Internet Ad Revenue is up, are you in the game?

October 5, 2007 – 2:49 pm

In case you have nothing to talk about this weekend, Internet advertising revenue for the first half of 2007 hit $10 billion - an increase of nearly 27% over the same period last year, according to the latest IAB report, released Thursday in conjunction with PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Search (41%), banners/display (21%) and classifieds (17%) continued to account for the highest percentage of ad spending online, the IAB reported.

That is the good news, so my advice, get in the game.

However, there are still obstacles, two reported by the IAB.

First, how do we measure audience. Further, I am asked weekly by at least one client or prospect how do we measure our success? our ROI? Measurement is a challenge. Television has been around for 50+ years and there are still consistent measurement standards. The Internet? No standards. Standard measurement will come,  so get in the game.

Second, interactive advertising is still expensive to manage. For years Catalyst survived because the big shops did not want to spend the time on a small budget, expensive to manage, medium. The big shops are now participating but inefficiencies in the interactive advertising supply chain still exist. The communication community is working hard on this issue, and with the big boys in the game now, it will be resolved soon.

Don’t be discouraged! Search marketing and auction-based media buying have arrived and will eventually transform communication planning and tactics.

By Heather | Posted in Catalyst, Healthcare Search, Media, Paid Search, Pharma Marketing, Pharma Search, SEM, SEO, Search Engine Optimization, Search Marketing | Comments (0)

Can you compete with mainstream healthcare portals?

October 3, 2007 – 2:06 pm

You may have heard the announcement to day, the NYTimes is offering health content supplied by A.D.AM. a company that maintains an online compendium of information on health conditions, treatments and insurance, among other topics. The content is written by physicians and reviewed by a network of third-party doctors. No big surprise, Hearst bought RealAge.com in mid-September and several big consumer magazine publishers have recently opted to buy online health information Web sites.

Why is this important? Because online health portals are being established (or acquired) by some really large media outlets. For example companies like the NYTimes heavily invest in SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Marshall Simmonds works as chief search strategist to institutionalize SEO as part of the regular editorial production at the New York Times.

The next time you’re reading something at the New York Times or Realage (or WebMD etc etc), remember it was probably SEO that got you there. Furthermore, the next time a consumer or HCP does a search, the outlets like the NYTimes may be providing competing content for your drug, condition, symptoms, etc.- because their primary marketing tactic is SEO.

By Heather | Posted in Catalyst, Healthcare Search, Pharma Marketing, Pharma Search, SEM, SEO, Search Engine Optimization, Search Marketing | Comments (1)

Drug ads and Congress

September 24, 2007 – 10:34 am

So we all sighed after the House and Senate passed the Food and Drug Administration bill last week. An article in Friday’s WSJ titled, ‘Media Industry Helped Drug Firms Fight Ad Restraints’ highlights the drug industry

…”found powerful allies among media and advertising firms who were determine to protect one of their biggest and fastest growing advertising category.”

I am happy to participate, once again helping out our clients. As you may know Catalyst online is owned by WPP, the worlds largest (debatable) advertising and marketing company. I know, I know, of course we helped you out, it was also a success for the advertising community. In the US, pharmaceutical companies were the tenth biggest advertiser in 2006, spending $5.3 billion, or 3.5% of the total $149.6 billion US ad market (source: TNS Media Intelligence).

However, there are still many people that were not happy with the changes. There are many out there that believe a moratorium on consumer ads is imperative, especially for a drug that raises ’safety issues.’ I am not sure how the term safety issues is being defined - we all know every drug has some safety issues.

So what is my point you ask? Search marketing, of course. A consumer looking for information on a drug or condition, is that advertising? Yes… maybe, no. Search finds people when they are looking for a particular item at the Moment of Relevance (MOR). As always, I am on my soap box about search marketing. There are so many reasons to invest in search marketing, even political.

By Heather | Posted in Catalyst, Healthcare Search, Paid Search, Pharma Marketing, Pharma Search, Regulated Industries, SEM, SEO, Search Engine Optimization, Search Marketing | Comments (0)

Pharma Industry: Embrace Web 2.0

September 13, 2007 – 2:02 pm

I am not sure how many of you saw the article published yesterday, “eMarketer: Pharma Industry Failing at Web 2.0.

