Will WebMD's Healthy Glow Last?

The Net health-care concern has been a hit on the Street since being spun off last year. Now its numbers have to back up the optimism

Just days after Google (GOOG ) raised a staggering $4 billion in a September secondary stock offering, another brand-name dot-com made a much quieter, but equally impressive splash on Wall Street. Health-information provider WebMD Health (WBMD ) spun out from its parent company on Oct. 4, raising $129 million. Shares of its stock have nearly doubled to $34.92 since then (as of the market close on Feb. 22).

Yet the 7-year-old Internet survivor is barely profitable, and its parent company, Emdeon, has been tainted by an accounting scandal. What's more, WebMD's advertising-supported sites are facing competition from general portals such as Google itself. None of this fazes CEO Wayne Gattinella, however. "We're very early in the game," he says. "We have a tremendous amount of headroom."

PHARMA'S BOOST.  The Street will soon learn whether Gattinella has the numbers to back up his bravado. On Feb. 23, WebMD will announce its 2005 results. As of November, the company was predicting sales would increase 25%, to $168 million, from last year, and that profit would rise a percentage point or two, to about $6.6 million. WebMD believes earnings could triple this year.

Most of the gain is expected to be driven by pharmaceutical companies, which are placing ads in droves on WebMD's consumer site, as well as the educational portals it maintains for doctors under the brand name Medscape. In the third quarter alone, advertising, sponsorship and promotion revenue grew 24% from a year earlier.

WebMD's ad salespeople have a reputation for being difficult to work with, Forrester Research says. And it charges 20% or more for ads than other portals. Still, says Forrester Research analyst Elizabeth Boehm, it's no surprise advertisers keep turning to WebMD: It attracted 11 million unique visitors in January -- nearly three times as much as its next closest competitor, MSN Health, according to Nielsen/Net Ratings. "WebMD is viewed as a necessary evil," Boehm says. "Necessary because it is the lead player."

TARGET AUDIENCES.  WebMD is capitalizing not only on its brand name, but also on broader marketing trends in the pharma industry. Stung by criticism over Merck's (MRK ) lavish advertising for the arthritis drug Vioxx, which has since been pulled from the market, pharma companies have been shying away from television. Instead, they're gravitating towards the Internet, where they can aim their advertising efforts at people who plug specific disease terms into search engines (see BW, 8/15/06, "Drugmakers Are Changing Channels").

Type "cholesterol" into the search box on WebMD's home page, for example, and the first two links that pop up are to sites sponsored by Pfizer (PFE ) and Merck, both of which sell statin drugs to fight high cholesterol. Internet ads also allow pharma outfits to provide more information about a particular drug than they can in a 30-second spot -- especially one that's weighed down by a laundry list of side effects. The pharma industry's spending on Internet ads rose 30% in 2005, to $53.9 million, while TV advertising crept up just 5%, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY ) is one of the pharmaceutical giants that has embraced Internet advertising, and WebMD is at the top of its go-to list. Last year, Bristol-Myers adopted a new code for direct-to-consumer advertising that prohibits TV ads during the first year of a drug's launch. But the Internet remains fair game.

"ROBUST WITH INFORMATION."  Bristol-Myers advertises several products, including its anti-clotting drug Plavix, on WebMD. "The Holy Grail is to get people to come back to your site," says Tom Chetrick, vice-president of advertising and marketing services for Bristol-Myers. "WebMD is so robust with information that people looking for a particular disease will keep coming back."

Bristol-Myers is preparing to launch Orencia, a drug to treat rheumatoid arthritis, and Chetrick says the company is likely to include WebMD in its media plan.

WebMD has been aggressively targeting doctors as well. Its Medscape site provides drug references, journal articles, and online courses physicians can take for continuing-education credit. Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney estimates that about half of WebMD's sponsorship and ad revenues come from its physician-targeted sites. The company has been aggressive about maintaining its leadership position there.

TOO MUCH CONFIDENCE?  In October, competitor eMedicine announced that its traffic was more than twice that of Medscape's, prompting WebMD to dash off a press release denying the claim. Two months later, WebMD bought eMedicine for $25 million. "Reaching doctors is very important to the future of our business," says Gattinella. "Pharmaceutical and biotech companies spend twice as much on educating doctors as they do educating consumers."

Still, some investors think Gattinella may be a bit overconfident about WebMD's growth potential. The number of WebMD shares held by short-sellers, who profit from betting a stock will go down, rose 31% in January. That was the single greatest monthly rise in short interest by any Internet company, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Moreover, WebMD's shares are trading at 264 times earnings -- astronomical, compared with the Internet industry's average price-to-earnings multiple of 44. That means even the slightest disappointment could send shares into a tailspin.

OWNERSHIP QUESTIONS.  Fund manager Linda Killian says WebMD's miniscule profit growth doesn't justify the valuation. "They have to capitalize on the investments they've made in this business," says Killian, manager of Renaissance Capital's IPO Plus Aftermarket Fund, which has been selling its shares. "They haven't monetized it as much as we'd like."

Plus, there's always the risk that with WebMD charging a premium for ads, advertisers could shift more of their dollars to broader portals such as those run by Microsoft (MSFT ), Yahoo (YHOO ), and Google.

Then there are the questions about WebMD's ownership structure. Its parent company, which was renamed Emdeon last year, still owns about 85% of WebMD's shares. In December, a U.S. attorney for the district of South Carolina indicted 10 former officers and employees of an Emdeon subsidiary on charges of accounting improprieties. The unit, known as Emdeon Practice Services, was acquired by the company several years ago, and it was during that deal that the first hints of accounting issues arose.

HEALTHY MARGINS.  On Feb. 16, Emdeon announced that it would explore the option of selling off the Practice Services unit and one other subsidiary. Shares of WebMD dipped 7% that day, with some investors questioning whether WebMD's shares might get caught up in the deals, possibly diluting the stock.

