DTC Advertising Can Rebuild Consumer Trust Through Third Party Self-Regulation
February 25th, 2008 Posted in article | Comment »A recent consumer survey, reported in the January 28, 2008, edition of Advertising Age, concluded that 34 percent of adults aged 18 to 26 agree with the statement “I trust pharmaceutical companies less than I used to.” That indictment of a segment of business that is critical to the health of Americans, and to our industry, was not helped by the troubling allegation that ads for Vytorin continued for over a year after internal medical research showed one major claim lacked support.
As one who believes in the importance and value of prescription drug advertising directed to consumers and who has worked hard over the past 15 years to permit and protect it, I urge that the industry rebuild public trust through the highest ethical advertising. I am not talking about reactive public relations campaigns, but proactive interaction between client and agency so as to present truthful and highly ethical medical information to consumers who count on it.
This latest episode has strengthened the unwise and now standard call from some members of Congress to severely restrict DTC advertising through a two- or three-year moratorium on ads for new prescription products. This is not a medical solution, but a political strategy by critics who don’t want consumers to have access to drug advertising. We must remember—and continue to communicate—that people benefit from advertising, as long as it is truthful and trusted.
Consumer trust is inextricably linked with advertising ethics. A study conducted in 1996 by Bozell Worldwide showed that consumers ranked “ethics and values” as the number-one factor in assessing whether or not a company can be called a “corporate good citizen.”1 The prescription drug industry has developed standards for directing their ads to consumers. Known as the PhRMA DTC Guiding Principles, these guidelines include a recommendation that “all DTC information should be accurate and not misleading, should make claims only when supported by substantial evidence, should reflect balance between risks and benefits, and should be consistent with FDA approved labeling.” I would personally propose that these principles be augmented to specify that full, internal discussions should take place between clients and agencies when developing appropriate advertising claims. And agencies should be aware of all of the scientific support—or lack thereof—that can be relied on for each claim. In order to effectively create ethical DTC advertising, clients and agencies must address these issues early in the process.
Best of all, these strengthened PhRMA guidelines would be overseen by a third-party group such as the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. This step will build trust and credibility for this important industry.
We know that consumers continue to benefit from truthful prescription drug ads and that doctors have benefited from better educated patients.2 But the industry too will benefit from ethical DTC advertising and marketing by building consumer trust.
1 The study “Global Corporate Citizenship: Improving Perceptions in the 90’s.” was conducted by Bozell Worldwide, The Wall Street Journal International Edition and the Nihon Keizai Shimbun in 1996.
2 Out of 3,000 patients in a Health Affairs study, 35 percent discussed an ad for a medication during their appointment, and of that population, 25 percent received a new diagnosis. Approximately 43 percent of the new diagnoses were for “high priority” conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, depression and high cholesterol.