“Despite accounting for an ever-increasing spend of online ad spending, the pharmaceutical industry is still failing to embrace the Web 2.0 strategies that could help it better engage consumers looking for health care assistance, according to eMarketer research.”

The industry is tracking to spend $975 million online in 2007, 4.5% of total Web spend, and is predicted to spend $2.2 billion by 2011, 5% of total Web spend.

The article goes on to say, the pharma industry is not exploring with blogs, social networks, etc. Well we all know why. Interestingly, the article highlights the Rozerem website and the video aspect of the site. I think the idea is good, the site continues the DTC experience with the three characters in the TV ads. This example of Web 2.0 is safe, it is in video form, so the content is controlled. This site is a very basic example of the use of Web 2.0. The bar is low.

We as an industry can do some exploratory work without ruffling the regulatory committee’s feathers. I also noticed they are doing a pretty good job with their search marketing efforts relative to their competitors. Rozerem could further leverage their video assets by optimizing the videos and other digital assets for GUS, Google Universal Search.

By Heather | Posted in Catalyst, Healthcare Search, Paid Search, Pharma Marketing, Pharma Search, Regulated Industries, SEM, SEO, Search Engine Optimization, Search Marketing, Search Marketing Conferences | Comments (0)

Wikipedia and Pharma

September 4, 2007 – 2:29 pm

We at Catalyst always advise our clients to read their brand’s Wiki entry. Is it accurate?

Why? The Wikipedia listing is usually on the first page of the SERPs (search engine result page).

However, like anything a little knowledge can be dangerous. Perhaps that is what happened to Abbott and Astra Zeneca this summer.

Abbott: In a “Patients not Patents” press release it is stated Abbott Labs is a serial Wikipedia tamperer. “From one Abbott computer over 1,000 edits were made to Wikipedia.” Of course if it was simply updating the information, this would not be newsworthy.

Astra Zeneca: The original Wikipedia entry said: “Despite a general National Institutes of Health recommendation against its use in children or those under 18, as well as a known risk that teenagers taking the drug may be more likely to think about harming or killing themselves or to plan or try to do so, Seroquel is controversially marketed to parents of moody and irritable teenagers in magazines such as Parade Magazine and TV Guide.”

An Astra Zeneca employee changed it, deleting the first sentence and simply letting it read: Seroquel is controversially marketed to parents of moody and irritable teenagers in magazines such as Parade Magazine and TV Guide. The article goes on to say, “Not only is this edit questionable because it reduces the accuracy of the Wikipedia entry, but it violates the FDA’s fair balance regulations.”

The events that occurred this summer clearly indicates that we should be thinking about how we can minimize the risk employees will expose pharma company to potential FDA citations and product liability lawsuits due to their use of social media technologies.

Wiki Scanner is a tool that allows the user to see who has made an update to a Wikipedia entry. See what is going on with your brand at www.wikiscanner.virgil.gr

By Heather | Posted in Brand Monitoring, Catalyst, Healthcare Search, Pharma Marketing, Pharma Search, Regulated Industries, Reputation Management, SEM, Search Engine Optimization, Search Marketing, Social Networking, Social Search | Comments (3)

Catalyst Releases Q2 SEO Rankings for Pharma

August 7, 2007 – 3:45 pm

Catalyst just finished compiling the Q2-2007 SEO Pharma Analysis Report. As you remember we started this analysis last quarter in our Q1-2007 SEO Pharma Analysis Report (see methodology at end of post).

As a reminder, Catalyst (that’s us) is a search marketing agency with pharmaceutical clients. You can find more about What We Do and who Our Clients are by reviewing our website. Several of the companies covered in this analysis report are clients of ours. Several are not. Sometimes one or more of the company’s top five revenue producing brands (see methodology at end of post) included in determining the company’s overall SEO rank are or have been clients of ours. Sometimes none of the top five brands are clients of ours. You get the idea.