Martin Wygod, who serves as board chairman of both WebMD and Emdeon, says concerns are overblown. "We have no intention of selling off any of WebMD's shares," he says. The company says all accounting issues are now in the rear-view mirror.

As for the potential for future growth, Wygod vows that all incremental revenues will carry profit margins as high as 40%. "They'll be more profitable than what's currently on the books, because we'll have more of a fixed overhead," Wygod says. "We expect earnings to go up faster than revenues."

INFORMED SALESFORCE.  This is far from the first time WebMD has faced down skeptics. Its predecessor company, Healtheon, was lampooned as a symbol of dot-com excesses in the 2000 book The New New Thing, by Michael Lewis. The book recounts how Jim Clark, Healtheon's founder, told investors that his new Net company would be the nexus of health care -- drawing together insurers, doctors, providers, and consumers -- and that it would grow into the most highly valued company on the New York Stock Exchange.

But by the time Wygod and his management team took over in late 2000, Healtheon was on its way to losing $450 million, with bankruptcy a near-certainty. "It was difficult to give the advertising away," recalls Gattinella, who was hired as head of the online business in 2001.

So Gattinella completely overhauled the company's selling approach. He axed most of the old salesforce and hired new salespeople straight out of the pharmaceutical and medical-devices industries. Gattinella figured that the sales reps would need a deep understanding of the products if they were to persuade potential customers to place ads.

PRIVATE PORTALS.  Gattinella spent his first two years on the road with the salespeople, begging prospects to give WebMD a chance. "The health-care industry didn't understand the Internet back then," he recalls. Toward the end of 2001, WebMD acquired Medscape, and faced a whole new round of skepticism from advertisers. "They believed that practicing physicians wouldn't get medical information from the Internet," Gattinella says. "What they didn't realize was that medical students were already learning online. Then we went through a generational change."

Now that advertisers are on board with WebMD, the dot-com is rounding out its customer base by designing private health portals for insurance companies and employers. In the third quarter, WebMD signed deals with IBM (IBM ), Cisco Systems (CSCO ), and several other large companies.

And the nation's largest provider of health plans, WellPoint, adopted WebMD as the engine for its personalized health portals (see BW Online, 2/20/06, "How Good Is Your Online Nurse?"). The deals could boost WebMD's licensing revenues -- and analysts will be eyeing the Feb. 23 earnings announcement for any evidence of that.

HYPE OR HIT?  As Gattinella sits in his new sprawling Manhattan office, built to accommodate his company's expected growth, he refuses to let WebMD's critics distract him from his mission. "I've always believed in the merger of the Internet and health-care information," Gattinella says. "It's not as if our mission has changed."

Still, he can't help but laugh at the first piece of advice Wygod gave him back in 1991, when the two men met at Merck-Medco. Wygod, then CEO of the pharmaceutical-services firm, left Gattinella waiting for several hours in the lobby. As he breezed by to apologize, he said, "Make yourself comfortable, but not too comfortable," Gattinella recalls with a laugh. "I thought that was good general advice for business."

WebMD is clearly ensconced at the top of the online-health heap. But with Wall Street expectations at an all-time high, Gattinella had better pay close heed to Wygod's advice.

 

Report finds historic drop in total number of cancer deaths

Report finds historic drop in total number of cancer deaths

 

American Cancer Society estimates based on first drop in deaths in seven decades

ATLANTA—The American Cancer Society’s annual estimate of cancer deaths says 2006 will see a slight decline in the projected number of cancer deaths compared with estimates made for 2005. The projections are based on a decline in the actual number of cancer deaths reported by the National Center for Health Statistics for 2002 (557,271 deaths) and 2003 (556,902 deaths), the first decline in the actual number of cancer deaths in more than 70 years.

From 2002 to 2003, the number of recorded cancer deaths decreased by 778 in men, but increased by 409 in women, resulting in a net decrease of 369 total cancer deaths, the first such decrease since 1930, when nationwide data began to be compiled. The decrease in the number of Americans dying from cancer is a result of declining cancer death rates outpacing the impact of growth and aging of the population. Death rates adjust for the size and age of the population. The death rate from all cancers combined has decreased in the United States since 1991, but not until 2003 was the decrease large enough to outpace the growth and aging of the population and reduce the actual number of cancer deaths. While it is unclear whether the decline in the total number of cancer deaths will continue, it marks a notable milestone in the battle against cancer. The estimates are included in the 55th edition of Cancer Facts & Figures, which projects that in 2006, approximately 1.4 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer and 565,000 will die of the disease.

“The drop in the actual number of cancer deaths in 2003 and in our own projections for 2006 mark a remarkable turn in our decades-long fight to eliminate cancer as a major health threat,” said John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., American Cancer Society chief executive officer. “For years, we’ve proudly pointed to dropping cancer death rates even as a growing and aging population meant more actual deaths. Now, for the first time, the advances we’ve made in prevention, early detection, and treatment are outpacing even the population factors that in some ways obscured that success.”

Since 1952, when the first edition of the publication consisted of four typewritten pages, Cancer Facts & Figures has become a critical tool for scientists and journalists reporting about cancer trends. The annual estimates of new cancer cases and deaths are some of the most widely quoted cancer statistics in the world. The Society’s leading team of epidemiologic researchers compiles and analyzes incidence and mortality data from around the country to estimate the number of new cancer cases and deaths for the current year nationwide and in individual states. Other highlights from this year’s publication:

In 2006, an estimated 1,399,790 new cancer cases and 564,830 deaths from cancer are expected in the United States.

Incidence and death rates from lung cancer continue to decrease in men. Among women, the lung cancer incidence rate has leveled off, but death rates continue to increase. Lung cancer remains the top cause of cancer death in the U.S., with an estimated 174,470 new cases and 162,460 deaths expected this year.

