For modern day advertisers, successfully and cleverly relaying their brand’s message in a :30 second TV spot is a challenge in itself. Then having to dedicate over half of that allotted time to safety information, health risks and “possible side effects,” introduces an entirely new challenge, one that health care advertisers face every day. You know them when you see them – pharmaceutical ads dominate our daily lives on nearly every major marketing channel, whether it’s TV, radio, print or digital. But in an industry where a surplus of brands each attempt to sell health-related products, how do marketers avoid the clichéd relay of the same advertisement, over and over? What’s more, how does the pharmaceutical industry enlist the help of data to ensure their advertisements are reaching the necessary audience, say, the people who need the medicinal product most? In a business where the lists of health risks and possible side effects take up half of the ad itself, where do marketers find the balance between the need to sell, and the need to respect the health of consumers?
During AW360 Live’s “Side Effects: The New World of Marketing Pharmaceuticals in America,” experts from the pharmaceutical industry join in a panel to take on the challenges of marketing in the health world. Speakers including Brendan Gallagher, EVP for Connected Health Innovation at Digitas Health LifeBrands, Jeff Ross, president and CEO of Wunderman /chief client officer at Wunderman Health, and Ann Rubbe, pharmaceutical brand marketer join moderator Rich Shea, president of Shea Communications and AW360Live correspondent, to discuss how they’ve found success in pharmaceutical marketing, the growing need for transparency in health ads, and what the future of health marketing holds.