We do this analysis because it’s interesting to us. We hope it is interesting to you too. We’re applying basic search marketing analysis to brands that exist in the highly competitive and intensely regulated pharmaceutical industry. If you follow our methodology you just may come up with the exact same results. Then again, because its’s SEO and we’re dealing with the dynamics of search engines, you may produce different results. Welcome to our world. Our goal with this quarterly analysis, as with most SEO campaigns, is to measure which pharma companies obtain valuable marketing real estate and then sustain those rankings over an extended period of time. Here are our Q2-2007 results.

Catalyst Observations:

  • Although it appears Novartis is producing superior SEO rankings, keep in mind that a perfect score is a 6.0. There is plenty of SEO opportunity for even the leaders.
  • As Boehinger Ingelhem (BI), as a company, exceeded growth expectations, as did its Q2 SEO rankings. BI experienced the greatest leap in SEO rankings from Q1. It will be interesting to see if they will maintain the progress over the next few quarters. From a search perspective it appears they are investing in brands like Flomax to lead their search marketing charge.
  • BMS experienced an SEO rankings bump primarily due to their top producing schizophrenia drug, Abilify. We’ll keep an eye on BMS brands to see if they continue progress across the board in their SEO strategy.
  • There has been some industry buzz about AstraZeneca refocusing advertising and marketing budgets to the online world. With popular drugs like Nexium and Crestor nearly non-existent from an SEO perspective, we’re glad that they at least acknowledge the internet.
  • As for Merck and Wyeth, we just don’t know. Anybody??

As always, please share you comments and observations. We’ll always respond to your questions, concerns and inquiries.

Methodology:
Using the simple, yet time consuming methodology below, gleaned from the most recent publicly available financial information, you too could produce similar results.

  1. Data compiled between April 1 and June 30, 2007
  2. Examined top 5 brands based on revenue from most recent financial statements provided by each company
  3. Searched 4 keyphrases for each brand:”[indication]” and “[indication] treatment” and “[indication] medication” and “[indication] symptoms”
  4. Recorded brand’s website rankings per each keyphrase on Google, Yahoo!, MSN and Ask and scored by defined Search Ranking Score (below)
  5. Applied the formula Index = (search ranking score*search engine market share)/11
  6. A perfect score = 6.0

Search Ranking Score:
Top 5 Rankings = 15
First Page Ranking = 10
Second Page Ranking = 3
Third Page Ranking = 1
Not Listed on First Three Pages = 0

By Heather | Posted in Catalyst, Healthcare Search, Pharma Marketing, Pharma SEO Rankings, Pharma Search | Comments (1)

Move your media money

August 6, 2007 – 4:02 pm

Most big pharma companies spend about $1 billion annually on DTC. GSK was the nation’s 7th largest consumer advertiser in 2006 with $2.4 billion according to TNS, JNJ was the 9th. So is DTC a wise use of your marketing dollars? A couple things to consider:

1. Recent TNS survey concluded that 64% of doctors said there should be some sort of moratorium on DTC advertising and 27% believe there should be no DTC ads at all.

2. According to Neilsen Net Ratings, two out of three people surveyed use the Internet to search for information just before and just after visiting a doctor.

Thus, search marketing for the pharma industry should be a significant investment. I say significant - but it pales in comparison to DTC campaigns. Move some of that very large media budget to search. I’m constantly told ‘we do not have a big online budget’.That’s because it’s invested offline. Why? Your docs don’t like it and your consumers are actively looking elsewhere.

Search is the manifestation of new consumer behavior. In the past, marketers predicted what consumers would do. With online access, it just got easier; consumers are now expressing what they want and expressing intentions. We as marketers need to change gears; we need to create the most relevant response. Our key role is to respond to intention. How are people talking about your drug, your competitor’s drug, your disease category, treatment for the disease, etc.? Google and Yahoo know. So go find out. Then ask yourself these questions: Have you created a relevant response for your consumer or doctor? Have you created a response at all?

By Heather | Posted in Catalyst, Healthcare Search, Media, Pharma Marketing, Pharma Search, Search Marketing | Comments (1)

Online Brand Management

July 25, 2007 – 3:14 pm

Brand management, the ability to review what people are saying about your brand, used to be fairly simple, but today the challenge is enormous; blogs, podcasts, micro-blogging, instant messaging, Wiki’s…oh my. For all industries brand management is important, for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry it is business critical at all times and can enter regulatory realms. I know regulatory, that is why I am going to say take baby steps.