Kentucky has the highest lung cancer death rate in the U.S. Expected lung cancer deaths in Kentucky in 2006 (3,500) rival that of Massachusetts (3,790), a state with more than 50 percent more residents.

Breast cancer remains the most common cancer other than skin cancer among women in the U.S., with an estimated 212,920 new cases and 40,970 deaths expected in 2006. Despite increasing incidence, the death rate from breast cancer continues to fall.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer other than skin cancer among men in the U.S., with an estimated 234,460 new cases and 27,350 deaths expected in 2006. Although death rates have decreased since the early 1990s, rates in African American men remain more than twice as high as rates in white men.

Cancers that can be prevented or detected earlier by following the Society’s testing guidelines account for approximately half of all new cancer cases in the United States. Scientific evidence suggests that about half of the cancer deaths expected in the United States will be related to tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and being overweight or obese. The Great American Health CheckSM is an easy, confidential, online health assessment tool available year-round at www.cancer.org/healthcheck to raise national awareness of early cancer detection tests and the benefits of following a healthy lifestyle. The tool was developed by the American Cancer Society and is made possible by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (“MetLife”), with additional support from official sponsors Quest Diagnostics and Bayer Aspirin®.

Great American Health Check users can go online and answer questions about age, gender, height, weight, family history of cancer, dietary habits, physical activity levels, alcohol and tobacco use, either for themselves or a loved one. They then receive a personalized cancer action plan that includes early cancer detection tests they may need as well as recommendations for healthy lifestyle changes. Cancer information specialists are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at the American Cancer Society’s toll-free call center, 1-800-ACS-2345, to mail information about the Great American Health Check and specific cancer screenings.

Each year, Cancer Facts & Figures features a Special Section highlighting a particular aspect of cancer prevention, early detection or treatment. Tobacco, obesity and infectious causes of cancer have been discussed in recent years. In 2006, the Special Section considers environmental pollutants (particularly air pollutants) and cancer. While exposure to pollutants is thought to account for a relatively small percentage of cancer deaths—about 4 percent from occupational exposures and 2 percent from environmental pollutants (man-made and naturally occurring)—the topic is of considerable public interest and an ongoing scientific challenge. Even a small percentage (6 percent) can represent many deaths, approximately 33,900 in the U.S.

Much of what is known about air contaminants and cancer comes from occupational studies of workers who were highly exposed in the past and can be clearly identified and followed for long periods of time. The Special Section provides information about two air pollutants that pose potential risk to the general public: asbestos and radon. Asbestos causes lung cancer, mesothelioma, and possibly other cancers, while radon causes lung cancer. Asbestos products remain in most buildings constructed between 1930 and 1975, and can present a danger during renovations or demolition. Radon, a gas that is emitted naturally from the earth, has been shown to cause lung cancer in miners exposed to very high concentrations and is present at lower concentrations in the indoor air (generally basements) of most homes. Radon has been estimated to cause between 10 and 14 percent of lung cancer deaths in the U.S. The Special Section describes recommendations made by public health agencies to minimize exposures to asbestos and radon.

Secondhand tobacco smoke is an important indoor air contaminant known to increase cancer risk. Cigarette smoke contains many known and probable carcinogens. For example, it is a major source of population exposure to benzene, a leukemia-causing substance also present in gasoline fumes and automobile exhaust.

The article also describes the major sources and types of outdoor air pollution. Sources include vehicles, factories, fossil fuel-burning power plants, incinerators, recycling facilities, and metal smelting plants, as well as natural sources, like windblown dust and wildfires. The report details the major categories of air pollutants and how they are regulated. Exposure to fine particulates, a type of air pollution often present in urban air, has been linked with lung cancer, and there is even stronger evidence of increased heart and lung disease associated with exposure. The report recognizes progress in reducing air pollution and the importance that such progress be sustained. The full report can be viewed after embargo at www.cancer.org/statistics.

The American Cancer Society is dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by saving lives, diminishing suffering and preventing cancer through research, education, advocacy and service. Founded in 1913 and with national headquarters in Atlanta, the Society has 13 regional divisions and local offices in 3,400 communities, involving millions of volunteers across the United States. For more information anytime, call toll-free 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit www.cancer.org.

*U.S. Census Bureau estimated July 2005 populations: Kentucky 4,173,405; Massachusetts 6,398,743

Link to NCHS Web site: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/finaldeaths03/finaldeaths03.htm

 

Web Sites Let Patients Customize Search for Doctors

Web Sites Let Patients Customize Search for Doctors January 31, 2006

A growing number of Web sites are helping patients find health care providers who meet certain criteria, including race, religion and "sensitivity to sexual orientation," the Washington Post reports. Studies have shown that some patients relate better to physicians of the same race, according to the Post. Many black patients have said they participate more in medical decisions and have a higher level of trust and satisfaction with black doctors than with white doctors. Web sites such as BlackDoctorFinder.com, Findablackdoctor.com and BlackDoctor.org allow patients to search profiles of thousands of physicians to find a suitable provider. "If this can encourage more people to first go to the doctor (and) have the tests that they need done, then we've done something good," Salli Purnell, marketing director for BlackDoctorFinder.com, said. The Christian Medical & Dental Association's Web site allows users to search the profiles of 17,000 doctors. The database, created in response to requests from patients seeking "Christian referrals," receives 65,000 hits per month, according to David Stevens, executive director of the CMDA. In addition, the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association's database contains the profiles of most of the group's members. It was created to help patients find a doctor with whom they can feel comfortable discussing their sexual orientation, according to Joel Ginsberg, executive director of the group. He added, "Being out to your health care providers is important to ensure that you receive proper health care," such as tests and screenings tailored to a patient's sexual habits. Concerns Arthur Levin, director of the Center for Medical Consumers, said, "I think it's understandable given concerns about cultural sensitivity [that] people may feel more comfortable with a doctor if they look like them or think like them." However, he added that patients should consider other factors when selecting a doctor. "If you're just searching one characteristic, which only has to do with what they believe or who they are, I think that's not a very good way to choose a physician," Levin said. According to the Post, the Web sites "offer no help in verifying the practitioner's credentials or assessing quality of care." For example, Findablackdoctor.com warns users to "check and verify the credentials of any alleged health care provider before consenting to any and all courses of treatment" (Payne, Washington Post, 1/31).

