Media&Marketing The immense power and aggressive marketing of drugs firms is revealed in an examination of advertising in the medical press.
In findings likely to surprise many in the advertising world, drugs firms spend close to €10 million a year on ads in medical publications aimed at doctors, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals. This is more than was spent in all of 2002 in cinemas for instance.
The figures were produced by Café Medical, a product about to be introduced to the Irish advertising market, which examines spending across the medical titles that circulate in the Republic.
Café Medical is being marketed by New Horizons Media. The Dublin agency Mindshare was project consultant. It analysed the spending by company, by brand, by publication and by category.
While the number of pens and trinkets in doctors' surgeries bearing company names tells us a lot about the competition for medical business, the new data suggest revenue from Irish patients is relatively lucrative despite our relatively small population base.
Because of legislation, only over-the-counter drugs can be advertised in the mainstream media, so the only way big drugs firms can access Irish doctors and pharmacists is via their trade publications.
The medical press would appear to be flourishing in Ireland, with a number of titles in the market for the advertising euro of the drugs firms. They are: Forum, IPU Review, Irish Medical Directory, Irish Medical Times, Irish Medical News, Irish Pharmacist, Irish Pharmacy Journal, Medicine Weekly and MIMs.
One would think that so many publications competing for about €10 million would create something of a squeeze but, so far, all seem to be prospering. The Café Medical survey of spending shows what medicines and drugs are most heavily advertised.
For example, in the period from June 1st, 2002, to end April 2003, Pfizer spent almost €250,000 advertising Lipitor, its cholesterol-lowering drug. In the same period, it spent €130,000 advertising Viagra, which helps erectile dysfunction.
For its €130,000 outlay, it got 70 pages of ads across the medical press - these figures are based on the published rate card prices offered by the publications. The private discounts that individual advertisers may get are never disclosed in any ad-spend report.
Café Medical reveals that GlaxoSmithKline spent €736,134 from June 2002 to the end of April this year. This was considerably more than any other drugs giants. For this money, it booked 442 pages worth of space, a possible indication that the large number of publications is pushing rates down so that advertisers are getting lots of space for their money.
The top 10 advertisers in the period between June 2002 and April 2003 were: GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Clonmel Healthcare, MSD, AstraZeneca, Pharmacia, Abbott Laboratories, Allen & Hanburys, Wyeth and Pfizer Neuroscience - all spent more than €250,000 during the period under review.
As one advertising figure said: "Big firms like Glaxo would not be spending that sort of money if they did not think the market had further growth potential. While corporate entertaining of doctors is now generally frowned upon, the big players are stepping up their attempts to reach this key audience via the trade press. The sheer number of titles is also evidence of how much this market has grown."
Café Medical will shortly be offered to Irish publishers, agencies and advertisers.
Details are available from david@newhorizonsmedia.co.uk
Speculation at RTE
Speculation continues on who will be the next RTÉ director-general. While rumours abound at the station's canteen, the highly respected and authoritative British publication Broadcast has waded in with its contribution.
It claims that former RTÉ heavy-hitters Mr Pat Loughrey and Ms Helen O'Rahilly, who left the national broadcaster to join the BBC, are not in the frame for the job and have not even submitted their CVs to headhunter Barry Herriott. But sources claim this may turn out to be incorrect. "Remember this is a headhunting process so candidates can be approached and asked to apply, so nobody can really be ruled out at this stage." But other sources say the longer the process goes on, the clearer it is that the original two front-runners, Mr Cathal Goan and Mr Conor Hayes, are in pole position.
Q4 appointment
Ms Angie Kinane will join the recently formed Q4 public relations consultancy. She has been a director of Financial Dynamics for the past year, having joined the firm when it was trading as Gallagher & Kelly PR in 1999.
While at Financial Dynamics, she specialised in building the company's ICT practice and her clients included Microsoft, Dell, Xerox and Vodafone.
Ms Kinane has a first-class honours degree in economics and politics from Trinity College Dublin and previously worked in public relations with Fleishmann Hillard Saunders and as marketing manager with Esat Telecom.
She will be an equal shareholder in Q4 with its founders Mr Jackie Gallagher, Mr Martin Mackin and Mr Gerry O'Sullivan.
Directors' president
Today FM chief executive Mr Willie O'Reilly has been selected to be president of the Institute of Directors. The former RTÉ producer has been responsible for increasing the ratings at Today FM in the past few years and he recently worked closely with Scottish Radio Holdings as it took over the station, formerly owned by Mr John McColgan and Ms Moya Doherty.
Any media, marketing or advertising news can be emailed to Emmet Oliver at eoliver@irish-times.ie
