Standard Media Index Finds Pharma Advertising Holding Strong Despite COVID-19

Pharma Ad Dollars From March through June when the ad market bottomed out yearoveryear ad spendamp160across all platforms for pharmaamp160was 8 and the only category showing growthThe pandemic with many shelterinplace orders had negatively impacted ad spend for travel retail restaurants and with movie theaters shut down even entertainment On the other hand pharma ads offering consumers information on life threatening illnesses and other health informationamp160were less likely to cut ad spend Additionally besides building awareness several pharma advertisers used the pandemic to salute frontline healthcare workers while some offered financial support to recently furloughed and laid off workersOne trend we found during the pandemic was marketers allocating a greater percentage of ad spend on digital media With an older target audience who are heavier TV viewers pharma advertisers continued to allocate more dollars to national television From October 2019 to June 2020 national TV pharma ad spend was 36 billion compared to 21 billion for digital media Nonetheless yearoveryear national TV ad spend declined by 5 while digital media grew by 177Television During the pandemic with sports on hold and production studios closed the TV ad market became very soft The ad spend for pharma compared to other verticals proved to be resilient In May with the pandemic raging we found national TV ad dollars actually grew 16During the pandemic the ratings for broadcast and cable news increased notably With an older viewing audience seeking information news remains an ideal genre for pharma advertising In 201920 pharma ad spend remained flat at 718 million By comparison ad spend for sports 184 million dropped by 22 and entertainment 27 billion was 5Cable accounted for 50 of national TV ad spend More ad dollars were invested on Investigation Discovery at 76 million 1amp160than any other network ID replaced ION Television at 75 million 22 Among the top ten cable networks Food Network 68 million had the largest increase in pharma ad spend at 33 followed by TLC 54 million at 32 Both were destination networks during the pandemicDigital Digital media provided pharma advertisers with greater flexibility ie targeting ad budgets etc especially during the pandemic As a result every digital media subtype increased YOY in pharma ad spend Ad networkexchange surpassed search with the highest ad spend total at 518 million a YOY of 28 The ad spend for search was 469 million a slight 1 increase Pharma ad spend for content was 13 reaching 452 million The video ad spend was 267 million 16 Social however had the most robust increase at 39 with ad spend at 266 millionLooking at video as more traditional media companies launched streaming servicesamp160the ad spend allocation became more fragmented The streaming providers with strong YOY growth were several traditional media companies Disney led at 70 million 43 ViacomCBS at 41 million 58 and NBCU at 40 million 38 Although YouTube a quotpure playquot digital streaming provider ranked second at 48 million its YOY ad spend was 30You can rely on SMI to report ad spending trends by major product categories and the overall marketplace on an ongoing basisClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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Standard Media Index Finds Pharma Advertising Holding Strong Despite COVID-19

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James Fennessy

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