So I'm watching a recorded program on my DVR Sunday and in the first commercial break there's one of "those" commercials. You know the ones... "Ask your doctor about...".
I became annoyed. It wasn't because I was watching a recorded program on a sunday evening all by myself. Nor was it because it was a recorded program and I totally forgot that I could have skipped over the commercials. No, I was annoyed because these types of ads are EVERYWHERE on every kind of program, at all hours. AND they are always advertising a product that I can't go and buy. I have to "ask my doctor" first.
After I got over my annoyance (and remembered how to work the remote) I started thinking about it more. These pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars a year on these ads. These companies aren't stupid. So there must be a reason they spend that money on these ads.
The reason is, They Work. They are in fact great at driving demand across a channel. In the US, doctors have to prescribe their products. So the doctors are resellers of their products. The pharmaceutical companies are spending money on these ads to connect with people at their "pain level", in most cases literally.
So really, these ads, which I was so quick to become annoyed with, are exactly what we do at Response Bridge (except for the annoying people part). We identify the pain points of potential customers, create campaigns to connect with them and show them the solution to their pain. We then have them "ask their doctor" AKA a Value Added Reseller.
Maybe I'll stop skipping over those commercials every time. Ok, you're right. They are totally getting skipped, but at least I won't be annoyed... as much.