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 On
a recent trip to China, I found myself mildly alarmed with all
of the posters everywhere about the Avian Flu, so when I came down
with definite flu-like symptoms at midnight, 6 hours before I was
due to drive to Shanghai to catch my plane to Paris, I truly panicked.
Unable to find a doctor at that hour, the lobby manager at my five
star hotel insisted on accompanying me to the hospital only five
blocks away, because he was doubtful that anyone there spoke English.
He was pretty much correct, although we found that communication
in sign language was more than possible under the circumstances.
But he hung in there, holding my hand (literally) while they checked
me out and administered Ampicillin intravenously for five hours.
And I had plenty of time to think about lots of things…especially
this issue, which was now doomed to be especially late—since
I would ultimately be prevented from returning for four more days…and
the amount of spam that was accumulating on my Blackberry. But
more about that a little later. Let’s talk about SPAM.
Anyone with a computer know that there has been an overwhelming
increase in healthcare and pharma-related SPAM. I personally can’t
recall receiving such a daily flood of junk mail targeting healthcare
products, so much so that mail-filtering E-security specialist
Clearswift, reported last week that healthcare nudged out pornography
as the spammers’ favorite direct sales come-on. Of course,
these lines are rather blurry when you consider that most of the “healthcare” spam
sent today contains an offer for either Viagra or sexual organ
enlargement
Clearswift’s statistics, based on spam forwarded by the
London-based company’s 16 million users and from e-mail accounts
seeded to attract spam, showed the changes in the junk mail people
are receiving.
Healthcare-related spam, which includes the flood of messaging
touting Viagra, diet plans, and herbal remedies, climbed the most
last month. In July, the category accounted for 26 percent of all
spam, compared to just 18 percent in June.
Its latest spam index shows that healthcare spam has risen to
account for a staggering 57.6% of all spam.
The company attributes the increase in healthcare spam to its
confidential nature—a selling tool when touting Viagra, yet,
in July, Alex Mindlin in the NY Times reported the following:
“Spam messages promoting pornography are 280 times as effective
in getting recipients to click on them as messages advertising
pharmacy drugs, which are the next most effective type of spam.”
This may be because those interested in the more prurient announcements
have learned that they can get a freebie just by opening up the
mails, most of which have some titillating gibberish if you like
that kind of thing. Nevertheless, porn made up only 15.2 percent
of all spam received by Clearswift in July, down from a high of
around 20 percent.
eMarketer reports that pharmaceutical companies are the biggest
spam culprits, above porn and gambling properties. Pharmaceutical
messages are among the most pervasive spam consumers receive. A
recent “Spam Personality” survey by Reflexion Network
Solutions showed that 97.4 percent of respondents said they received
spam advertising medications, slightly more than shopping, body
enhancements, pornography and gambling spam. The survey showed
that people receive between 50 and 200 e-mails every day, and 20
percent of the 157 respondents said that one-half to three-quarters
of their incoming e-mail was spam. Given that some respondents
had an average of 3.2 active e-mail addresses, that’s a lot
of spam to eat or delete.
Spammers are ruining brands’ reputations on the web, according
to a recent roundtable of leading industry experts, with healthcare
suppliers’ brands continuing to be hardest hit by spam peddling
illicit medicinal offers. Spammers are confusing consumers by intentionally
blurring the boundaries between legitimate e-mail and unsolicited
communications selling counterfeit goods. This has infuriated the
direct marketing industry, which is relied upon to maintain brands’ on-line
presence, yet finds itself using the same techniques as spammers.
Pfizer, maker of the male impotency drug Viagra, has vowed to
take legal action against spammers, after recently finding that
25% of men believed Pfizer itself was responsible for sending Viagra
spam.
And in an interesting twist: according to an eMarketer study,
Pharma is planning to up the spend on online ads. This is due to
a rapid rethinking of industry ad and marketing strategies and
channels.
Pharmaceutical companies are rapidly changing their advertising
and marketing tactics and channels,
There is a “shift in focus from ‘direct-to-consumer’ to ‘direct-to-patient,’ from
mass marketing to relationship marketing,” says Lisa E. Phillips,
senior analyst and author of the new report “Pharmaceuticals
Online: Direct-to-Patient Becomes a Reality.” The shift is
the result of changes in consumer behavior and attitudes toward
healthcare, coupled with government and self-regulatory pressures,
she says.
eMarketer projects that pharmaceutical and healthcare internet
spending will increase from $625 million in 2005 to $835 million
this year, as marketers shift to more targeted opportunities that
the web offers. Within two years, online advertising spend is expected
to reach $1.41 billion, or some six percent of the estimated $23.5
billion in total internet advertising spend in 2008.
Health-focused portals are poised to become the next big vertical
market online, moreover, pharmaceutical companies are moving beyond
branded drug sites to building online communities centered on various
health conditions.
And in another interesting development, three months after buying
Healthology, iVillage dug deep and purchased HeathCentersOnline,
another health publisher, for $11 million in cash and $1 million
in stock. The company, which also runs HeathCenterOnline, Allergy
Health Online and Healthy Living Online, is known for its focus
on women, a target customer that spends big but has not been supported
by Madison Avenue in general. Consequently, iVillage has been increasingly
focusing on the healthcare market. It provides health content to
MSN.
So what about all of this spam…why is it successful? Well
consider these provocative subject lines:
- We cure any diseases!
- Getting a lot of stress?
- Re: Your weight problem
- Drop 21 pounds in 3 weeks!
- Tuberculosis
- Sleep deeper and need less of it
- All products for your health
- Become fit and happy again
- Give your libido a boost
And even disseminated from well-meaning women I know: Fwd: Fw:
Fw: IBC Inflammatory Breast Cancer.
And from a spurious unknown Spammer, the inflammatory
“Warning Issued for US Citizens to Stockpile Supplies” which
so alarmed me when I received it on my Blackberry during my recent
China visit, that it sent me to the nearest hospital convinced
I would be one of the 78% to die But this SPAM is built on a real
state-department alert. Here’s what I’ve received since
then:
“Announcing global launch of online discussion forums! We
are pleased to announce the launch of the following live online
discussion forums.
To begin participating in real time discussion with others from
all around the world, simply select one of the following forums
below! See you there!
www.AvianFluTalk.com (Topics regarding the new emerging Superflu
known as the avian bird flu).”
Whether SPAM or legit, Healthcare is definitely a hot topic. And
the women we write about in this issue are on the cutting edge.
In the world of dream jobs, few would clamor to step into Kathie-Ann
Joseph’s shoes. Not only must she diagnose breast cancer and
then deliver the life-shattering news, but she must then operate,
medicate and prop up the patient emotionally —daunting for
anyone, but for young Dr. Joseph, who focuses on the relationship
rather than the cancer, it is an uplifting experience! Gerianne Tringali-DiPiano
took a major risk when she started her pharmaceutical company to
focus on treating the less glamorous women’s ailments to make
lives tolerable for those afflicted, instead of headlines. Rita Sweeney
is determined that all her employees will eat a good breakfast and
get exercise…what with flextime and healthy snacks, Dorland
Communications sounds like home! Lyn Andrews plays in the big leagues,
selling healthcare ad -programs in the rough and tumble world of
cyberspace. She thrives on the action. Where would we be without
women like these? We salute and extol them! Good health!
Elaine Taylor-Gordon
Publisher and President
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