Vioxx, Bextra recall leave drug ads intact
Despite the recall of Vioxx and, most recently, Bextra from the market, consumers continue to respond to direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) at levels comparable to those reported prior to the Vioxx recall, according to the latest findings from Ipsos PharmTrends, a syndicated tracking study of consumer behavior by Ipsos, the global survey-based marketing research firm. In other words, while some recent data shows that spending on television advertising for prescription drugs has dropped somewhat, an average consumer is still being bombarded with too many ads for drugs. In fact, controversy surrounding a drug seems to have little impact on advertising. Therefore, even for controversial drugs like Viagra and Crestor, there is no letup in advertising.
Almost two in ten consumers (18%) took action following exposure to a prescription drug, and one out of ten (11%) requested a specific medication. These "call to action" results have shown only minimal erosion from pre-Vioxx recall levels, in which 19% of consumers took action following exposure to a prescription drug, and 12% requested a specific medication. Ad awareness, at 58%, is also consistent with findings from previous waves. Now if this sounds like a small percentage, remember that for other consumer products, these numbers are generally in single digits.
"Despite the latest recalls, prescription drug advertising continues to be an accepted and effective channel for communicating the availability of prescription drug solutions," says Barbara Bertner, Vice President, Ipsos-Insight's PharmTrends. "Americans, despite finding prescription druga dvertising annoying, believe that manufacturers should be able to advertise and that advertising provides a good source of information for alternativetherapies. Manufacturers are taking notice with a distinct change in creative style that is more serious in tone and presents the information in a more straightforward manner."
It is important to point out that per capita drug consumption in the United States is the higest in the world (despite as many as 45 million Americans without health insurance who rarely take prescription drugs and many senior citizens who do not take complete doses due to financial constraints). In other words, Americans are saying to drug companies "Give me more!"
Several branded prescription drugs show high levels of ad recall among their purchasers. Viagra tops the list this year, with nearly all its purchasers (89%) recalling seeing an ad for the erectile dysfunction drug in the year ending December 2004. Drugs entering the top ten ranking for the first time include Strattera (84% of purchasers ad aware), Detrol LA (82% of purchasers ad aware), and Aricept (80% of purchasers ad aware). Aricept exhibits the most significant movement upward, ranking eighth, up from thirty-sixth position one year ago.
Viagra has recently come under a cloud after it was reported that it may cause blindness in some men. It will be interesting to watch if prior if Americans will still take Viagra even though there are calls for a Viagra recall.
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