Sales & Marketing

Consumer pharma marketers are going to have to be a little more careful when using celebrity spokespeople or actors playing physicians. PhRMA has updated its rules and the consensus is clear - if you are paying for promotion, it must be noted in the ad.

Forget putting a cap on how much a gift to doctors should cost, the state of Massachusetts is considering outlawing everything from pens to meals - and don't even think about handing out free tickets to next week's Red Sox game.

The already crowded health portal market will get a bit tighter with the addition of myOptumHealth.com. But unlike the other WebMDs of the world (wide Web), Optum comes with a built-in base of 60 million users and the muscle of the UnitedHealth Group.

The Federal Trade Commission is tightening the rules for who is a paid endorser and what advertisers need to disclose about them. Look for new transparency on payment and new language to replace "your mileage may vary."

How to extract valuable market research from e-marketing campaigns

Spending on television advertising might be on the rise, but the consumer ad spend for prescription drugs is seeing a downward trend.

Once a breeding ground for dense jargon about mechanisms of action and prescribing information, Web sites like Centocor's new Medversation are giving doctors consumer-friendly content to help them spell out treatment options in a language everyone can understand.

Top Rx Club Award winners exhibit qualities that ironically juxtapose industry's paradigm (pdf)

A five-year forecast of the multiple-sclerosis market following the disruptions of Tysabri

When it comes to search engine optimization, here's how to earn Google's respect

Medical journal advertising takes center stage at the sixth-annual Doctor's Choice Awards

Don't throw out sales force effectiveness with the sales force-some sure-fire strategies

AZ interviewed physicians to determine why patients fail to take their medicine as prescribed. Unsurprisingly, affordability and patient apathy tied for top excuses. Pharm Exec talked to AZ to find out what the company is doing to boost compliance.

With the launch of Clinician 1, physician and nurse assistants now have a place to share information online. The increase in No-See doctors and general difficulty for reps to meet with prescribers might make this the opportunity for pharma to reach a major stakeholder.

To be effective, an adherence strategy must be responsive to an array of patients with different habits and medications, while providing information, encouragement, and support until adherence becomes reliable.

A DTC backlash is forcing branders to come up with new marketing approaches. Some are better than others ... much better

Pharma is looking to advertising agencies for more support, but companies are also under financial pressure, which in turn puts pressure on the agencies. Here are some ways to ease the situation

With an updated understanding of what type of patients use a brand under what clinical conditions, marketers can find ways to invigorate even a mature brand

What companies need is a LCM plan for the long haul that's strategic, funded, and includes a pipeline realignment process for every stage along the way. And they need it now

Between Congress, the courts, and consumers, DTC is having a rough year. Pharma marketers are now being pressured to delay direct-to-consumer advertising for six months. Is it time to pay more attention to educating doctors and patients?

Drugs are being mentioned more and more on TV shows. Is it just part of the script-or promotion on the part of the industry? If so, should it be regulated?

Dr. House, the lead character in TV's hit medical drama, House, is a high-prescribing diagnostician whose drug treatments can as easily kill or cure a patient. Can this be marketing?

It's management makeover time-and micromanaging is so last year.

What's the buzz all about? Word of mouth is more effective than we think.

Web analystics is helping a new generation of pharma web sites get engaged.

Enter the Maturity Matrix: the future of KOL management organization.

In an effort to give healthcare professionals and patients a one-stop source for factual drug safety information and treatment options, Pfizer has launched a handy new medicine safety Web site with a bevy of bells and whistles.

A new FDA Web site defines consumer print advertising so the general public can spot bad and good pharma ads. As a bonus, the site also serves as a checklist for pharma marketers trying not to step on any regulatory toes.

A new study finds that doctors are three times more likely to prescribe generics when they don’t have access to free samples of branded drugs.

Celebrity spokesperson Dr. Jarvik has been replaced with a Regular Joe in the latest Lipitor DTC spots. Will the switch make a difference?