 

Live from e-marketing conference: Study shows few pharmas take advantage of e-mail marketing impact

Live from e-marketing conference: Study shows few pharmas take advantage of e-mail marketing impact

A recent study found that Paxil, Procrit, Ortho contraceptives, Nexium, and Prilosec had the best e-mail programs, Denine Harper, senior manager of strategy and insight for WHITTMANHART Interactive, reported at today's opening session of the CBI pharma e-marketing conference. These results were part of a study WHITTMANHART conducted to track pharma DTC e-mail programs. The study found that of the top 25 best-selling drugs, only eight sent e-mails to consumers, and only three had implemented loyalty programs. E-mail is a low-cost, high-impact way to communicate with consumers, but advertisers are still underspending online, according to Harper. She said there is a gap between consumer online consumption and media spend. Although some session attendees appeared skeptical of the feasibility of building consumer-driven e-mail programs, Harper said the lack of quality integrated programs leads to missed opportunities.

 

As search engine growth soars, pharma should focus on SEO

As search engine growth soars, pharma should focus on SEO

With nearly 5.7 billion searches conducted on about 60 search engines in January 2006, Internet search is more popular than ever. New data from Nielsen//NetRatings shows that the 5.7 billion searches in January represents a 39% increase from January 2005's 4 billion searches. Google's search dominance remains steady, with 48.2% of all January searches. Its nearest competitor, Yahoo! Search, garnered 22.2% of searches, and third place MSN Search had an 11% share of searches in January, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. More people are turning to Internet search, not because they can't find what they're looking for online, but because the search utility has become ingrained in people's lives, Nielsen//NetRatings chief analyst Ken Cassar said in a prepared statement.

 

Online disease monitoring program gets boost from $100,000 grant

Online disease monitoring program gets boost from $100,000 grant

Doctor Larry Brilliant's idea for developing an online disease monitoring program to detect early signs of emerging diseases picked up steam thanks to a $100,000 grant. Brilliant, who was recently named Google's new philanthropy director, was one of the recipients of the 2006 TED Prize during the TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) conference in Monterey, CA, last week. The $100,000 is a small chunk of the estimated $10 million it will likely take to get the project, tentatively called the International Networked System for Total Early Disease Protection, off the ground. Several companies, including Google and Sun Microsystems, have expressed interest in helping the organization, and Brilliant wants to link the group to the existing Canadian government group Global Public Health Intelligence Network, according to the Wall Street Journal.

 

Datamonitor: Pharma blog monitoring equals free market research

Datamonitor: Pharma blog monitoring equals free market research

 

Pharmas should be using blogs at the very least as market research and relationship-management tools, reports Datamonitor. By monitoring what consumers are saying about them in blogs, pharmas can shape marketing campaigns to counter negative or incorrect information about its company or products. Don't ever ignore negative or incorrect information posted in blogs, says Kimberly O'Malley, senior analyst at Datamonitor. These entries should be regarded as opportunities to fix a problem or misperception. Pharma can glean consumer opinions about product packaging or side effects that may prove helpful in planning marketing strategies. For example, a side effect may emerge in blogs that did not appear in clinical trials. Pharmas also have the option of using a more controlled format for blogs, having three or four people in-house posting to the blog, such as the CEO or researchers, and this can help "put a human face" on a pharma, O'Malley says.

 

To learn more or acquire the report, go to http://www.hcmarketplace.com/prod-4065.html

 

 

NBC Universal to Buy iVillage for $600 Million

NBC Universal to Buy IVillage for $600 Million

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 8:38 a.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) -- NBC Universal said Monday it will buy iVillage Inc., which runs several Web sites aimed at women, for about $600 million.

NBC Universal, which is 80 percent-owned by General Electric Co. and 20 percent-owned by Vivendi Universal, agreed to pay $8.50 in cash per common share for iVillage, a 6.5 percent premium to the company's closing price Friday of $7.98 on the Nasdaq. Shares of iVillage rose 38 cents, or about 5 percent, to $8.36 in pre-market trading.

NBC Universal expects the acquisition to grow its digital revenue to about $200 million in 2006, with a 20 percent growth rate going forward.

The purchase is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval and is expected to close by the second quarter.

Managers of iVillage will report directly to Beth Comstock, NBC Universal's president of digital media and market development.

JPMorgan Chase acted as iVillage's financial adviser.

DDMAC sees 'huge' jump in number of ads submitted for review

DDMAC sees ‘huge’ jump in number of ads submitted for review 

03-03-06

 

FDA Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communications (DDMAC) director Thomas Abrams said that the agency has received “a huge increase” in print ads, TV and radio spots and scripts in the months since PhRMA called on companies to voluntarily submit ads for advanced scrutiny.  Abrams made the comments during a marketing conference hosted by the Drug Information Association, a report on The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Web site said.

 

“We have the same number of people,” handling a bigger workload, Abrams said. “At this point, it’s too early to tell how this will shake out.”

 

PhRMA spokesperson Ken Johnson said in the report: “We understand they are kind of buried right now. But this is a clear indication that the companies are following through.”  According to Abrams, most of the FDA’s 15 warning letters last year were prompted by inadequate warnings about a drug’s risks. He cited a journal ad for Quadrament, made by Cytogen, that he said falsely claimed to eliminate chemotherapy pain.   “These are very, very sick patients and to promise them hope like this is not in the interests of the public health,” he said.

