US DTC drug marketing moving away from traditional approach

As budgets for direct-to-consumer marketing continue to shrink, the US pharmaceutical industry must become more strategic and targeted when reaching out to consumers, according to the latest issue of Cegedim Dendrite's DTC Check-Up Survey.

"Mass media advertising, primarily TV, was once the standard for DTC marketing, but that's no longer the case," says Lynn Day, director of relationship marketing and analytics at Cegedim Dendrite, which provides products and services to the pharmaceutical industry.

According to the survey, nearly two-thirds of marketers want to see more spending on emerging and targeted approaches, such as e-mail, web sites and programs in physician offices and pharmacies. However, so far, the transition has been slow.