A new survey from SiriusXM Media details the issues that many people have with the current state of TV drug ads—and highlights an opportunity for greater investment in audio ads instead.
The pharma- and healthcare-focused report comprises responses from more than 2,100 adult listeners of the audio broadcasting giant’s channels, which include the subscription-based SiriusXM and Pandora music and podcast services.
Almost 80% of those surveyed said they think there are too many pharma ads on TV and streaming video.
Regarding those visual ads, about half of the respondents suggested that the typically “pleasant and happy” imagery feels “unrealistic or out of touch” when shown alongside information about a drug’s potential side effects. Indeed, 45% said those visuals are “misleading,” while 28% called them “distracting,” and 40% said they can make the listed side effects seem less serious.
Meanwhile, many consumers favor more patient-focused pharma ads: More than half (55%) said they prefer ads that include the stories of real patients rather than paid actors, and 35% said they think unbranded ads that share information about certain diseases or conditions without naming any specific drug are “helpful and informative.”
As is perhaps to be expected from a pool of audio service subscribers, many of the survey’s responses suggested that consumers may be more amenable to audio drug ads.
Overall, almost a third of respondents said they’d prefer to hear a drug’s possible side effects listed without any visuals. And 22% said they think that audio ads can make it easier to focus on side effects and other medication safety information.
In a particularly timely example of the disconnect between how consumers would like to receive pharmaceutical ads and how they’re currently receiving them, nearly 60% of those surveyed said they’d like to learn more about GLP-1 meds, including via advertisements, but only 11% said they’d like to get that information via TV.
Plus, as questions abound about how the Trump administration’s promised crackdown on direct-to-consumer drug ads may limit TV advertising and force pharmas to shift their marketing strategies, the SiriusXM listeners surveyed were reportedly 1.5 times more interested in getting pharma ads via digital audio compared to social media and digital video platforms.
SiriusXM has cited data showing that pharma marketers still dedicate only about 1% of their ad spend to digital audio, even as Americans spend more than 20% of their media consumption time with audio content.
“Audio is the media channel consumers spend more time with than anything else—yet it is completely wide-open and not dominated by a few brands the way other media can be,” Mark Pappas, executive VP of innovation at CMI Media Group, said in a statement to Fierce Pharma Marketing.
“Audio allows patients to focus on the story, the condition and the benefit without visual distraction. Especially for older audiences or those with vision challenges, audio offers a clearer, more accessible way to communicate important health information,” Pappas continued. “When visuals confuse, audio clarifies.”
Perhaps further indicating the sizable opportunity to reach a captive audience with audio pharma ads, 80% of the survey respondents said they listen to music or podcasts during “healthcare or pharma moments,” per the report, including while traveling to or from and waiting for doctor’s appointments, during their daily health and wellness regimens and while doing online health research.
Editor's note: This story was updated with a quote from CMI Media Group.