Hall of Fame - DTC Perspectives Perspectivesspoke with the 2009 DTC Hall of Fame inductee about this...

46 | DTC Perspectives • December 2009

Hall of FameFour Executives Honored At 2009 DTC Perspectives’ Awards EventA large group of well-wishers turned out to celebrate the induction of four DTC industryleaders for their efforts in the advancement of consumer healthcare and the marketing ofprescription drugs.

On Oct. 14, 2009, DTC Perspectives proudly inducted the 2009 class of the DTC Hall ofFame during at evening reception in Livingston, N.J. The four new members of the Hall ofFame are: Herb Ehrenthal, Group Vice President of Global Advertising at Schering-Plough, Paula Garrett, Senior Director of Consumer Marketing at Lilly USA, Joe Hoholick,Executive Director of Marketing at Amgen, and Lucy Rose, President of Lucy Rose &Associates.

This new class expands upon the inaugural Hall of Fame class of 2008, when the hon-orees were Len Tacconi of Merck, and Ed Slaughter of Merck (formerly with Preventionmagazine), Matt Giegerich of CommonHealth, and Jim Davidson, founder of the Washing-ton public policy firm Davidson & Company (now with the Washington law firm Polsinelli).

The DTC Hall of Fame awards were created to recognize the individuals who have madesignificant contributions to advancing DTC marketing. To be nominated, an executive musthave a minimum of five years experience in healthcare marketing (and may still hold anactive position with a pharmaceutical,media or ad agency company). The nomi-nees were reviewed by the DTC Perspec-tives’ Advisory Board.

The ceremony included personal introduc-tions for each of the inductees and shortvideo presentations with the inductee’scolleagues honoring them with personalanecdotes and words of praise. The eventwas held in conjunction with the DTC Per-spectives’ fall conference, “Reform andRefocus,” addressing the current health-care reform environment and consumermarketing of prescription drugs.

Hall of Famers Lucy Rose and Herb Ehrenthal at the presentation of Hall of Fame awards.

DTC Perspectives • December 2009 | 47

Hall of Fame

Amber Thomas of Heartbeat Digital with TBWAWorldHealth’s Leticia Freytes and Cristin Ryandiscuss DTC issues at the reception.

At the Hall of Fame reception, Raj Aminof HealthiNation, Larry Blum and JaclynSass of Merkle Inc., and Scott Schappellof HealthiNation discuss the healthcarereform issue.

Anne Devereux of Lyon-Heart /

TBWA World-Health and Bob

Brooks of WEGOHealth at the Hall of Fame

reception.

DraftFCB’s Auge Reichenberg (left) and NancySilverman flank advertising consultant and author

Mel Sokotch at the reception.

Hall of Fame inductee Joe Hoholick with his former Parke-Davis colleagueBob Ehrlich (now chairman of DTC Perspectives).


Hall of Fame

Herb Ehrenthal Reaching Consumers aboutTheir Health throughEducationAfter initially pursuing a degree in education, Herb Ehrenthal’s career path changed aftertaking on a part-time job. DTC Perspectives spoke with the 2009 DTC Hall of Fameinductee about this shift, and how even though he did not pursue education, it alwaysremained at the forefront of his focus.

BY JENNIFER HAUG

While attending the City College of New York, HerbEhrenthal was working part-time as a messenger in theadvertising department for R. H. Macy & Co. deliveringmaterials. He became so interested in the advertisingbusiness, that he soon began working within the depart-ment with the people who were writing copy, working onstrategy and those who were very involved with the cre-ative part of the advertising.

“As a result, when I graduated college, I decided notto move forward with education, but instead see what Icould do within the advertising and marketing area,”Ehrenthal told DTC Perspectives. He then landed anentry position at Grey advertising, which at the time hada very large training program. His boss, a senior officer atthe agency named Herb Lieberman, took Ehrenthalunder his wing and taught him the business of advertis-ing and marketing. He soon was assigned specificaccounts to work on and that is how he got his start inthe advertising world.

Ehrenthal furthered his marketing experience when hewas hired by one of his clients, Block Drug Company. Hewas placed in the new product area and was taught howto launch new products by Howard Gersten, the vice pres-ident of new products.

