While it is ever more difficult to obtain FDA approval of new chemical entities, a plethora of significant specialty products appears on the horizon. Such new and exciting products will demand that medical advertising agencies provide sound scientific and strategic direction to ensure a brand's success. The days of multiple "me too" products have passed. Medical advertising must be intellectually prepared to deal with new science in new ways. Not surprisingly, the next three most important client issues are pricing, government regulations, and generics— issues that cannot be addressed by traditional advertising agencies. Therefore, traditional advertising agencies run the risk of becoming less relevant in the client's eyes. If this occurs, the traditional advertising agency will lose its value as an indispensable business partner. Conclusion: Medical advertising agencies will be forced to reengineer themselves and their product offerings. It is time to restructure, integrating all communication services and media to better serve an ever-demanding client. Medical advertising agency issues A majority of our pundits—53 percent—predict a continued reduction of new products to promote. Since our industry has no influence over this issue, we are at the mercy of pharmaceutical manufacturers and government. This is a very uncomfortable and risky place for an industry. Therefore, industry competition will become even fiercer. Only the most innovative, fully integrated agencies will survive and thrive. With a scarcity of new products to promote, combined with new economic realities, the majority of clients will continue to place fee constraints on our industry for the foreseeable future. However unbelievable it seems, clients will demand that medical advertising agencies do more for less and do it now!
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