 

Largest healthcare Web portal in China begins development

Largest healthcare Web portal in China begins development

The largest healthcare Web portal in China is now under development, according to Bridgetech Holdings International, the company behind the project. Bridgetech aims to bring Western healthcare products and services to China and is working on the Web project with the Wu Jieping Medical Foundation, a nonprofit under the Chinese Ministry of Health. According to the report, there is no market-leading source in China for reliable online health information. The site will provide information for both Chinese medical professionals and the public. The portal will include the latest research from China and the United States, and healthcare organizations from both countries will provide content for the site. The site has already received endorsements from Vanderbilt University and Johns Hopkins Medicine International affiliate Amcare, as well as several other Chinese and U.S. organizations.

 

New health search site pulls information from various engines

Info.com Adds Health Vertical Search to Its Search Platform; Healthline Partnership Enriches Info.com Medical Content in Response to In-Depth Queries

Business Wire via NewsEdge Corporation :

CHICAGO & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 28, 2006--Info.com, a search platform for broad-Web and vertical search engines, today announced a partnership with Healthline, the leading Internet health search engine dedicated to consumer healthcare, to provide Info.com's users with a robust capability to search health-related topics directly on the Info.com site. Now Info.com visitors have access to the most relevant, comprehensive healthcare-related information and Medically Guided Search(TM) navigation tools, helping to empower them to make more informed, confident healthcare decisions. Consumers and healthcare professionals can immediately access Info.com's new health service by visiting www.health.info.com or www.info.com and clicking on the "Health" tab.

Through its partnership with Healthline, Info.com now offers information seekers access to Healthline's proprietary process for crawling indexing and ranking over 170,000 health and medical sites representing 130 million pages of content across the Internet. To present this information in medically accurate context, Healthline has developed the largest consumer health taxonomy of its kind, featuring an information classification system that delivers precise, relevant open Web results, related physician-reviewed articles and HealthMaps(R) -- Healthline's unique visual navigation tools -- to optimize the search experience for individuals seeking healthcare information.

"We are pleased to integrate Healthline's medically guided search expertise into Info.com's vertical search offerings," said Stephen Scarr, Info.com CEO. "Our newest search capability delivers the precision and accuracy of a vertical, health-dedicated search site that we believe our health information seekers will view as a 'one-stop-shop' for the most relevant information on a wide array of healthcare-related topics."

When utilizing the provided "Health Search" tool bar for specific terms and topics, retrieval of information is effortless and results are highly organized and easy to view. Healthline's search engine also matches consumer language with medical terminology, so that a search on a term such as "heart attack" will also return results that include references to "myocardial infarction" and "pericardial effusion."

"Info.com has created a one-source solution for easily obtaining accurate, comprehensive and relevant health information," commented West Shell III, Healthline CEO. "The search for health is the most important and difficult that consumers undertake. We see great potential partnering with companies like Info.com who understand the importance of helping their customers successfully navigate the vast, overwhelming world of complex medical information. Together, Healthline and Info.com deliver a compelling, best-of-breed vertical search solution that provides a powerful, diverse, content-rich experience for Info.com site visitors."

About Info.com

Info.com is a search platform for broad-Web and vertical search engines. In an over-communicated and over-informed era, relevant and time saving information brands will become increasingly attractive to Internet users. Info.com seeks to be just that by providing a time-saving interface that seamlessly combines different search technologies into one site. Info.com provides results from the leading search engines and pay-per-click directories. Info.com's vertical search providers include comparison shopping and product reviews, a broad selection of news, pictures, event tickets, eBay, jobs, flights, hotels, White and Yellow Page directories, weather, maps and directions. The company is headquartered in Chicago. For more information, visit www.info.com/about.

About Healthline

Healthline Networks, Inc. provides the easiest way for consumers to find, understand and manage healthcare information, empowering them to make more informed decisions that lead to better health. Created in collaboration with 1,100 physicians and medical specialists, Healthline's unique Medically Guided Search(TM) experience is powered by a consumer health taxonomy that encompasses nearly one million medical terms and synonyms -- the largest of its kind, and one that translates everyday language and precisely matches it to complex medical information. Healthline is defining the HealthWeb, a filtered directory currently consisting of more than 170,000 health-oriented websites and 130 million pages of medical content. Combined with the company's visual HealthMaps(R) and personalization tools, Healthline connects users with the information, people and resources not readily available through general search engines or today's online health destinations. Based in San Francisco, Healthline is backed by VantagePoint Venture Partners, Reed Elsevier Ventures, Mitsui & Co., Ltd., and JHK Investments, LLC.

Podcast Ad Market To Climb To $300 Million

Podcast Ad Market To Climb To $300 Million

by Shankar Gupta, Wednesday, Mar 1, 2006 6:00 AM EST

AD SPENDING IN PODCASTS WILL reach $300 million by 2010--up from an estimated $80 million last year, according to an eMarketer report released Tuesday. "Activity so far and the fact that the podcast audience is very attractive to many companies make it highly likely that advertising and its cousin, sponsorship, are set to become an intrinsic part of the podcasting universe," stated the report. eMarketer also predicted that the U.S. podcast audience would reach 50 million by 2010--up from 5 million last year. The report said that although the podcast audience isn't necessarily a mass market, it is nonetheless valuable. "Available data show that 18- to 35-year-olds are more aware of podcasting than other age groups, and that iPod ownership in the United States is skewed toward males, as is awareness of the term 'podcasting,'" the report said. "An audience of tech-savvy males aged 18 to 35 is extremely attractive to many advertisers." The emergence of several podcast-dedicated advertising companies is evidence of the trend, the report contended. "Confirmation that podcast advertising is set to become a significant business has come in recent months with the launch of several companies devoted to bringing podcasters and advertisers together," the report said, citing Fruitcast, Podtrac, and Radio Tail as examples.