Throughout his career, Ehrenthal has worked on anumber of campaigns, from launches for Tegrin Shampooand Caress, to campaigns for Wisk, Sucrets, Vicks For-mula-44, Premarin, Norplant, Nasonex, Levitra and Zetia,among several others.

Creating ground-breaking campaigns

Ehrenthal said he “truly learned marketing and adver-tising” while working on his first major brand, Palmolivedishwashing detergent. The campaign? Madge the Mani-curist. This is also one of the campaigns that he is mostproud of. “It softens your hands while you do the dishes,”he noted, fondly reciting the campaign’s tagline.

Another notable campaign Ehrenthal worked on was in1975 for the acne treatment, Clearasil. He enlisted famedradio D.J. Wolfman Jack to help with the promotions. Theresult was a “very dramatic break-through campaign.”

In 1987, Ehrenthal co-founded his own advertisingagency, Rubin Reid Noto and Ehrenthal (later Rubin Ehren-thal and Associates, and subsequently merging and beingrenamed Healthworld). As president of the Rubin Ehrenthaldivision, he helped the pioneering DTC division becomeone of the leading pharmaceutical agencies in the industry,with more DTC brands than any other agency. He and histeam launched an unbranded DTC TV campaign in 1988for the then-prescription smoking cessation drug, Nicorette.Having gotten the OK from Surgeon General Dr. C. EverettKoop’s office and the FDA, a branded Nicorette commer-cial – the first ever – was aired on network television.

As for his current work, Ehrenthal is “most proud” of histwo sources of cholesterol “Food & Family” campaign forcholesterol treatment Vytorin and the “Monday, Tuesday,Wednesday…” campaign for the birth control, NuvaRing.

Applying past marketing experiences

Ehrenthal was trained as a packaged-goods marketer.As a result, he “understood the need for statistics, the


Hall of Fameneed for research, the need to understand people who buyproducts. In packaged-goods, you put a message outthere and the customer goes to a store directly to buysomething. It provided me with an understanding as tohow to communicate directly with the customer. That mayvery well have helped me understand people and becomevery committed to educating them about their health.”

In addition to having experience marketing directly tothe consumer, Ehrenthal has worked on both the agencyand client sides of the pharmaceutical industry. Thisenabled him to more fully “understand the sales and mar-keting process from both the corporate and agency per-spective.” Such an advantage has provided him “the abilityto integrate with market research, the professional areaand PR. Having done that in a pharmaceutical companyas well as an agency, it really broadens my knowledgebase and makes me more of a contrib-utor to the overall process.”

With DTC evolving as quickly andmassively as it has over the past 10years, it is crucial that Ehrenthal isable to “apply that knowledge andexperience to successfully lead thecommunication process.” As he point-ed out, DTC “is much more diversetoday than ever. It is certainly moreregulated and FDA-controlled; yet wehave far more choices and locationsfor information and entertainment thanin the past. We have a tightening con-trol of claim and fair balance on onehand, and the digital explosion on theother. The result is an opportunity toreach more people and improve healtheducation.”

Keeping pace with digital media

“Passive communication is losing out to active, selec-tive participation of patients through the various digitalofferings,” Ehrenthal explained. “There is an explosiongoing on and I’m happy to say we are very involved, stay-ing very close to it and active within it – living within FDAguidelines.”

Staying up-to-date on regulations and trends is impera-tive in the DTC marketplace. Schering-Plough colleagueMary-Frances Faraji, who is vice president of global prod-uct communications and advocacy relations, also sharedthis sentiment as a major reason behind Ehrenthal’s suc-cesses. “He is always learning and interested in what’sgoing on … watching what’s evolving, what’s changing,staying on top of trends,” she said during the interview.Calling such actions critical to lead change and pioneeradvertising, Ehrenthal quickly concurred. “I’ve alwaysbelieved the people that look ahead are the people thatare going to get ahead,” he added.

In addition to staying on top of or ahead of the game,Ehrenthal also “strongly urges” those just entering market-ing to start their careers by working in a corporation first,before joining an agency. “The knowledge that is learnedfrom the inside of a company will pay significant dividends,if and when they join an agency,” he remarked. “I just thinkthe agency person is a stronger ally with a corporation ifthey understand how corporations work from the inside.”

