Television outpaces print for direct-to-consumer advertising, according to Market Measures Interactive’s DTC Monitor. In 2000, television accounted for 62% of DTC advertising dollars, lead by pharmaceuticals, which spent some $949.5 million on TV ads. DTC advertising accounted for only 57% in 1999. The rise in TV ad spending is almost the inverse of print advertising, which dropped to 36% last year, from 42% in 1999.
While the percentage of consumers who contacted their doctors after seeing a DTC ad rose only one percent between 1999 (20%) and 2000 (21%), consumer awareness has more than tripled over the past three years, going from 19% in 1997 to 61% last year.
“Because the DTC Monitor is now in its fifth year, we are able to track critical emerging trends
