Jena PetersJena Peters
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Second-quarter sleeping pills spending in magazines fell 29% to $358million, according to TNS, while radio plummeted 62% to $4million. TNS Media Intelligence puts the drop at 3.9% to $2.4 billion. And it comes as they already are dealing with large spending declines in some other major ad categories, such as automotive and telecommunications, and recession fears, thanks to the crisis on Wall Street. Two recent reports say drugmakers cut Rx ad spending in the first six months of this year. no prescription needed Those declines are an abrupt reversal from the robust spending growth of a few years sleeping pills ago. By Giulietta Petrecca NEW YORK -- 24 hour pharmacy This could make media owners sick. That if the government gets involved, they'll be worse off." Last month, the Food and Drug Administration stepped up its watch by asking consumers to help watch for false or misleading drug ads. The site encourages consumers to keep an eye out online pharmacy for false or misleading ads and provides a lammond to report violators. "The pharmaceutical companies perceive the threat of government regulation on marketing to be a stronger threat now than it has been in the past," and are trying to self-regulate, Swallen says. It launched a "Be Smart about Prescription Drug Advertising" area online at. Results sho that direct-to-consumer (DTC) ads "probably aren't as effective rozerem as widely perceived," says Merwyn Law, lead That bodes ill for the magazines, newspapers and radio and TV outlets for which the ads have been a prescription for profits. Some major brands, such as Pfizer's Lipitor, have revamped ads under government pressure. Enbrel (for rheumatoid arthritis), Nasonex (nasal allergies) and Zelnorm (irritable bowel syndrome). Magazines and radio stations have seen the most drug ad decline. The reports follow a well-publicized Harvard Medical School study that found consumer ads had little effect on prescription drug sales. Sepracor's Lunesta, an insomnia drug known for its glowing moth icon, spent $75million on ads in the first quarter of 2008 vs. Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America's Rozerem sleep aid, which used offbeat ad characters such as Meier Kristofer and a beaver, cut spending from $91million in the first half of 2007 to $15million in the first half this year. Among factors driving the drop, he says, are fewer drug launches, fear of government regulation and cuts by a few brands that had spent big. Pharmaceutical ad spending they count on to exceed $5 billion a year is losing its potency. A service of YellowBrix, Inc.. (c) 2008 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. $175million in that quarter in 2007. Rival ad tracker Nielsen Monitor-Plus calculates the decline at 4.8% to $2.7 billion. Researchers focused on ads for three drugs. "Throughout much of the early decade, it was growing at strong double-digit rates as pharmaceutical marketers become more comfortable and experienced with DTC advertising," says Jon Swallen, TNS senior vice president of research.
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