Filling the education void

Committed to educating consumers globally about bet-tering their health is something Ehrenthal is very passion-ate and enthusiastic about. As a result, he establishedwhat he considers his most important achievement – Pub-lic Health Education Communication (PHEC) at Schering-Plough. The international initiative allows him to “communi-cate with patients outside of the U.S. in a non-branded

educational way” about their health.“I have always felt the importance

of education, and health education iscritical to the well-being of society,” heexplained. “In my view, PHEC is verysuccessful. Certainly the programseducate patients about their ownhealth and it improves their dialoguewith physicians about medical condi-tions. I just think it empowers thepatient to be a better patient.”

After nearly 45 years of marketing,approximately 35 of which have beenhealthcare-related, Ehrenthal doesn’tappear to be slowing down anytimesoon. As group vice president of glob-al advertising and marketing for theSchering-Plough Corporation, he cur-

rently oversees the creation of all consumer advertisingand marketing programs worldwide, the Schering-Ploughin-house creative studio, all company relationships withadvertising agencies and PHEC.

With such an accomplished career, there is still onething that he doesn’t feel he has completed yet. “It’s look-ing ahead to continue educating people around the world.I’ve just really started,” he said. “I travel overseas oftennow; I work and meet with consumers all around the worldas part of my job and they’re lacking information abouttheir health, so I’m trying to share health information withthem. I’m in the early stages of that now, but I am workingon it.”

Ehrenthal firmly believes that marketers should “justkeep at it. Keep fighting the good fight. Keep educatingpeople and don’t stop. DTC, communicating with con-sumers, it is all encompassing. It is very important. [Con-sumers] deserve to know more about their own health. Ithink we contribute to that in a big way. That’s what I wantto keep doing and that’s what I believe our industry shouldkeep doing.”

Herb Ehrenthal accepts the Hall of Fame awardfrom Anne Devereux of Lyon-Heart / TBWA

WorldHealth.


Hall of Fame

Paula GarrettFocusing on the Few Important Things

Paula Garrett learned several core lessons when she began her career as a packaged-goods marketer that helped shape her future. The DTC Hall of Fame inductee took sometime out recently to discuss these lessons, her pioneering work on Cialis and her hopes forthe future.

BY JENNIFER HAUG

Dedicated. Focused. Magnetic. These are just a fewwords that can be used to describe Hall of Fameinductee Paula Garrett. DTC Perspectives sat down withLilly USA’s senior director of consumer marketing to dis-cuss her career in pharmaceutical marketing and discov-ered a marketer with a sense of deep commitment topatients and healthcare.

Garrett began her career as a packaged-goods mar-keter, starting at Procter & Gamble on the Puffs brand. Itwas there that she worked for brand manager MarkKetchum, who was instrumental in helping her to learn alesson that helped shape her marketing philosophy andexpertise. She said that learning from Ketchum’s analyti-cal and strategic skills, as well as his focus that “just onlya handful of things are important, were really great les-sons to learn early in my career.”

Lessons from packaged-goods

While at P&G, she also worked on such products asPuffs Plus, White Cloud and Charmin, before beingselected as one of the first brand marketers to work onP&G’s Wal-Mart customer team, an initiative at the fore-front of how packaged-goods companies work with retailpartners. She then joined the Coca-Cola Company, over-seeing the promotional strategies for the fountain divi-sion, worked for the high-end footwear company John-ston & Murphy, and spent four years as a consultant forcompanies such as Kraft Foods, Dockers Footwear andthe PGA Tour.

Garrett’s tenure in the packaged-goods field taughther some principles that she has been able to apply toher pharmaceutical marketing. “Probably the biggest ben-efit to starting in packaged-goods, and I think the biggestdifferentiation, is the discipline of the process, the strate-gic nature of the consumer marketing process,” she said.“Even though the work is much more complex [in theDTC space], I do think the discipline principles still apply.”Her experiences in DTC marketing have run a gamut ofdisease states, including work largely on Cialis, as wellas Humalog, Byetta, Evista, and even a little bit on Cym-balta.

Going against the #1 ED brand

While much of Garrett’s pharmaceutical marketingcareer has been spent on Cialis, she actually beganworking on the erectile dysfunction treatment as anagency partner. In August 2000, she was working for thebroad-based consumer agency marchFIRST, which wasthe interactive agency of record for Cialis, then marketedby Lilly ICOS. After about a year, she was hired away bythe pharmaceutical giant.

