Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

Pharmaceutical companies spend significant amounts of time and money promoting their products to both physicians and consumers. But are these firms targeting all demographic groups as well as they could? A new survey of physicians indicates that pharma companies could do a much better job of reaching one specific target audience: Hispanics.

Senior executives at health care manufacturing companies have been slow to embrace mobile media. Their reasons for the slow entrance into this new media format have to do with justifying ROI. But recently surveyed companies indicate they plan to increase use of mobile this year as they reach out both to consumers and other business.

Consumers spend a lot of time online these days. While media accounts are filled with reports about the hours consumed by social media interaction and mobile gaming, many consumers are using the Internet for more mundane activities. Specifically, they’re seeking information about health concerns. The results of the latest Pew Internet & American Life ProjectRead the Rest…

Ad-ology Research recently updated their Industry Marketing Insights report for Complementary/Alternative Medicine Facilities. The following are the predicted Top 3 Opportunities/Challenges from the report for this industry for the upcoming 12 months:

For several years, a sizeable minority of consumers have grown accustomed to purchasing health services and medications with flexible spending accounts (FSA). By setting aside money in these accounts, consumers have been able to fund health-care related expenses on a tax-free basis. Effective this year, changes have been made to FSAs as a result of the new health care legislation. Specifically, consumers can no longer use their FSAs to purchase over the counter (OTC) medications. As a result, these consumers will be making changes to how they purchase these medications and these changes will impact the marketing of these products.

The long-established practice of sample pill distribution from pharma sales rep to physician to patient is changing. New regulations now require more stringent tracking of all distributed prescription medications. To get medications into the hands of patients, pharma companies are turning to cards that do everything from tracking sample shipments to giving consumers discounts at the pharmacy and are serving as a new form of marketing.