TV advertising: DOA

About the Author

Richard Meyer is a passionate Internet DTC marketer with over 15 years of progressive experience in consumer marketing who`s worked on top pharmaceutical brands like Cialis, Prozac and Sarafem, as well as two years with Medtronic Diabetes. He is currently consulting for his own company, Online Strategic Solutions, and writes a DTC column for PM 360 magazine and blogs for Eye for Pharma in addition to his own blog, World of DTC Marketing.

DTC marketers love affair with TV advertising maybe forced to come to an end as ROI for TV ads continue to drop. Not only are consumer marketer realizing that TV ads are providing a really bad ROI, most are trying to shift a LOT of money to digital while pharma once again is behind the changes and evolution of marketing to today’s consumers.

More and more data shows that consumers are turning off TV’s and skipping ads yet DTC markers it seems do not understand this. The agency power base remains successful in getting pharma to spend money on meaningless TV spots and while brands like Cialis try and save costs by using “imitation soundtracks” the fact that they are on TV and have banners on the Internet are clearly how clueless DTC marketers have become.

All forms of traditional advertising are decreasing and recently 49% of consumers said that they would be willing to pay for network TV shows without commercials. One trend has become very clear: consumers are sick and tired of traditional advertising and don’t want to be interrupted. So why are DTC marketers continuing to use the same old same old;

-the ad agency has too good a relationship with the DTC Director/manager and strokes egos to keep dollars flowing into TV where they can make money.

-the ad agency does not fully understand terms like engagement and digital marketing and they realize that dollars shifted online mean less dollars for higher margin media like print & TV.

-DTC marketers are stuck in old school marketing and have nobody within their team who really understands digital marketing.

-We’re a regulated industry

-”What spend less money via online and get better results? This could lead to a budget cut next year!”

-My market research people love to play with the numbers so TV looks like it’s providing a great ROI.

-DTC marketers don’t know how to go from push marketing to listening to customers.

-Too many DTC marketers with MBA’s and book learning is certainly better than acknowledging real life issues for consumers and solving their problems.

-TV gets DTC marketers exposure and a chance to stand up at a DTC marketing conference and say “look what I did” thus checking off a metric on their performance plans.

-Social media is just a fad

Will DTC marketers every awaken from their funk? Not sure but I still say that I can reach more people and provide better metrics with a 100% online campaign vs. an offline campaign and at a fraction of the cost of traditional media. It’s not about new media it’s about new marketing and DTC marketers have not learned anything about new marketing yet.