Drugs spend $15M on first-year marketing.

A new report finds that average drug brands spend more than $15 million on first-year promotion – but that those dollars are put to very different uses. The report, “Post-Launch US Marketing”, finds that a company may spend anywhere from $1 million to nearly $50 million on marketing in a new drug’s first year. Over the second and third years, those figures shift as companies address their brands’ unique strengths and weaknesses.

One product, for example, launched as the first drug in its class. The company’s main goal was to raise awareness of the drug’s innovative science. To this end, it invested large amounts to educate the medical community about the drug’s advances. Over time, the brand spent 24% of its promotional budget on journal ads and another 40% on medical education. It did not make any investments in areas such as sampling or direct-to-consumer advertising, which had little impact on drug usage.

A second brand, on the other hand, never allocated less than 64% of its promotional budget to sampling, which was a key element in the product’s marketing efforts. The product’s success depended on switching patients from popular existing therapies. The company relied on the availability of drug samples to compel patients to try the new drug.

It also reached consumers via television and print ads. The brand’s company spent $300,000 per year in direct-to-consumer advertising in an effort to create a buzz about the drug – and, hopefully, to convince patients to ask their doctors about the new treatment.

For more information at http://www.PostLaunchMarketing.com