I have been a close observer of DTC advertising for about 28 years. One of the issues I have is that most DTC television ads still have a similar look. You all know the type of ad that starts with some actor patients saying they have condition X, so they asked their doctor about drug Y and then are feeling better. Then they show the fair balance scenes of active patients on the beach, hiking, playing with the grandkids. These vignette ads still seem to dominate the DTC landscape.

DTC advertisers only have about 28-30 seconds in a :60 second ad to make the selling case. It is hard to get all the information in about brand name, condition, and benefits. I assume that every drug company has a rigorous process to get consumer qualitative and quantitative feedback. Since all these pharma companies are data driven, I also must conclude that every ad aired has met some reasonable internal action standard for success. In other words, every DTC ad aired must be “good” by standard research testing methodology.

That being the case, why are so many DTC ads lacking breakthrough creativity? I have asked this question to many pharma marketers and agency people. Many agree that, aside from their own ad, this creative sameness is a problem. The reality is that most of the ads I analyze are too similar. They may test well pre-air but when on air, with so many other DTC ads in the same time block, they have challenges breaking out of the clutter. Of course we do not want creativity for its own sake. We also need consumers to remember the key selling point so they are interested enough to follow up with their doctor.

Kevin Clancy, a noted marketing guru and author, said at one of the early DTC National Conferences that an ad that tests in the top 20% is twice as effective per dollar spent than an average ad. That makes creativity a valuable goal.

Here are 5 reasons most ads fail creatively to break through:

1. Most drug ads are trying to be straight forward and logical in their advertising. Drug companies are pretty conservative and problem / solution information rich ads are in their comfort zone.
2. These ads may in fact test well in a research setting because they are logical. Consumers will understand them and repeat back the benefits.
3. The internal legal and regulatory folks also appreciate the clarity of the standard ad.
4. FDA’s OPDP may pre-clear a standard format ad faster, because they have seen hundreds just like it and are less concerned about consumer distraction.
5. The standard ad is easier to sell up the management chain just because of the logical nature of people running drug companies.

Challenge yourselves and your agencies to do better. I know we are not selling perfume and creativity is harder to execute in drug ads. Be careful when interpreting research data that says your ad tests well with consumers. Make sure your test includes competitive category ads and other DTC ads to simulate clutter. Have a goal to excel on the creative score. There are creative DTC ads out there that also get their logical selling points across. Many cookie-cutter standard ads are still successful in ROI measures because of the level of spending. However, demand that your marketing team and ad agencies strive to get that 2X in spending effectiveness. There is no reason for being average.