Integrated advertising programs are here to stay. Savvy pharmaceutical brand managers are incorporating any number of new media channels to reach their customer bases. When interviewing thought leaders for this year’s VIEW on Advertising, editor Carolyn Gretton found that to reach today’s audience, pharmaceutical companies need to be where the consumers are, which is in the digital space in ever-increasing numbers. There are definite pitfalls to taking pharma advertising efforts to the digital space, including the lack of a regulatory framework to guide pharma in their efforts there. This lack of guidance has resulted in some companies getting burned by the FDA’s knee-jerk response to their attempts to adopt cutting-edge advertising methods (such as the Google “sponsored links" fiasco of spring 2009). Despite these risks, our experts stress that if pharmaceutical companies continue their wait-and-see approach to advertising in the digital space, they risk being left behind — or worse, becoming irrelevant to 21st-century consumers. As pharmaceutical companies increase their use of online and Web 2.0 tools, they are realigning their advertising budgets to reflect the changing mix. In our annual VIEW on Advertising Survey, we asked our readers to provide their insights on how they think advertising spending on Web 2.0 will evolve over the next 12 months. Half of all respondents (50 pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and biopharmaceutical marketing executives) say traditional media will continue to account for the majority of pharmaceutical companies’ advertising budgets, with online/Web 2.0 media remaining a smaller, supplemental element; 33% say pharmaceutical companies will allocate roughly equal amounts of their advertising budgets to traditional and online/Web 2.0 media; and 16.7% say online/Web 2.0 media will surpass traditional media, taking up a majority of pharmaceutical companies’ advertising budgets. Furthermore, as pharmaceutical companies increase the online/Web 2.0 media portion of their advertising budgets, they say the following traditional media categories are most likely to cut back as a result: professional/journal advertising (39.6%); DTC TV/radio advertising (31.3%); and DTC print advertising (27.1%). When asked about the FDA warning letters, the majority of repondents (43.5%) said the action would have no impact, 32.5% said overall pharma Internet advertising would decrease, and 13.0% said overall pharma Internet advertising would increase. Likewise, when asked if the FDA’s lack of specific guidelines addressing pharma advertising on the Internet is impacting their company’s digital advertising strategy, 55.3% said there is no impact; 19.2% are rolling back their Internet advertising efforts; and 17.0% are stepping up their Internet advertising efforts. Please turn to page ??? to see additional results related to budget allocation, Web 2.0 tactics, and more. Taren Grom Editor Taren Grom Digital media is not the wave of the future, it’s here and now. The Digital Invasion Publisher Lisa Banket Editor Taren Grom Creative Director Marah Walsh EDitorS Carolyn Gretton Denise Myshko Kim Ribbink design associate Cathy Liszewski national account manager Cathy Tracy CIRCULATION ASSISTANT Kathy Deiuliis Copyright 2010 by PharmaLinx LLC, Titusville, NJ Printed in the U.S.A. Volume Eight, Number One VIEW is published as a special issue to Pharma­VOICE, which is published monthly except joint issues in July/Aug. and Nov./Dec., by Pharma­Linx LLC, P.O.?Box 327, Titusville, NJ 08560. Periodicals postage paid at Titusville, NJ 08560 and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to PharmaVoice, P.O. Box 292345, Kettering, OH 45429-0345. VIEW and PharmaVoice Coverage and Distribution: Domestic subscriptions are available at $190 for one year (10 issues plus VIEWs). Foreign subscriptions: 10 issues plus VIEWs US$360. Contact PharmaLinx at P.O.?Box 327, Titusville, NJ 08560. Call us at 609.730.0196 or FAX your order to 609.730.0197. Contributions: The VIEW and PharmaVoice are not responsible for unsolicited contributions of any type. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, The VIEW and Pharma­Voice retain all rights on material published in The VIEW and PharmaVoice for a period of six months after publication and reprint rights after that period expires. E-mail: [email protected]. Change of address: Please allow six weeks for a change of address. Send your new address along with your subscription label to PharmaVoice, P.O. Box 292345, Kettering, OH 45429-0345. Call us at 800.607.4410 or FAX your change to 937.890.0221. E-mail: [email protected]. Important notice: The post office will not forward copies of this magazine. 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