Drug Ads Are Ignored In The Blink Of An Eye
That?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ‚Äö?묢s the argument made by ad consultant Lee Weinblatt, whose firm, PreTesting, recently developed a system that records what?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ‚Äö?묢s known as saccadic eye motion - the involuntary flicks and darts of the eye - as consumers watch television commercials and read billboards or print advertising, reports The Star-Ledger of New Jersey (which owns Pharmalot).
After years of debate, some researchers now think saccadic eye motion provides a kind of window into subliminal thoughts, the paper writes. Passive eye monitoring, Weinblatt says, is a more accurate way of gauging a subject?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ‚Äö?묢s response than diaries or focus groups, which depend on the honesty of participants or their willingness to push buttons.
?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ??¨The pharmaceutical companies are following the packaged goods way of marketing. They are being led by the nose by consumer marketing/advertising divisions that do the latest pharmaceutical ads and split their time marketing Toyotas,?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ¬¨?? says Weinblatt. ?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ??¨There are some great commercials out there. There are commercials that do engage people. The problem is most of the pharma companies are using the wrong measures that they are on the right track.?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ¬¨??
So Weinblatt is betting his new system will gain favor as pharma advertisers seek answers to why some of their most expensive print and TV campaigns sputter. In most cases, he says tests show consumers pay more attention to medicine pitches that don?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ‚Äö?묢t bury the message in slogans, logos and other gimmicks.
Weinblatt, who may be best known for his MediaCheck system, a technology that monitors what television shows a household watches and when viewers ?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ??¨zap?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ¬¨?? commercials by turning the channel or fast-forwarding with a recording device like TiVo, insists he can prove with scientific precision that gimmicky ads aren?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ‚Äö?묢t the best way to motivate consumers to visit their doc for a scrip.
As an example, he cites Pfizer?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ‚Äö?묢s Lipitor campaign, which features Robert Jarvik, who?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ‚Äö?묢s famous for developing the Jarvik 7 artificial heart, talking about the pill?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ‚Äö?묢s health benefits of the statin therapy. In saccadic eye tests, Weinblatt says, consumers have a ?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ??¨blank stare,?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ¬¨?? their eyes darting over Jarvik?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ‚Äö?묢s face instead of focusing on what he?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ‚Äö?묢s saying.
?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ??¨People look all over trying to figure out who he is,?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ¬¨?? Weinblatt sniffs. ?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ??¨You can?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ‚Äö?묢t let the attention-getting device take over the commercial.?¬¢‚Äö?ᬮ¬¨??
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