The bad news for prime-time television and consumer magazines: Pharma's direct-to-consumer advertising dropped by 11.5% last year, to $3.47 billion. The even worse news for
digital venues: DTC spend fell by 33%.
The biggest drop, percentage-wise, was in radio ads, which fell 34% to
$23.1 million. Internet advertising came in a close second with a 33% drop, to
$68.4 million. But compared with magazines and TV, those media are small
potatoes for pharma ads, together accounting for just 3% of DTC spending.
TV advertising, of course, is where the lion's share of pharma ad spending goes; 62%
to be exact, according to the blog. So when spending drops 10%, as it did last
year, that amounts to more than a $200 million off the top. New total: $2.167
billion. Magazine spending, for 29% of the total, hit $1.015 billion.
As researchers notes, 2012's decline follows several years of shrinking ad
buys. From a peak in 2006 of about $5.4 billion, spending has dropped and
dropped as fewer new drugs hit the market and more old meds fell off patent.
After the recent spate of FDA approvals, DTC might expect a boost,
particularly from primary-care drugs such as Eliquis, the blood thinner from Pfizer ($PFE) and Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY), and Invokana, the brand-new diabetes pill from Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ). Specialty meds aren't advertised as often to the consumer, however, and
certainly not as heavily. Several of the most-anticipated approvals are cancer
drugs, such as Roche's ($RHHBY) Perjeta and Kadcyla. We'll have to see how the balance tips as the year wears on.