The Promotional Mix Technology for Implementing Targeted Media In a highly competitive market, a well-detailed brand needs interstitial messaging through nonpersonal media channels at a minimum frequency of 24 times between every detail, or roughly eight times per month per detailed prescriber. Frederick C. Foard, MBA Executive VP — Media Operations Management As used in pharmaceutical promotion, targeted media is defined as all nonpersonal selling messaging channels that are used to reach a designated segment of a promotional audience rather than the the entire universe. Included are such media as direct mail, prescription pads, phone pads, patient-record forms, single-sponsored publications, e-faxing, and e-detailing. With the exception of e-detailing and some single-sponsored publications, most targeted media provide very little space for displaying an advertisement. Thus, targeted media are mostly useful for conveying brief “reminder-type” messages. They have their highest value in two situations: interstitial reinforcement between personal selling calls for adequately detailed brands and, nonpersonal promotional support of a mature and/or declining life-cycle brand’s high-users or loyalists — often without the presence of detailing. Interstitial Messaging In a highly competitive market, a well-detailed brand, defined as one that receives an average of at least four details per key prescriber annually, needs interstitial messaging through nonpersonal media channels at a minimum frequency of 24 times between every detail, or roughly eight times per month per detailed prescriber. Universal or “broad-based” media, such as medical journals, reach maximum cost efficiency with the delivery frequency of about three messages per month per targeted prescriber. The remaining five monthly messages must be delivered using targeted media. For a well-established, formerly well-promoted late-cycle brand, the frequency requirement is less: three to six times per month, using journals to achieve a one-to-two times monthly frequency and relying on highly targeted media to provide an additional two-to-four times frequency. Regardless of the situation, there should be a direct relationship between the category or brand prescription volume potential and the messaging frequency. Thus, high-decile prescribers would receive the highest-targeted media frequency and low-decile prescribers would receive little or none, depending upon the funds available. This will assure a fairly high promotional ROI. The question now is: “How do marketers accomplish this message frequency stratification using targeted media?” Using Targeted Media When using custom-developed media, such as single-sponsored publications or preprinted prescription pads, the answer is simple. With these marketers have the ability to control the message delivery targeting, frequency, and timing. Using a targeting list — usually defined to some degree by prescribing volume — marketers simply define which prescribers get which mix of targeted media and at what frequency. But when using syndicated — multisponsored — targeted media, until two years ago, accomplishing the same type of finite targeting was impossible. True, marketers could pick targeted media whose subscriber list had a high overall match with their brand’s list; but, they could not target within this list by individual members of that list. In other words, they were not able to determine precise reach by decile groupings or by a prescriber’s unique identifier (usually the medical education or M.E. number). Nor could they control the mix of media by M.E. number because the media vendor list-matches were not provided that way. Now the means to do precisely this are available. There is now a system that allows for analyses of multiple targeted media subscriber lists against a brand’s targeted list. This system can report exact duplicative, nonduplicative, and accumulated matches by various list characteristics such as decile levels, specialty, detailed vs. nondetailed, early vs. late adoptive behavior, and so on. Once the matching is completed, custom-designed, analytical reports are available in spreadsheet formats for further analysis. For example, a brand manager can add or delete media or re-order/reprioritize the targeting segments. A number of possible media planning applications are possible using these analytical tools. For example, a media planner can develop the optimum mix of targeted media that will accomplish reach and frequency goals for each targeted segment, within the constraints of budget. Additionally, the planner can readily identify segments of the brand’s target list that have inadequate or zero coverage and develop tactics to plug those holes with custom-developed media. In addition to varying the media mix by audience segment, they can likewise vary the promotional message to be delivered within each media channel. Finally, where two or more brands have crossover interest in the same M.E. numbered prescribers, planners can do selective cross-brand sharing of targeted media. Communications Media Inc., King of Prussia, Pa., is an advertising media and promotions planning organization concentrating on the pharmaceutical industry. For more information, visit cmimedia.com. March 2005 VIEW on Advertising

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