Since 2018, annual US pharma industry advertising spending continues to register in at well over $6.5 billion. Pharma is the fourth-largest spender on TV ads in the country, after retail, financial & real estate and tech.
While billions continue to be poured into pharma TV ads every year, total spending only rose by about one percent in 2022 compared to the previous year. This is likely a reflection of changing trends, namely the diversion of more cash toward digital marketing instead of linear TV advertising.
However, the pharma industry continues to be a bit more cautious when it comes to completely throwing in the towel for TV ads. Experts say the industry largely continues to focus on traditional TV promos because it feels there is still a market for them. For example, older adults, an important target audience for many drugs, still tune in to their TV sets and may not be as comfortable using digital platforms.
According to MediaRadar, linear TV accounted for 70 percent of pharma ad spend in 2021, down from 75 percent the year before.
“Pharma has been lagging compared to the rest of the advertising industry, in its having spent more than half its ad budget on linear TV even as recently as the first half of last year [2021],” said Rick Bruner, head of Insights and Analytics at Standard Media Index (SMI).
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A report from SMI found that only about six percent of pharma’s total budget was shifted from linear TV to digital this year.
Bruner said within digital, the movement “has been a bit less dramatic.” He said, “Looking at the first half of 2021 versus 2022, the biggest pieces of the digital mix are display at 42 percent, digital video at 30 percent and search at 25 percent, shares which changed very little in that time frame.”
In 2022, the top 10 pharma ad spenders combined for a total of $1.68 billion in TV ad spend, which was only slightly up from the $1.61 billion spent in 2021.
The top three spots this year were taken by immunology drugs targeting autoimmune conditions like arthritis and eczema. In addition, four type 2 diabetes drugs — including social media and celebrity favorite Ozempic — made the top 10 list this year.
It appeared Sanofi and Regeneron were on track to take the crown for total TV ad spend in 2022 for their immunological anti-inflammatory drug Dupixent by the third quarter. However, rival AbbVie amped up its TV campaigns for arthritis and eczema JAK inhibitor Rinvoq in November and December to take the top spot for the year’s total TV ad spend.
AbbVie spent $315.8 million on TV ads for the drug in 2022, according to ad tracking specialists iSpot.TV, and it doled out much of that — $97 million to be exact — in the last two months of 2022 alone. This is more than double and even triple what most other companies were spending on their drugs at the same time.
But Dupixent remained a close second to Rinvoq as Sanofi and Regeneron spent $305.9 million on TV ads for the medication in 2022.
AbbVie also spent a significant sum of $174.4 million on TV advertising for its other immunology drug Skyrizi. This was a notable increase from 2021 as it moved the drug from eighth place to third place in TV ad spend last year.
Surprisingly, AbbVie’s Humira didn’t make it into the top 10 this year, probably because its already established itself as the world’s best-selling drug at $20 billion a year in sales.
In terms of airtime, Skyrizi, Rinvoq and Dupixent were in the top spots for the most-seen pharma brands of the year. Fox News, MSNBC and CNN all grew pharmaceutical share of TV ad impressions year-on-year (YoY) and in the lead-up to the 2022 midterm election, according to iSpot.TV.
Find out who the other big TV ad spenders were in 2022 (data from iSpot.TV sourced by Fierce Pharma ).
10. Verzenio
Maker: Eli Lilly
Drug info: CDK inhibitor for breast cancer
Total national TV ad spend (est.): $111.8 million — up from $70.1 million in 2021
Ranking: Up from No. 18 in 2021
Priciest ad: “Finding My Way Forward” (est. $63.1 million)
9. Tremfya
Maker: Johnson & Johnson
Drug info: Monoclonal antibody against IL-23 for plaque psoriasis
Total national TV ad spend (est.): $115.1 million — up from $106.1 million in 2021
Ranking: Up from No. 10 in 2021
Priciest ad: “Emerge: $5 Per Dose” (est. $55.6 million)
8. Rexulti
Maker: Otsuka and Lundbeck
Drug info: Atypical antipsychotic
Total national TV ad spend (est.): $115.8 million (up from $107.9 million in 2021)
Ranking: Up from No. 9 in 2021
Priciest ad: “Hard Enough” (est. $37.7 million)
7. Trulicity
Maker: Eli Lilly
Drug info: Type 2 diabetes drug
Total national TV ad spend (est.): $122.6 million (down from $149.5 million in 2021)
Ranking: Down from No. 6 in 2021
Priciest ad: “Daughter: A1C” (est. $53.5 million)
6. Rybelsus
Maker: Novo Nordisk
Drug info: Oral GLP-1 type 2 diabetes drug
Total national TV ad spend (est.): $123.9 million (down from $225.2 million in 2021)
Ranking: Down from second place in 2021
Priciest ad: “Down With RYBELSUS” (est. $76.7 million)
5. Jardiance
Maker: Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim
Drug info: Type 2 diabetes drug
Total national TV ad spend (est.): $145.1 million (up from $127.5 million in 2021)
Ranking: Up from No. 7 in 2021
Priciest ad: “Meet Ron: On It” (est. $45.9 million)
4. Ozempic
Maker: Novo Nordisk
Drug info: Injectable GLP-1 Type 2 diabetes drug
Total national TV ad spend (est.): $157 million (up from $150.7 million in 2021)
Ranking: Up from No. 5 in 2021
Priciest ad: “Ozempic Tri-zone” (est. $87.1 million)
3. Skyrizi
Maker: AbbVie
Drug info: IL-23 immunology drug for psoriasis including psoriatic arthritis
Total national TV ad spend (est.): $174.4 million (up from $121.3 million in 2021)
Ranking: Up from No. 8 in 2021
Priciest ad: “Restaurant” (est. $55 million)
2. Dupixent
Maker: Sanofi and Regeneron
Drug info: IL-13 immunology drug for eczema, asthma
Total national TV ad spend (est.): $305.9 million (up from $287.6 million in 2021)
Ranking: Down from first place in 2021
Priciest ad: “Du More: Kick Boxing” (est. $47.7 million)
1. Rinvoq
Maker: AbbVie
Drug info: Immunology JAK inhibitor for eczema, arthritis, ulcerative colitis
Total national TV ad spend (est.): $315.8 million (up from $165 million in 2021)
Ranking: Up from No. 4 in 2021
Priciest ad: “River Rafting and Challenge Course” (est. $93.4 million)
Related: Pharma TV Ad Spending Trends: Companies in the Top Ten this Week
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