Pharmaceutical marketers will continue to increase spending in 2004, according to a new survey from Optas, a marketing systems provider and DTC Perspectives, a marketing consultancy.
Key findings include that:
*More than 30% of respondents believe that spending should be further increased for direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical marketing. In particular, spending on e-mail, direct mail and branded Web sites is expected to increase this year.
*Eighty-eight percent of respondents expect their 2004 DTC spending to increase or stay the same, with 33% of the respondents expect spending increases greater than 5%.
*A full 33% believe that less money should be spent on broadcast/mass media advertising while 98% believe more should be spent on direct communications.
The survey found the two biggest challenges facing DTC marketers today were government regulations and the lack of measurement tools.
The survey, conducted online in October, polled 146 firms, 28% of which were manufacturers; 30%, agencies; 3% software firms; 19% consultancies and 20% other suppliers.
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