Believe it or not, a new survey finds that fewer people recall TV drug ads than print ads for prescription drugs. A survey of 4,000 people who viewed visual storyboards of DTC ads recalled 50 percent of the specific print campaigns, and only 36 percent of the TV campaigns.

“Recall can double even though TV is viewed by many as being a broad medium,” says Tom Robinson, managing director at Affinity, the research firm that conducted the survey. “The reality is you’re reaching enough of them that you’re having impact among the target audience.”

Among people with and without medical problems associated with specific drugs, those with ailments had higher recall of ads that discussed their ailments and took the most action to find out more about the advertised product. In some cases, the percentage was double or more. For example, 43 percent of those suffering osteoporosis recalled a TV ad for Fosamax Plus D compared with only 19 percent who don’t have the malady. But that’s not surprising, is it?

The top-recalled DTC categories were sleep disorder at 64 percent average recall; erectile dysfunction at 42 percent, and high cholesterol at 42 percent. Among the top campaigns were those for Lunesta (70 percent recall), Lamisil (67 percent) and Nasonex (65 percent. In general, reecall scores among women were higher than among men

Nearly 60 unique campaigns ran in this year’s first quarter. The campaign that generated the highest action score among consumers was Roche’s Tamiflu.

Source: Media Daily News.

Full disclosure: Pharmalot is owned by The Star-Ledger Of New Jersey, a newspaper.[tags]DTC Advertising, Tamiflu[/tags]