Survey: Device Firms Rely Heavily on Print Advertising

As an industry, medical device companies are not the most marketing-savvy bunch.

Most firms still rely on print advertising to get their message out to consumers, according to a “snapshot survey” conducted by international public relations and lobby firm Porter Novelli and the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed). The survey results—while not surprising, considering the industry’s slow acceptance of outsourcing—are somewhat baffling in view of the growing number of patients who are using the Internet to research medical conditions and the social media to find moral support for those conditions.

The survey revealed that 94 percent of medical device firms turn to print advertising when creating direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing campaigns that include patient benefit materials such as educational brochures. The majority of existing advertising campaigns, the survey found, focus on print ads.

The survey results were released last week during a panel discussion at AdvaMed 2009, the organization’s third annual conference in Washington, D.C. Representatives from Porter Novelli, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Boston Scientific and Medtronic discussed the importance of DTC marketing and ways device firms can build successful campaigns. The panel also reviewed AdvaMed’s own DTC advertising guiding principles and strategies companies can employ to create a successful ad campaign that uses both the Internet and social media to build consumer awareness.

“DTC marketing and advertising can be particularly helpful in raising awareness of new lifesaving and life-enhancing technologies and underutilized medical technology,” said Tony Blank, vice president of cardiovascular regulatory affairs at Natick, Mass.-based Boston Scientific Corporation. “Industry is committed to supporting responsible DTC advertising and AdvaMed’s guiding principles when developing campaigns to ensure both benefit and risk information is presented to patients in a clear and understandable manner.”

In releasing its guiding principles in March, AdvaMed hoped to make DTC advertising easier for consumers to understand and more balanced. Data that is better understood and more balanced, the agency theorized, would help encourage dialogue between patients and doctors.

AdvaMed’s guidelines urge device manufacturers to voluntarily submit television commercials to the FDA for review. The directive applies to all types of media, but does not cover online videos posted to company-owned sites or third-party Web sites such as YouTube.

In addition to expanding the FDA’s role in device advertisements, AdvaMed’s guidelines promote the use of user-friendly language that is “appropriate for the intended audience,” and presents information in a manner that is “free from distraction.” The guidelines also allow companies to use celebrities to endorse products, as long as the ads are truthful and clearly communicate when actors are being used.

“When direct-to-consumer marketing enhances the public health, that’s smart and savvy communications,” said Peter Pitts, partner and director of global health at Porter Novelli.