SOME THOUGHTS ON OBSOLETE BUSINESS MODELS

SOME THOUGHTS ON OBSOLETE BUSINESS MODELS
And How Big Agencies Have Done Remarkably Little to Reinvent themselves
February 28, 2006
By Jonah Bloom

Media arts company

In this ROI-obsessed world, a world in which technology is bringing us closer to the number-cruncher’s holy grail of ads married directly to a consumer transaction, you have to wonder whether there is a sustainable business model for a company that creates media art.

It’s not easily measurable, yet weaving brands into culture in such a way that we no longer know where art finishes and commerce begins can occasionally yield brilliant brand results -- and would differentiate an ad shop from its media, direct and interactive siblings, which are better prepared for the one-to-one, transaction-focused ad world.

But I didn’t want to wax about Clow’s proposal here -- I’m not privy to his thinking -- so much as point out that the guy responsible for many great “ads” was prepared to contemplate the reinvention of a large ad agency as something quite different.

Fatally flawed

Despite an overwhelming mass of evidence that their business models are fatally flawed and their service offerings out of step with many marketers’ demands, the biggest agencies have done remarkably little to substantially reinvent themselves. It doesn’t seem to matter how many of their clients shift projects or even full-scale brand assignments to smaller, nimbler, flatter structured, less-30-second centric agencies, the biggest agencies seem reluctant to really blow up their model.

That’s not to say there have been no moves at all. John Dooner’s McCann Erickson has made smart use of Worldgroup to offer a multidisciplinary approach to marketers’ problems; Andrew Robertson’s BBDO has shown willingness to make personnel changes and is evolving from a 30-second-obsessed agency into a flexible organizer of collaborating Omnicom shops; and Ogilvy has shifted to a single P&L to eliminate financial barriers to collaboration among its disciplinary units.

Layers of bureaucracy

But all the big ad agencies still have layers and layers of bureaucracy, rampant job-title inflation and hundreds of people whose chief role seems to be managing up. Their product has barely changed (you could count the genuinely big ideas from the last 12 months on one hand), and I’ve heard at least three separate first-hand reports of people within those organizations who’ve had good non-TV ideas for a client being told that they’d have to be turned into TV commercials before they could be pitched.

I’ve recently been rereading “Re-imagine!,” management guru Tom Peters’ brilliant look at the new business order, wrought in large part by the Internet and which, he says, requires every modern business to constantly destroy and reinvent itself to survive.

Fear incrementalism

He takes issue with organizations that tweak rather than reinvent: “MIT Media Lab boss Nicholas Negroponte said: ‘Incrementalism is innovation’s worst enemy.’ Sad fact: Big organizations, by their very nature, are addicted to incrementalism ... they seldom make the changes necessary to deal with a discontinuous environment. ... Most big enterprises that survive a challenge from an upstart do so as shadows of their former selves. Still alive. Still big. But no longer the pathfinders.”

Lee Clow sounds as if he still wants to be a pathfinder. How many others do, too?

~ ~ ~
*Bogusky and Clow, the industry’s pre-eminent creatives, had come together to interview each other as part of the upcoming celebration of Creativity magazine’s 20th anniversary, and you’ll be able to put Lee’s remarks in a little more context when their one-on-one is screened on AdAge.com and Adcritic.com next month.

 

We Need Good Ideas Not More Agency Layers

We Need Good Ideas Not More Agency Layers

NOELLE WEAVER: The term ‘creative integration’ seems to be popping up a lot these days.

Much like the rest of the world, it seems our industry is experiencing a ‘convergence’ of our own. Media agencies are hiring strategists. PR agencies are hiring creatives. Interactive agencies are hiring media planners. Creative agencies are adding pr.

I’ve been reading the news about Publicis’ new media consultancy Denuo and how they are combining their digital and creative groups. Not into one P&L, but into one area of the agency.

And while I applaud Publicis for taking active steps to confront the issues of this brave new ad world, I can’t help but think that no matter where you sit, put in charge of TV ads you will create TV ads, put in charge of an online campaign you will create an online campaign. And so it goes. But who’s in charge of creating the brand-new-do-we-dare-be-the-first-to-try-this idea? And more importantly, by working in silos, will all these ideas strategically flow together? Or will they come across as one-offs where someone took the time to make sure the integration check-boxes were each filled?

Do we have an online campaign? Yes! Do we have ample print? Yes! Have we thought about outdoor? Yes!

Okay. Maybe I’m jaded and I’ve spent too many of my years watching the higher ups call in the media agency 3 days before the big pitch and shaking hands with the direct marketing team 15 minutes before the client is due to arrive.

But is the solution adding more agency layers and titles? Or is it changing the very way we approach the problem?

The agency that I work for is unique in that we sit down at the table with a mix of account, creative, interactive, pr, media, speechwriters, digerati and cultural hunters to brainstorm ideas. Titles, job functions and hierarchy are all put aside for an hour. From day one everyone sits at the table. Great ideas feed other great ideas. And in this day and age you never know where or from who a great idea will come from. Or where it will land.

Shouldn’t all of us be focused on finding the best way to reach the consumer? [And not who comes up with the idea?]

Companies Seen Boosting Efforts In Disease-Education Programs

Companies Seen Boosting Efforts In Disease-Education Programs

 

AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Pfizer and Codman (a unit of J&J) are the latest pharma companies to increase efforts in disease education campaigns, with AZ launching a program for breast cancer awareness, Lilly for depression (www.DepressionHurts.com) and Codman for the neurological condition NPH. Pfizer is running an unbranded awareness campaign for pain management and a Web site with erectile dysfunction education.

 

While disease education still represents less than 10% of a typical brand’s promotion budget, there is growing evidence of a shift away from branded ads to education efforts. Last year, several companies launched disease education programs around migraine, cholesterol and peripheral artery disease.

 

• Spending on disease education exceeded $14 billion in the first half, or 6% of total DTC spend (see chart on page 8 for 2000-05 comparison).