When planning the consumer launch of Cialis, Garrettexplained that its top competitor, Viagra, was spendingupwards of $100 million at the time. However, the Pfizerdrug was not doing full-branded advertising on television;rather it was limiting its television commercials to onlyreminder or unbranded efforts. Lilly saw an opportunityfor Cialis to make a mark in the ED marketplace. Thus,Cialis became “the first brand to put full branded advertis-ing on television and discuss the benefits and risks of thedrug,” she explained.


Hall of Fame

Along with their other agency partners Grey World-wide, OMD and Velocity, the Cialis marketing team meas-ured the success of the consumer launch campaignagainst several variables, depending on what stage of theprocess they were in at the time. Garrett explained thatthey wanted to know, “How well did it deliver against thecreative brief? How well did it do in copy tests? Tell ushow well it delivered against the specific business objec-tives.” After collecting and analyzing the results, the cam-paign was deemed a very successful launch.

Taking pride in successes

Naturally, Garrett takes greatpride in her work on Cialis for sever-al reasons. One of the things shewas most proud of was the team’sability to overcome any challenges.They were working in a sensitived isease s ta te and “ [go ing] upagainst the number one pharmabrand in the world.” However, theywere not only “able to successfullylaunch and grow a business, but toalso do it in a way that was tastefuland very respectful of the target.”

She also attributes the successof the Cialis launch to the drug’steam members. “ I th ink i t wasbecause we just had all of the rightfolks. We had a lot of respect andjust a really strong, strong team.”From the intelligent brand team, tothe informative people in the marketresearch, legal and regulatory, and medical groups, tothe knowledgeable agency partners – the combination oftalent led to solid, cohesive efforts.

Garrett considers her work on Cialis to be one of hermost, if not the most, important achievement from anadvertising perspective. However, from an overall careerperspective, she is most proud of the team that she builtfor consumer marketing at Lilly. The consumer marketingteam consists of nearly 30 people that have been central-ized for two and a half years. They are a “very talentedmix of former packaged-goods talent, agency talent andthen some internal talent. I’d put them up against any-one,” she proclaimed.

Evolution in DTC marketing

Over the past 10 years, the world of DTC marketinghas evolved significantly. Advertisements have gonefrom a vague, mass appeal to a more relatable, engag-ing approach. Marketers have received improved, clari-fying guidelines from regulators and also experienced abit of trial and error over the years, but that has taughtthem how to reach consumers better through strongeradvertising.

While she thinks that there will always be an ad or twoin the media that makes you wonder, “Oh! Why did they

do that?” Garrett does see the vast improvements madethroughout the past decade. “The advertising has gottenmuch better overall. I think you can see the consumerinsights reflected. I think you can see tremendous cre-ative talent, and a real just understanding and apprecia-tion for people who may benefit from the medicines.”

She recommends that those just starting out in con-sumer marketing “focus on deep understanding; really tryto get to that deep insight. What is it that is the frustrationor the unmet need [of the consumer]? Focus on that andthen everything else will follow.” Comprehending the dif-

ferent touch points in the treatmentcontinuum for patients is critical. “Mywish is that we were able to find a way,as an industry, as a government, as aregulatory body, to give consumers theinformation they need at the time theyneed it and not have a ‘one-size fits all’regulation.”

Garrett understands the challengein that wish, saying it is “definitely a tallorder.” Yet, the importance and bene-fits of figuring out how to completesuch an undertaking would producemassive dividends to both the con-sumers who need the appropriateinformation at the right time, as well asthe bottom line for the brand and ulti-mately, the manufacturing company.

Sending the right message at theright time is key, according to Garrett.“[Giving] someone who is first experi-

encing symptoms the information that they need isgoing to be different than the information someoneneeds right after they have received their prescriptionand the first time they take a medicine. It’s just very dif-ferent environments.”

Looking to the future

At the DTC Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Garrettjoked that typically these “lifetime achievement” awardsoften indicate that the recipient has passed their prime oris nearing the end of their run. She believes, however,that she is far from being done.