This is the same industry that ten years ago told me search marketing is unethical and we will not get it through regulatory. Yes, I am that old. Anyway, we all are aware of the negative perception the general population has of pharma. If you search in the Google results under any pharma brand you will find a number of negative results. In fact, on average, Catalyst finds about 30% of the branded keyphrase SERPs (Search Engine Results Page) are negative. Type “Vioxx” into a search engine, three of the first ten organic results are negative and three of the four paid search results are negative. Perform a test on your brand? What percentage is negative? What percentage is negative when you type in your competitor’s brand name? What is your tolerance policy? Do you have one? Perhaps you should present a policy to the corporation. Pharma Company X Best Practices: -if the SERP results for the brand name are negative by 25% or more, engage in search reputation management. Or if our SERPs are worse than our competitors, engage in Search reputation management.

What is the value?

  • Fortunately, all online content leads to one central location, search engines. Whether this content is fact or fiction, the search engines are usually the first place consumers will form an impression of a brand. Manage the results on a SERP and you can better protect your online reputation.
  • Secondly, and I know this is more of a giant leap, research you will better understand what people are saying about your brand and condition.

How does it work?

  • Monitor your brand keyphrase results in the first five pages of the search engines; categorize them as positive, negative and neutral.
  • Leverage your existing assets, optimize these assets. Pharma has patient testimonials, press releases, podcasts, TV commercials, etc. - if these assets are in a digital format, optimize them! Optimize these assets to appear in the search engines for your brand keyphrases. Crowd the negative results off the first couple of pages with your existing assets.
  • Paid search: your paid search vendor should be monitoring and notifying the search engines of trademark misuse. Second, buy the top spot for your brand name.
  • Domain misspellings and jacking. If you are a popular brand, beware; type in your brand name and really look at the results, far too often there is URL jacking. Folks buy a URL similar to yours and consumers are unaware and click on that link. For example, “Allavert.com”, which is a common misspelling for the the allergy drug Alavert.
  • Continue monitoring, continue optimizing.

For more information check out our press release about Reputation Management.

By Heather | Posted in Brand Monitoring, Press Release, Reputation Management | Comments (0)

Google’s Health Advertising Blog

July 9, 2007 – 10:30 am

For those of you who do not know, just last month Google started a health advertising blog. The blog is purportedly designed:

“to help our health industry advertisers better understand how people are searching for health information, and how you as advertisers can better leverage the power of search and the Internet.” (source)

Lauren Turner, Account Planner, Health has caused some eyebrow raising in the healthcare space. She wrote about Michael Moore’s movie “Sicko” and suggested healthcare industry advertises on Google to respond to “Sicko”. “Whether the healthcare industry wants to rebut charges in Mr. Moore’s movie, or whether Mr. Moore wants to challenge the healthcare industry, advertising is a very democratic and effective way to participate in a public dialogue”, she wrote.

I am not going to say much more. I learned early on not to talk politics with clients and in-laws. I guess Lauren does not agree. However, Google may agree as they pulled down all her comments on this topic over the weekend. Lauren Turner did write a follow up to the article that explained that her opinion was hers and not necessarily Google’s etc, you can see that here.

By Heather | Posted in Catalyst, Google, Healthcare Search, Pharma Marketing | Comments (0)

Search Insider response to Multi-Language Search Strategies

June 26, 2007 – 10:03 am

Well my article that appeared recently in MediaPost titled, “Search Insider: Multi-Language Search Strategies” has generated a lot of dialogue and is obviously an emotional hot topic for many people. I’d like to hear your thoughts on marketing to the U.S. Hispanic community.

Shrewd marketers will employ multi-language search strategies! I do not think most folks include organic search in their marketing mix today. I believe even fewer consider organic search in their multi-language marketing efforts. Overall, an effective search marketing strategy that includes multi-languages will undoubtedly benefit an under-served market /community and in turn may produce a significant positive business impact for you. Let me know what you think.

By Heather | Posted in SEM, SEO, Search Marketing | Comments (0)