The Power of Medical Journal Advertising

Prepared by American Business Media

Introduction

A series of studies have been conducted by ACNielsen HCI, Yale and Dartmouth that demonstrate the effectiveness of Medical Publications as:

•The most important source of information for doctors—and still growing.•A medium that doctors are most often exposed to.•A medium where doctors see ads, recall the products and associate messages with the products.•A medium in which message association correlates with increased sales, and•A medium that generates a positive return on investment

ACNielsen HCI Promotion Research2004

5.411.9

12.012.313.714.9

24.231.9

43.546.5

57.1

70.972.4

76.2

0 20 40 60 80 100

Medical J ournalsCME CoursesConferences/SymposiaColleagues

Pharmaceutical RepsDinner MeetingsReference PublicationsGov't Bulletins/L iteratureAudio CassettesVideo (DVD, CD, VCR)Prescription Pads

Patient Record FormsPharmaceutical Co. MailingsRoutine Faxed Information

Medical Journals are the Number 1 Source of Medical Information

Office-Based High Prescribers GP/FP/DO/IM February 2004: n=4391Percent Response

17.821.924.0

28.028.229.3

35.235.4

45.448.9

59.968.3

77.579.7

0 20 40 60 80 100

Medical J ournalsPharmaceutical RepsColleaguesPharmaceutical Co. Mailings

Reference PublicationsPrescription PadsRoutine Faxed InformationCME CoursesPatient Record FormsGov't Bulletins/L iteratureDinner Meetings

Conferences/SymposiaVideo (DVD, CD, VCR)Audio Cassettes

Doctors are Exposed to Medical Journals and Their Advertising More Than Any Other

Source of InformationOffice-Based High Prescribers GP/FP/DO/IM

February 2004: n=4391Percent Response

ACNielsen HCI Database Conclusions*

• MDs Read Journals• They See The Ads• They Recall The Products• They Get The Message• Message Association Correlates With Increased Sales• Advertising Improves Detailing’s ROI Nearly Three-

Quarters Of The Time• When It Doesn’t It Is Not Due To The Medium, But To

Message Problems And Funding Issues• With Assumptions On Message Quality And Product

Age, We Can Begin To Predict Average Return On Investment

*CTS database 6,800 campaign observations; Media-Chek annual survey of 7,000 MD’s

ABM/AMPJournal Advertising Test

June, 2005

Product AProduct B

Overall Lessons Learned

1. Medical journal advertising campaigns should be pretested and evaluated in order to address user concerns. Any degree of confusion or perceived clutter must be addressed.

2. Not all medical advertising is effective. If a promotional approach doesn’t work, this research shows that it can be the results of a problem ad campaign or inconsistency in messaging and not the fault of the medium.

3. It is mandatory to analyze campaign effectiveness using both attitudinal and behavioral techniques. A behavioral (Rx) analysis is designed to determine if the program raised sales, while the attitudinal analysis explains the results. This combined methodology allows necessary adjustments to be made, if needed, to improve the probability of success.

Overall Lessons Learned (cont’d)

4. The PosTest research in this study supports the concept that for medical journal advertising to be effective, it is important for a series of events to take place (campaign awareness, message penetration and change in 1st choice therapy) in advance of increased prescriptions.

5. There is evidence that medical advertising can raise the level of perceived detailing when it connects with the sales aid.

6. Medical journal advertising can work and this research confirmed that at an appropriate level the medical advertising created awareness, communicated its message, raised 1st choice therapy and raised sales in both the six-month and twelve-month measurement periods.

Anatomy of a SuccessAdvertising PreTest Results

Product A

The CTS PreTest conducted prior launch indicated that Product “A’s” journal advertisement would be well received pending minor changes relative to message placement and the location of fair balance.

The recommended changes were made.

There Is A Direct Relationship Between The Ad Budget And Campaign Awareness. Higher Levels Of Advertising Help To

Communicate The Ad’s Message And Increased Use As First Choice Therapy

Product “A”(Awareness Scores)

Control 21%

11% 32% 31%

T1 ($ 875,000) 44 16 29 30

T2 ($1,750,000) 45 23 26 32

T3 ($3,500,000) 58 44 44 38

Ad Recognition

Product Recall

Correct Message

Association*

1St ChoiceTherapy

*Subsequently it was learned that the ad message was inconsistent with the message detailed by the reps.

PosTest Results

It Appears That Higher Levels of Advertising Reinforce The Perception Of Being Detailed

Physician Awareness of Being Detailed vs.

Company Records

Control T1 T2 T3

Physician Response* 43% 38% 46% 52%

Company Records** 40% 40% 41% 42%

*Percent indicating they are routinely detailed (monthly or quarterly)

**Percent of panel MD’s (Control/Test) detailed on this product.

Higher Levels of Advertising Produced a Significant Increase in

NRx’s Test Group III

Prod “A”

1st 6 months 9.79%*

2nd 6 months 11.07%*

1st 12 months 10.47%*

*Statistically significant at 95% level of confidence

Significant DifferenceTest vs. Control

Anatomy of a FailureAdvertising PreTest Results

Product “B”•While physicians responded favorably to the main message, more than half (57%) were unsure or negative about the visual with such comments as:

•“Too busy”•“Too much”•“Too crowded”•“Way too busy for an ad, the small print at the bottom of the page looks terrible”

It was recommended to expand the ad size from 2 pages to 4 to correct overcrowding; However, this was not done.

Awareness Of The Ad, The Product it Promoted And Correct Product Association With The Main Messages Did Not Grow With

Additional Ad Spending

Product “B”(Awareness Scores)

Control ($0) 46*% 33*%

T1 ($ 750,000) 40% 30%

T2 ($1,500,000) 48% 29%

T3 ($3,000,000) 45% 34%

AdRecognition

Product Recall

*Could have been seen in specialty journal or as part of a sales aid.

Six Months PosTest Results

Correct Message Association

51%59%

51%

52%

There Is No Relationship Between Tested Ad Budgets And Consideration Of Product “B” For Its Major

Indication

Product “B”% 1st Choice Therapy

By Indication

Control T1 T2 T3

Condition #1 47% 48% 44% 40%

THERE IS NO INDICATION THAT HIGHER AD EXPENDITURES PRODUCED HIGHER GROWTH

Product “B”Management Summary

Area%

Change New Rx’s/MoMar-Aug ’03/’04

Control 45.2%

T1 44.3%

T2 46.5%

T3 43.8%

PCP Nx Results

No Significant DifferenceTest vs. Control

Behavioral ResearchConducted By:

Dick R. Wittink, Ph.D.Yale

On Medical Journal ROI

Conclusions - Yale

• Medical Journal Advertising Delivers The Highest Return On Investment Among All Four Key Marketing Activities

• This Plus Its Small Share Of Medical Promotion Expenditures, Suggests That Medical Journal Advertising Is Under Utilized

• Spending the Right Amount In Medical Journals Can Enhance The ROI For All Types Of Brands, Small Or Large, New Or Established.

Medical Journal Advertising $12.20

Physicians, Meetings & Events $11.70

Detailing $11.60

Direct-to-Customer $ 1.30

Overall Return On Investment*

*Based on an analysis of 392 branded drugs and 21,436 monthly observations from 1995 to 2000.

Conclusion

Given the proven strength of Medical Journal Advertising, companies should consider

utilizing this medium to a greater extent in the mix to make marketing:

•More impactful•More efficient