The Wall Street Journal on Monday examined the pharmaceutical industry's "modest move away" from television advertising as "some drug makers are concluding that they have overspent and are scaling back." According to the... Journal, the "rethinking at some companies" -- including Pfizer, TAP Pharmaceuticals and AstraZeneca -- "reflects a sharper focus on the return on money spent as well as an increasing public and regulatory backlash against" television ads for prescription drugs. Collectively, the industry spent $4.45 billion on advertising in all media in 2004, a 23% increase over 2003 spending. However, companies are finding that prescription drugs sales "don't necessarily rise or fall as TV ads are boosted or reduced" because consumers often "ignore the spots, pass over them with personal video recorders ... or skip" television "altogether to surf the Internet," the Journal reports. Some advertisers say other media, such as magazines or the Internet, "allow deeper communication with consumers than TV, particularly on drug features and risks," according to the Journal. Stuart Klein -- president of Quantum, a unit of the advertising firm WPP Group that specializes in health care products -- said, "What I'm seeing is the recognition by companies that the last 5% to 10% of TV spending is much better spent on relationship marketing or on the Internet, where you can have a deeper dialogue with people." IMS Health drug marketing consultant David Gascoigne said, "I think the $100 million branded TV advertising campaigns are over." He added that television spending likely will "plateau and possibly decline in the near term." The Journal reports that "even a small change in strategy by drug makers ... could have outsized implications for the medium" and "buoy the fortunes of alternative outlets" (Hensley, Wall Street Journal, 5/16).

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