COVID-19: Not all digital advertising is affected Equally! *What's happening in Pharma...

As many of you may know, I recently began working at a start-up: lassomarketing.io. In short, Lasso is an omnichannel DSP (Demand-side Platform, which supports advertising across nearly all digital channels) specifically designed for Pharmaceutical advertisers & their agencies. As such, I've been reading up a LOT on how COVID-19 is affecting this line of business, and wanted to share some interesting articles about our space, along with some anecdotes from last week, on the job! 

To put things into perspective, according to the first article cited below, "In the aftermath of the 2008 recession, advertising media spending dropped 13%." But for pharmaceutical advertising in the age of COVID-19, this same article's headline pretty much sums it up nicely: Pharma Marketing in the time of COVID-19? Some halts, some hopes, but mostly uncertainty.  I was on a call with an agency client of ours last week who confirmed the above headline to be 100% accurate. To paraphrase his message: "1/3 of our clients are slowing advertising; 1/3 are keeping everything as-is; 1/3 are aggressively ramping up and/or accelerating advertising timelines & budgets." This, to me, was very good news as I'd very much like to keep my job and help the company I just joined (arguably its size & young age making it more vulnerable to economic shifts than other, larger and/or more mature businesses) succeed!

Additional interesting (very industry-specific) reads include:

1. Pharmaceutical Marketers' Guide to Managing through the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic
2. To Avoid DTC dips and communication snafus, pharma marketing shifts amid COVID-19 crisis
3. Careful, Pharma - Don't pile on COVID-19 Messaging, McCann Health global chief says

To summarize my key takeaways from all of the above:

1. Nobody knows what to do for DTC (Direct-to-consumer) marketing; as such, many are pumping the breaks... 
2. For HCP (Healthcare Provider)-targeted campaigns, however, it's more or less full steam ahead! Reason being: People still need drugs for other illnesses, and doctors still need education about these drugs; with in-person sales forces that typically visit hospitals no longer able to function, the only place to turn for HCP-targeted marketing right now is digital! 

Moral of the story: I suspect that despite the horrible economic impact of COVID-19 on the rest of the advertising industry, my niche (and thus my job) is relatively "safe" from major disruption.