Comparing the new data to that of earlier studies, the firm believes that
for a typical pharmaceutical brand, the digital marketing investment is set to
surpass budgets for traditional media.
The study, Launching Pharmaceutical
Brands: Formulas for Commercialization Success, examines the marketing resource allocations of 15 pharma brands, in order
to show how pharma marketing strategies are evolving to stay inline with
physician and patient demand for digital information.
As healthcare consumers create online communities to stay informed of new
treatment options, there has been an upsurge in patients using digital media.
Similarly, the internet is providing healthcare professionals with fast and
convenient access to pharmaceutical information.
"Reaching doctors via smartphones, tablets and other electronic
media,” explained David Richardson, research analyst at Cutting Edge
Information, “is now the fastest and most direct means of getting their
attention.
“For many brands, that gives you the best chance of successfully
positioning products for adoption, uptake and revenue."
The study considered three critical phases of drug commercialisation: phase
III to regulatory approval, approval to launch, and launch to six-months
post-launch. On average the 15 pharmaceutical brands spent $150,000 on digital
marketing per molecule during the phase IIIA development. This figure then
tripled between regulatory approval and immediately after the launch.