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I'm skeptical that pharma companies should require equally high levels of marketing spending as other industries. After all most expensive pharmaceutical produc

by jcfrei 10y ago

I'm skeptical that pharma companies should require equally high levels of marketing spending as other industries. After all most expensive pharmaceutical products are bought through an expert (ie. your physician). There's not a huge discoverability problem to be solved for those companies - or at least there shouldn't be - after all there's a national drug directory run by the FDA. Furthermore the US is one of only two countries where companies can advertise for drugs which require prescriptions.

SilasX 10y ago
If doctors were hyperdiligent about researching treatment options rather than "meh, it's a job, we don't have anything for you, next!" then I would agree completely. But sometimes they have to be reminded of what is out there, which may have changed since they were in med school.
rayiner 10y ago
Is discovability a problem for Apple, Microsoft, or Google? And note that Microsoft and Google sell primarily to experts too (advertising and IT professionals). As to advertising. As for as I know, what other nations ban is direct to consumer advertising, which is a minority of advertising spend. And as to DTC advertising, you can level the very legitimate criticism that it's directed to convincing people to ask for drugs they don't really need. But that's true of most advertising. Does anyone really need a new iPhone or to upgrade to Windows 10? Also, getting rid of DTC advertising wouldn't really address drug prices. It would just force manufacturers to recover their R&D + ROI from a smaller pool of buyers (the ones who really need the drug). On a cost per pill basis, whatever would be saved through lower DTC advertising expenditures clould be outweighed by the reduced sales.
refurb 10y ago
Doctors vary a lot by how up to date they are on new drugs. Some are focused on research, read all the latest journal articles and could teach pharma companies a thing or two. Then there are the physicians who prefer to spend time treating patients. Maybe they are a generalist and don't have time to learn about every new drug. A brief conversation with a sales rep might point them in a right direction to learn more.

by jcfrei 10y ago

SilasX 10y ago

If doctors were hyperdiligent about researching treatment options rather than "meh, it's a job, we don't have anything for you, next!" then I would agree completely. But sometimes they have to be reminded of what is out there, which may have changed since they were in med school.

rayiner 10y ago

Is discovability a problem for Apple, Microsoft, or Google? And note that Microsoft and Google sell primarily to experts too (advertising and IT professionals). As to advertising. As for as I know, what other nations ban is direct to consumer advertising, which is a minority of advertising spend. And as to DTC advertising, you can level the very legitimate criticism that it's directed to convincing people to ask for drugs they don't really need. But that's true of most advertising. Does anyone really need a new iPhone or to upgrade to Windows 10? Also, getting rid of DTC advertising wouldn't really address drug prices. It would just force manufacturers to recover their R&D + ROI from a smaller pool of buyers (the ones who really need the drug). On a cost per pill basis, whatever would be saved through lower DTC advertising expenditures clould be outweighed by the reduced sales.

refurb 10y ago

Doctors vary a lot by how up to date they are on new drugs. Some are focused on research, read all the latest journal articles and could teach pharma companies a thing or two. Then there are the physicians who prefer to spend time treating patients. Maybe they are a generalist and don't have time to learn about every new drug. A brief conversation with a sales rep might point them in a right direction to learn more.