 

Disease-oriented ads will become more prevalent as pressure increases on companies to reign in drug prices. Education programs can prompt new users and encourage adherence among existing patients. For AZ, this is the first time the company has focused on the risk of breast cancer recurrence and the need to be compliant with prescribed medication. The program includes a TV spot called “If You Were My Sister.”

 

• Pfizer will boost spending on disease education efforts next year, allocating roughly the amount it spends to promote a single brand. Asked at the recent FDA hearings about the impact of unbranded help-seeking ads, Pfizer U.S. Pharmaceuticals president Pat Kelly said general disease awareness ads “do not drive patients to the doctor to anywhere near the degree that information about a solution or a potential solution will.”

 

DTC INSIGHT

* Branded ads are being supplemented by disease education programs for two reasons. First, FDA and DTC critics wants to see more of these ads, and it is good business to raise awareness of diseases and conditions treated by drugs made by the sponsoring company, particularly as adherence becomes a more important part of marketing programs.

 

About Bows Health Video

About Bows Health Video

by Gavin O'Malley, Friday, Feb 24, 2006 6:00 AM EST

CONTINUING TO EXPAND ITS ORIGINAL video offerings, About.com added various ad-supported videos to its Health Channel on Wednesday. The query site, owned by The New York Times Company, branched into gadgets and electronics video earlier this month. Curios seeking heath-related stories on the site now have access to short-form videos covering kids' fevers, real facts about bird flu, and understanding the "new food pyramid," among other topics. The videos come loaded with pre-roll advertising. Pfizer's Bengay brand was running ads on Wednesday, and many additional pharmaceutical brands have already signed on, said Mark Westlake, About's sales and marketing senior vice president. The site's health channel has featured sponsors including Aventis, P&G, Neulasta, Zicam, and Lexapro, among others. Dr. Mona Khanna, MD, MPH is one of the health channel's video contributors, while its new gadget-related video is hosted by its resident tech reporter Brett Larson. About introduced video advertising on its site over a year ago with sponsorships by Honda and Black & Decker, among others. Westlake said he expects About's some 500 "guides" to begin contributing video covering over 57,000 topics in the future.

 

Yahoo Search Places Restrictions On Trademark Bidding

www.clickz.com/news/article.php/3587316

Yahoo! Modifies Trademark Keyword Policy
By Kevin Newcomb
February 24, 2006

New Web site, campaign educates Hispanics about Rx assistance

BRIEF:

 

New Web site, campaign educates Hispanics about Rx assistance

A new Web site and educational campaign from the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA) aims to educate the Hispanic community about drug assistance programs, reports PPA. However, the site is mostly a translation of the English version, a PPA spokesperson tells ePharm5. Experts say Hispanic marketers should avoid simply translating and should incorporate culturally relevant content. Other portions of the campaign will include ad buys on Hispanic media such as Univision and Telemundo, as well as on local print, radio, and television, according to PPA. The campaign's Spanish-language Web site has information about finding an appropriate assistance plan and a streaming video of a Spanish-language TV commercial which features PPA talking head Montel Williams. The site and the ad tells consumers about the "Help is Here Express," two buses that will travel around the country to promote the program. The events will take place at local community centers, according to the PPA spokesperson.

 

FULL STORY

PPA Launches National Campaign to Help Educate Hispanic Americans About Drug Assistance Programs

PR Newswire via NewsEdge Corporation :

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to increase access to affordable prescription medicines for all Americans, the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA) today unveiled a national advertising campaign targeting America's growing Hispanic community to help draw attention to the free or nearly free medicines available to millions of Americans in need.

Since April, the PPA, a patient assistance program clearinghouse, has matched more than 1.4 million Americans to public and private patient assistance programs that may provide them with free or nearly free medicines.

Montel Williams, an Emmy-winning syndicated talk show host, author and motivational speaker, is the official national PPA spokesman as America's pharmaceutical research companies expand their efforts to raise public awareness of the more than 475 public and private patient assistance programs available to people in need. Williams is well-known for his work with charitable and patient organizations.

A prominent feature of the PPA's nationwide effort is the "Help is Here Express" -- two buses that crisscross the country, stopping in hundreds of towns and cities to educate uninsured and under-insured patients about drug assistance programs. Efforts are made to match patients with programs that appear to meet their needs.

In addition, a major national advertising campaign was launched last month to draw attention to the free or nearly free medicines available to millions of Americans.

"The goal of the Partnership for Prescription Assistance is to reach as many people in need as possible," said Billy Tauzin, President and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. "Part of that effort includes educating America's Hispanic community about the hundreds of public and private patient assistance programs available to them and helping to match them with a program that best meets their needs."

The Partnership for Prescription Assistance (toll-free, 1-888-4PPANOW; http://www.pparx.org) is the only source that provides a single point of access to the more than 475 patient assistance programs, which include more than 180 programs offered by the pharmaceutical industry. The PPA educational effort is supported by America's pharmaceutical research companies working with doctors, pharmacists, health care providers, patient advocacy organizations and community groups.

To view the ad, go to https://espanol.pparx.org/hispanic_outreach.php

To view the PhRMA Web site in Spanish, go to http://www.phrma.org/espanol/

SOURCE Partnership for Prescription Assistance

CONTACT: Telly Lovelace, +1-202-835-3460, for the Partnership for Prescription Assistance

 

Prilosec OTC Web site combines branded game and fundraiser

Prilosec OTC Web site combines branded game and fundraiser

Prilosec OTC has a new Web site that aims to fight breast cancer with a dice game called Bunco, the actress Marg Helgenberger, and a partnership with the Oxygen Network. The Bunco Central site is promoting the Prilosec OTC Bunco World Championship at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas later this month. The event will air on the Oxygen Network and Prilosec OTC will make a donation to the National Breast Cancer Foundation every time one of the players rolls a "Bunco." Marg Helgenberger will also appear at the event. Prilosec OTC's Bunco Web site also sells branded Bunco kits to raise money for the cause and features tips for hosting a Bunco party. The site teaches users how to play the game, and includes recipes, Web invitations, and printable score cards. http://prilosecotc.com/buncocentral/index.jsp

 

Marketers Talk About Word of Mouth

Marketers Talk About Word of Mouth

FEBRUARY 08, 2006

A new study from Osterman Research and BoldMouth.com reports the responses of over 100 online marketers on the state of word of mouth marketing in the US.

