Is It Time for Pharma Ad Agencies to Reboot?

According to Kantar Media, in 2017, total pharma ad agencies cut their spending by nearly 5% — the first drop since 2008.

Some media experts are baffled by this pullback. After all, the economy is good, we have a friendly FDA, plenty of important and innovative molecules, and despite his threats, the president has done little more than jawbone drug pricing. So why cut back now?

The popular thought is that digital doesn't deliver the returns everyone expected. But the problem isn't the media; it's us. Pharma agencies aren't delivering the financial return to clients the way they used to. They're failing in two ways.

First, many pharma agencies have forgotten why they're in business. They've departed from the most obvious mission statement an agency should have: “We exist to sell our client's products.”

Agencies don't exist to provide tactics, be they digital or print. Their function is to connect their client with the healthcare community and focus on product attributes.