2014 DTC Ad Spending on the Rise

By gparisi (Coalition for Healthcare Communication) on March 25, 2015 2:36 PM 

March 25, 2015 – The amount of money that drug companies spent on direct-to-consumer advertising rose from $3.8 billion in 2013 to $4.5 billion in 2014, a potential signal of both a recovering economy and industry’s desire to speak more directly to the patients who are gaining more control of their own healthcare.

According to market research firm Kantar Media, prescription drug companies funneled the bulk of its 2014 DTC advertising budget into television ads ($2.8 billion), followed by magazine ads ($1.4 billion) and Internet advertising ($246 million).

Interestingly, although the total drug spend number is higher in 2014 than in 2013, there were decreases in spending among certain media types. Radio ad spending was down nearly 81 percent, newspaper ad spending was down 16 percent, and Internet spending was down 4 percent.

However, Kantar research also shows that there were increases in spending for television ads (up 27 percent), outdoor ads (up 18 percent), and magazine ads (up 4 percent). Further, spending on the top five branded drugs increased from $1 billion in 2013 to $1.2 billion in 2014.

For additional coverage of this topic, see related article in the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/23/yes-drug-companies-are-bombarding-your-tv-with-more-ads-than-ever/