It appears that there is significant interest in this type of viral marketing. Fully one-half of US marketers surveyed are using word-of-mouth marketing at the present time, while 21% are planning to use it and 14% might use it.

They also see it as important. Almost two-thirds of respondents rate word-of mouth marketing as "extremely" or "very" important.

 

It seems that their confidence is merited, at least on the consumer side. According to a BIGresearch study from December 2005, word of mouth marketing is the most influential media when it comes to making purchases.

 

Those marketers who have resisted a word-of-mouth campaign are mostly likely to cite lack of metrics as a reason, though quite a few also have difficulty figuring out how to integrate it into their marketing plan, or don't have the staff to do word-of-mouth effectively.

 

Clearly, those who use word of mouth marketing expect results quick. Over 44% say they anticipate the benefits to come in anywhere from a few weeks to a few days, while a bit under 20% feel it will take 6 months or longer.

 

You can learn more about word-of-mouth marketing by reading eMarketer's report, Word of Mouth Marketing: The Stats, Surveys and Substance Behind the Buzz.

Online guide walks users through Part D benefit

Online guide walks users through Part D benefit

Medicare Access for Patients-Rx, a nonprofit group of patient and health organizations, is offering a comprehensive guide to Medicare Part D on its Web site, maprx.com, it reports. The guide, RxCompare, is available for download in PDF form and gives consumers a step-by-step guide to understanding Part D, choosing a plan, and enrolling in the benefit. The guide has easy-to-follow instructions for filling out worksheets and comparison charts, and includes guidance for decision-making and a glossary of terms. According to Medicare Access for Patients-Rx, the tool will be especially helpful for dual-eligibles because it will help them decide whether they should stay with the plan in which they were auto-enrolled or switch to one that has better coverage. You can see the tool on the group's Web site. http://www.maprx.info/

 

Search Engines, Blogs Lead Top E-Health Trends for 200

Search Engines, Blogs Lead Top E-Health Trends for 2006

By Neil Versel, contributing editor

January 17, 2006 |

People and organizations marketing e-health products and services would do well by paying close attention to search engines and formerly "alternative" media such as blogs and online video in 2006, a top healthcare information firm says.

Consumers and physicians alike increasingly are turning to search engines to find health information on the Internet, rather than pointing their browsers toward specific, known Web sites. This, according to Manhattan Research, is the No. 1 trend in e-health marketing for 2006. The New York-based company today released its annual list of top trends for e-health marketing professionals to consider.

"Search engines are essential to physicians," as well as to consumers, says Manhattan Research president Mark Bard. "It's your gateway to the world." Adds Bard, "Indexes of search engines essentially control what you read on the Internet."

This observation builds on an editorial in the British Medical Journal last month that called for Google and other major search engines to develop medical portals. (See http://www.health-itworld.com/newsletters/2006/01/04/17378.)

"It's a decision-support tool now," Bard says of search engines. Search portals like Google, Yahoo! and MSN ought to -- and likely are working to -- refine their services to filter the most relevant health information. "That's incredibly difficult," Bard says. "If this was easy, it would have been done two years ago."

Meanwhile, consumers and physicians are flocking to Web sites for a small number of high-profile prescription drugs, according to Manhattan Research. "The amount of dollars spent on these [sites] is increasing four- or fivefold in some cases," Bard says. Lipitor, Allegra, Zoloft, Nexium, Viagra, and Ambien are among the handful of drugs pulling in more than 2 million annual visitors to their Web sites, making their pages ripe for marketing opportunities.

"It's not just consumers that go to these," Bard says. He reports that physicians increasingly are searching the sites for prescribing information, clinical trial data, and presentations made at scientific conferences.

Another trend that Manhattan Research observes is the growth of broadband technology, which is changing Internet use patterns and opening the door for innovation in interactive, multimedia applications.

At the same time, "alternative" media such as blogs, podcasts, and online video are quickly becoming mainstream. The addition of video capabilities to Apple's iPod embodies this trend, says Bard.

The research firm also says that Europe remains a lucrative but largely untapped market. "Despite the fact that the vast majority of European physicians are online for more than five hours per week, they have yet to adopt more advanced professional activities that have become commonplace among U.S. physicians," the company reports. This is more a consequence of a lack of applications than lack of interest among doctors.

Asian Americans "Invisible" To Marketers

Asian Americans "Invisible" To Marketers
Brandweek

Marketers are missing the boat when it comes to targeting Asian Americans because they don't know how to speak to them, according to multicultural marketing firm InterTrend Communications. And by doing so, they risk ignoring a demo that boasts higher education and considerable spending power. "There is still a dearth of secondary research on the product and brand usage behavior of Asian Americans in many categories," said Saul Gitlin, executive vice president of strategic marketing services at Kang & Lee, New York, a consultancy that specializes in the Asian market whose clients include the NBA, Western Union and The New York Times.

 

"Many marketers therefore may be waiting for the advent of more research to validate their emerging interest in [the demo]."  InterTrend's goal is to fill that void with reliable research conducted by its KnowledgeCenter research arm, which is embarking on an intensive study to obtain qualitative and quantitative data on the Asian market, which it hopes to tailor to the packaged goods industry.  At 4 percent of the U.S. population, or 11.6 million, Asian Americans are one-third the size of the Hispanic population, which is growing at a faster rate. Still, their combined buying clout of $397 billion is well over half that of Hispanics ($686.3 billion) and is projected to rise to $579 billion by 2010.