• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, September 5, 2008

Direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical ads--a gold mine for consumer magazines in recent years--may not be as effective as previously thought, according to the results of a new study from Harvard Medical School and a Canadian think-tank, the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. While one study is unlikely to make or break an entire ad category, its findings may spell bad news for magazines as advertisers respond to adverse economic conditions by slashing budgets.

The study essentially compared the behaviors of a group of adult consumers with little or no exposure to DTC ads with the behaviors of a group that was exposed to them. This led to an interesting methodological twist: The study used French-speaking residents of Quebec as a control group, because French-speaking Canadians are also less likely than English speakers to be exposed to DTC ads from across the border. The other group studied, English-speaking Canadians, are more frequently exposed to American TV and magazine advertising.

The researchers then compared sales of three prescription drugs in Quebec and English-speaking Canada before and after the launch of DTC campaigns on the American side of the border. For two of the drugs--Enbrel, for rheumatoid arthritis, and Nasonex, an allergy treatment--there was no change in sales after the campaigns started. A third drug for irritable bowel syndrome, Zelnorm, did experience a 40% increase after the DTC campaign began--but this bump flattened out, with the number of prescriptions issued to the two groups returning to the same level after about a year.

However, American magazine publishers can marshal a number of arguments calling the relevance of this study into doubt. For example, English-speaking Canadians may be exposed to more DTC ads on TV than via magazines, which often publish Canadian editions adhering to Canada's ban on DTC ads.

New York Observer to Launch Fashion Mag

Yet another New York City daily is launching its own glossy fashion magazine: New York Observer, owned by real-estate scion Jared Kushner, will launch Observer Style on Nov. 16 with a rate base of 58,000, according to the Web site of Women's Wear Daily. The new semi-annual magazine will focus on the local fashion scene, with Jenna Hollander-Essig presiding as fashion director. Observer Style expects to compete with New York for fashion advertising.

TasteofHome.com Bows Video Channel

TasteofHome.com, the Web site of the Reader's Digest Association publication of the same name, has introduced a video channel featuring user-generated and professional culinary content, some of it produced exclusively for the site, according to Mediaweek. Some of the content is aggregated from across the Web, including clips posted by amateur chefs on sites like YouTube and GoogleVideo.

Brownridge to OK!

Kent Brownridge is definitely not retiring: The former Alpha Media executive is moving to OK!, where he will serve as general manager, according to Media Ink. The transition comes just two weeks after Brownridge departed Alpha Media, the publisher of Maxim and Blender.

Brownridge was brought on by the Quadrangle Group to manage its takeover of the two titles targeting young men from Dennis Publishing in 2007, and his departure after one year was much remarked on, especially since Maxim's ad pages are down 2.9% through August, while Blender's fell 19.4%, according to the most recent figures from MIN Online. Through August 25, MIN has OK's ad pages up 32% to 490.