Reports from Doctors around the UK are revealing an unusual link between the promotional campaign for a drug frequently prescribed in the field of respiratory medicine and its actual efficacy.
Scientists at the company’s research headquarters are baffled by the discovery, but acknowledge that the ad campaign, created by Marlow-based Grace Agency, does seem to decrease the necessity for rescue medication in those patients whose GP had prescribed the product shortly after seeing the ad in the medical press.
“The ad is very creative and impactful, but even so, it’s difficult to see the connection between it and the pharmacological efficacy of [Product X]”, commented the company’s Director of Research. But the story does seem to hold water. Dr Joe Kerr, a GP from the village of Much Hadham in Hertfordshire is typical of those who have witnessed the effect at first hand.
“I’ve prescribed [Product X] many times in the past and it seems to do a pretty good job, but last month, after seeing the company representative with her new sales aid, a strange thing started to happen. Every time I’ve prescribed it since, patients have actually called me a day or two later to say how much better they feel. That’s never happened before.”
A spokesman for Grace Agency, the company behind the campaign, was not surprised by the story. “We knew from the research that the campaign was going to be a winner. We had doctors in the research saying that they not only understood the concept, but that they ‘got’ the headline straightaway and even liked the colours we had used.”
It just goes to show the power of advertising - as long as you also take it with a pinch of salt.
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