• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, December 11, 2024

Big pharmaceutical companies have something to consider going forward under the Trump Administration -- in terms of TV messaging.

When it comes to prescription drugs in the Trump Administration, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the head of Secretary of Health and Human Services sets up an interesting marketing dynamic

RFK Jr. has vowed to purge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. He is a firm believer that COVID vaccines don’t work -- as well as other pharmaceuticals.

In 2023, ten big pharmaceutical companies spent an estimated $1.94 billion on national TV advertising, up from around $1.68 billion -- a 15% increase -- according to estimates. The top spender was AbbVie with big media for their drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq.

The category is very strong for TV networks -- especially for linear TV, which while declining in recent years, has been increasingly dependent on advertising categories that cater to older-skewing consumers. These consumers are a bit slower to shift to premium streaming platforms.

That said, big pharma continues to do what all brand advertisers are doing -- gradually shifting their media to digital media platforms and streaming for much-needed extended reach.

At the same time, pharma companies are estimated to have been increasing their spend on linear TV.

Already for this year -- for the first eight months -- all pharma linear TV spending is up 8% to $3.4 billion. Total TV pharma ad impressions are 4.2% higher to 54.2 billion. This data comes from iSpot.tv.

Drug ads were most obvious on news programming. The list here includes: ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News Channel, ION, MSNBC, and NBC.

Looking at individual programs, “ABC World News Tonight” had the largest brand TV ad impressions, followed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “NBC Nightly News.” In addition, re-runs of TV network dramas and game shows were significant.

It would be hard to predict what radical changes might come should an outspoken critic like Kennedy have on pharmaceutical business revenue.

In terms of messaging -- TV, digital or otherwise -- free-market behavior might have the reverse effect, pushing drug manufacturers to amplify their marketing campaigns.

A major qualitative shift to more digital media might be the better prescription.

What's the diagnosis? Increase the media dosage -- or let one’s genetic media impulses take over in another direction.