Cyberizing the Rep: Can E-Marketing Solve Pharma's Promotional Dilemma?

Executive Summary

Drug marketing is increasingly expensive and decreasingly productive. WebMD Health, the dominant health portal, argues it is not merely another advertising forum, but a more effective influencer of consumer and physician behavior than detail reps and DTC promotion. So far, drug companies remain on the sidelines, having been burned once by similar arguments about the marketing value of neutral channels, represented by PBMs, of which many of WebMD's managers are alumnae.