Why Different Prescription Drugs Require Targeted Advertising
Jenny Markell, BA, joined us to discuss the nuances of drug promotion in the US and how specific medications are targeted to various patient populations.
Unlike many other countries, direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs has been a constant in the US. While trends have changed over time, most experts would agree the recent increase in drug advertising is unlike anything the marketplace has seen.
“I think we’ve seen the greatest increases in advertising of certain drugs that are to treat diabetes and endocrine conditions,” said Jenny Markell, BA, PhD Candidate of Health and Public Policy at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “One of the things that might be a difference between advertising for those and other drugs is that, if they’re targeting a prevalent condition like obesity, it seems to be a majority of TV advertising that has broader reach.”
Markell told us that, while it’s not every drug advertiser’s approach, promotion of medication in the media is typically targeted toward the populations that are in most need of that drug.
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) medications are one of the most notable drugs advertised on television because of their increasingly useful benefits for millions of patients with obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and more. However, for less popular drugs in lower demand, drug advertisers may take an entirely different approach in promoting their drugs to the proper audience.
Stay tuned for more from our interview with Markell as we dive further into trends in drug advertising. Also, stay tuned for the full-length conversation of our interview with Markell later this month on the Over the Counter podcast, where episodes are posted every Thursday afternoon on Drug Topics.
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