Pharma Digital Ad Spend Numbers are Elusive & Confusing

Over the years I have tried to determine what portion of pharma & #39;s total marketing budget is devoted to digital and if that portion is increasing (see < a href= " http://pharmamkting.blogspot.com/2015/11/pharma-digital-investment-is-increasing.html " > here < /a > , for example). Various sources look at various channels and it & #39;s not easy to compare one source with another. Even data from the same source may not compare apples to apples. < br > < br > Last month, for example, one pharma trade publication claimed that data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau showed that the pharma industry & #39;s digital ad spending in 2015 was & quot;about $3 billion. & quot; But the data really applied to & quot;Pharma and Healthcare, & quot; which includes & quot;personal care, toiletries, and cosmetic products & quot;, etc. Since the latter product categories may be responsible for 50% of the $3 billion, I estimated the pharma Rx drug-specific digital ad spending was more like $1.5 billion, excluding search advertising (see & quot; < a href= " http://pharmamkting.blogspot.com/2016/04/did-pharma-really-spend-3-billion-on.html " > Did Pharma Really Spend $3 Billion on Internet Advertising in 2015? < /a > & quot;). < br > < br > I just came across some data from eMarketer, which seems to verify my estimate (see chart below). < br > < br > < table align= " center " cellpadding= " 0 " cellspacing= " 0 " class= " tr-caption-container " style= " margin-left: auto; margin-right:...

Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - May 23, 2016 Category: Pharmaceuticals Tags: Ad Spend Digital DTC Advertising eMarketer Source Type: blogs