Patient-directed Marketing

Patients can be marketed to either through the news media or directly through mass media advertisements.

The news most often reports the results of clinical trials. By publishing a clinical trial that captures the attention of the media, companies can create awareness and anticipation for their product without waiting for Food and Drug Administration approval or filtering the drug research through doctors and medical journals.

Pharmaceutical companies are also permitted to advertise both prescription and non-prescription drugs directly to the customer via mass media such as television, radio, and magazines. Direct-to-consumer advertisement of prescription drugs is a relatively new phenomenon. In 1985, the FDA permitted drug companies to advertise their products directly to consumers. However, only either the specific drug could be mentioned, or the conditions it was intended to treat, but not both. In 1997, the FDA loosened the restraints on pharmaceutical companies by allowing them to advertise prescription drugs using both the specific name and the condition it treats.

Direct-to-consumer advertising has since become a popular promotional strategy. In 1996, pharmaceuticals spent almost $600 million dollars on this type of advertising alone, according to a study in Competitive Media Reporting. Moreover, the strategy appears to work. According to a study conducted in 1998 and reported in Prevention and Metro Doctors magazine, direct-to-consumer advertising encouraged 21.2 million patients to talk to their doctor about a medical condition or illness they had never talked with their doctor about before seeing the advertisements.