Following the release of the first swath of results from a pharma- and healthcare-focused survey of SiriusXM Media listeners, the audio broadcasting giant has shared more data drilling down into how people interested in GLP-1 medications, specifically, feel about the current state of pharma advertising.
In developing media plans to reach the GLP-1-interested consumer, audio advertising may represent a “blind spot,” according to a blog post published on LinkedIn by Anna Clement, director of SiriusXM Media's pharma vertical.
Though, of course, weighted by the fact that they were derived from active listeners of SiriusXM and Pandora radio and podcast services, the survey results show that consumers may be more willing to engage with drug ads delivered via audio than visual mediums.
That’s especially true among those interested in GLP-1s. A third of GLP-1-interested respondents said they’d prefer to hear drug side effect information listed without any visuals, while 28% said audio makes it easier to focus on important safety info—outweighing the broader survey pool on both counts.
“And yet audio remains dramatically underutilized by pharma,” Clement wrote, citing data showing that barely 1% of pharma ad budgets go to digital audio, even as digital audio listeners spend more than four hours a day on average with the medium.
That listening time often overlaps with “key health touchpoints,” per the article. While around 80% of the overall survey pool respondents said they listen to audio content while heading to or from doctor’s appointments, during their daily health regimens and more, that number rises to 86% among the GLP-1-interested segment.
“Those are not passive media moments. They’re high-intent ones,” Clement wrote, encouraging pharma advertisers to capitalize on those moments and concluding, “An omnichannel GLP-1 marketing strategy is the key to brand health.”
In addition to lauding audio as a potentially high-value channel for GLP-1 ads, the new batch of survey results also delves into consumers’ issues with TV drug ads.
Once again, the GLP-1-intersted respondents had stronger feelings than the overall group, with a higher proportion saying the pleasant imagery that often plays over side effect information feels unrealistic or out of touch (50%); that they find those visuals misleading (46%); that the imagery makes the side effects seem less serious (44%); and that the visuals are simply distracting (30%).
“While many advertisers utilize visuals to reassure and engage their target audience, only 7% of GLP-1-interested consumers find these visuals comforting, and just 6% of them say they are relatable or engaging,” Clement added.
Summing up the overarching sentiment, although around 70% of those interested in GLP-1s said they want to receive pharma advertising—and half are specifically looking for helpful side effect information—only about 20% said they want to see those ads on TV.