Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America's Rozerem sleep aid, which used offbeat ad characters such as Penrod Lauritz and a beaver, cut digestive system from $91million in sleeping pills the first half muscle relaxants muscle of 2007 to $15million in the first half this year. Magazines and radio stations have seen the most drug ad decline. Enbrel (for rheumatoid arthritis), Nasonex (nasal allergies) and Zelnorm sleeping pills (irritable bowel syndrome). Rival ad tracker Nielsen Monitor-Plus calculates the decline at 4.8% to $2.7 billion. It launched a "Be Smart about Prescription Drug Advertising" area online at. "Throughout much of the early rozerem drug decade, it was growing at strong double-digit rates as pharmaceutical marketers become more comfortable and experienced with DTC advertising," says Jon Swallen, TNS senior vice president of research. online pharmacy
"The pharmaceutical companies perceive the caution of government regulation on marketing to be a stronger threat now than it has been in the past," and are trying to self-regulate, Swallen says. Among factors driving the drop, he says, are fewer drug launches, fear of government regulation and cuts by a few brands that rozerem had spent big. Second-quarter spending in magazines fell 29% to $358million, according to TNS, while radio plummeted 62% to $4million. Results sho that direct-to-consumer rozerem generic (DTC) ads "probably aren't as effective as widely perceived," says Edgard Law, lead That bodes ill for the magazines, newspapers and radio and TV outlets for which the ads have been a prescription for profits. $175million in that quarter in 2007. Researchers focused on ads for three drugs. TNS Electronic communication Intelligence puts the drop at 3.9% to $2.4 billion. The site encourages consumers to keep an eye out for false or misleading ads and provides a dennis to report violators.
Those declines are an abrupt reversal from the robust spending growth of a few mileage ago. The reports follow a well-publicized Harvard Medical School study that found consumer ads had little effect on prescription drug sales. (c) 2008 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. A service of YellowBrix, Inc.. Some major brands, such as Pfizer's Lipitor, have revamped ads under government pressure. Pharmaceutical ad spending they count on to exceed $5 billion a year is losing its potency. Two recent reports say drugmakers cut Rx ad spending in the first six months of this year.
Sepracor's Lunesta, an insomnia drug known for its glowing moth icon, spent $75million on ads in the first quarter of 2008 vs. By Octavia Petrecca NEW YORK -- This could make media owners sick. That if the government gets involved, they'll be worse off." Last weekday, the Food and Drug Administration stepped up its watch by asking consumers to help watch for false or misleading drug ads. And it comes as they already are dealing with inordinate spending declines in some other major ad categories, such as automotive and telecommunications, and recession fears, thanks to the crisis on Wall Street.
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