They’re all feeling the pinch. The total ad pages for the top five journals and magazines aimed exclusively at physicians - which includes the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, American Family Physician, Medical Economics and American Medical News - fell 7 percent last year.

In general, year-over-year advertising growth has been minimal of late. For instance, the ad spend in 2006 inched up just 2 percent, to $521 million, from the year before. Similarly, the growth in 2005 was only 1.5 percent over 2004.

“I think what we’re seeing is the money going into DTC advertising,” says Eugene May, marketing research director at ACNielsen’s PERQ/HCI, who researched and wrote about the trend in Medical Marketing & Media. “The journals are just about holding constant.”

Of course, journals remain desirable vehicles when new products are launched or big campaigns are deemed necessary. Merck was a big spender on Gardail and Pfizer did the same for Chantix. Wyeth, meanwhile, continued to heavily promote Effexor XR.

But generating growth will remain challenging for the journals. As May tells Pharmalot, there’s increasing competition from the Internet and e-detailing. “Some of the product managers feel they have to be in these newer forms of communication to show they’re with the program.”

The trend emerges just as several leading medical journals boast of tougher guidelines about financial disclosures before accepting studies, which doesn’t endear them to drugmakers. How will they compensate? Will more special supplements be published instead? Can they woo more lifestyle ads? Raise rates? Or is a showdown in the making?

The full story and additional rankings are in Medical Marketing & Media.

[tags]Advertising, American Family Physician, American Medical News, JAMA, Medical Economics, Medical Journals, New England Journal of Medicine[/tags]