Andy Levitt of HealthTalker checks in with a report from day 2 of the DTC Perspectives conference in New Jersey.

I had to laugh. And you would, too.

I looked around the room as the clock approached noon today during Day 2 of the Fall DTC Perspectives conference. I was amazed by the amount of distraction that existed within our closed conference environment. All of us in the room were paying to be there, to learn about the latest and greatest in the land of DTC advertising, to engage with our peers and listen to their insights.

Here we were, a group of people focused on the inherent challenges of advertising, of finding ways to make our messages relevant, to be heard through the clutter – and yet, so many of the people in the room were distracted. There were no windows, no outside noise, no screaming children. In many ways, it was a marketer’s dream. Focused messaging to the target audience. Yet even here, the messages from presenters were falling short. People were checking their Blackberries or using their laptops, multitasking or just curious for what else might be more interesting in that moment. One could argue that at times, much of what was said fell on plenty of deaf ears in that room. (more…)

HealthTalker CEO Andy Levitt continues his trek across the US, hitting a slew of pharma meetings and speaking at a handful of them. Here’s his wrap up of the DTC Perspectives conference in Livingston, New Jersey.

The pharma Fall conference season is in full swing, and today I am happy to be in New Jersey to attend Bob Ehrlich’s semi-annual DTC program with about 200 other pharma-focused colleagues over the next two days. This year’s theme is “DTC in the Era of Consumer Choice.”

On many levels, I was excited to hear what presenters had to say this afternoon. There was wide consensus from each speaker that consumers are in control of how they choose to consume media. Health-focused consumers, much like the general population, have an endless amount of media distractions and choices, making the job of marketers that much more challenging to capture their precious and limited attention. This harsh reality calls into question the value of traditional reach and frequency media buys, and places greater emphasis on engagement and impact. (more…)