“I’m very focused right now on how do we make moreprogress in helping consumers achieve their treatmentgoals,” she said at the time. “How do we really make adent in that? How do we measure that? I think we do it;it’s certainly what we strive to do everyday, but I’d love toget more momentum on that. I think for Lilly, our companyvision is to improve outcomes for individual patients and Ithink no one is better suited than the folks on my team tobe able to help the organization make that happen. Andso to the extent that we can bring these folks to life – forthe scientists, physicians, attorneys and the brands – wereally set the organization up to be able to help con-sumers who take our medicines.”

Ellen Fields of DDB NY presents a Hall of Fameaward to Paula Garrett.


Hall of Fame

Joe Hoholick From Chewing Gum to CancerTreatmentsThe Round-About Career Path of DTC Hall of Famer In addition to launching one of the first DTC campaigns, for the blockbuster cholesteroltreatment Lipitor, Hall of Fame inductee Joe Hoholick has led a hugely successful DTCcareer, spanning nearly a decade – one he never imagined when he earned his degree inchemistry and took his first job researching and developing chewing gum.

BY AMANDA EHRLICH

When Joe Hoholick began his career in the 1980s, henever envisioned his path would lead to DTC marketing.With a Bachelors of Science degree in chemistry fromThe Pennsylvania State University, Hoholick began hisjourney in research and development at Warner-Lambert(now Pfizer). While on the R&D side, Hoholick “workedclosely with brand management and ad agencies ondeveloping new products” – and realized that he “reallygot charged up by the ad development process.”

After returning to school to earn his MBA from Rut-gers, Hoholick officially transferred from the researchside to the marketing side and began working as a brandmanager on Clorets and Certs at Warner-Lambert’sAdams consumer-packaged-goods unit. While at Adams,Hoholick worked with several CPGs, including Clorets,Certs, Halls, Trident, and Rolaids. It was while working onthese products that Hoholick got to meet the first of hismentors, Bob Froehlich and Bob Tabor, of the Ted BatesAgency (now JWT).

These “two giants in the agency business,” asHoholick calls them, “took a shine to me and I spent a lotof time with them, writing down everything they said.They gave me a 1950s book by Rosser Reeves, Realityin Advertising, that I still read once a year. The funda-mentals of effective communication don’t change. Callme old school.”

Shifting career gears

It was while working at Adams that Joe Hoholick got

the chance to shift career paths again, being recruited byBob Ehrlich, then of Parke-Davis, a division of Warner-Lambert (now CEO of DTC Perspectives Inc.), to work onthe launch of cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor. Ehrlichhad first met Hoholick in the 1980s when Hoholick wasstill working with R&D developing chewing gums andEhrlich was a product manager for Trident. When Ehrlichshifted over to Parke-Davis and pharmaceutical market-ing, he needed a team to help launch Lipitor.

Ehrlich recalls that he “recognized that Joe’s uniquescientific background combined with his consumer prod-ucts experience made him the perfect candidate to helpmarket Lipitor and other Parke-Davis products.” In turn,Hoholick credits Ehrlich with “saving me from a careermarketing ‘functional’ candies and gums.”

Launching Lipitor at DTC’s beginning

While at Parke-Davis, Hoholick worked on marketingnumerous brands, including Lipitor and Rezulin (a dia-betes drug since recalled from the market). However, thelaunch of Lipitor stands out as his most rewarding mar-keting project and most positive team experience in hiscareer to date.

In fact, Hoholick often “[uses] the Lipitor launch teamas my answer/example to the oft-asked professionalteam-building question, ‘What was the best team youever worked on?’ We had a brilliant VP / brand leader onLipitor, Lynn Alexy, who was smart, tough, energetic,fair, aggressive [and] yet team-oriented. I had a greatfunctional boss (Bob Ehrlich) who was the same. And


Hall of Fame

both leaders were focused on one goal – making Lipitorthe biggest brand in the world.”

In addition to his positive team experience, Hoholickfondly recalls the excitement that came with launchingLipitor in the infancy of DTC.

“Parke-Davis at the time of the Lipitor launch was asecond-tier pharma company whose product just wentoff-patent. Warner-Lambert rolled the dice on Lipitor totransform the company [and it did – it transformed Warn-er-Lambert into Pfizer]. Given this, the CEO met with meon a regular basis, asking me what more could he giveme to make Lipitor a household name. The resources Igot were huge. There was no good idea that I needed tosacrifice. And there was no waste in my day – no bureau-cratic necessities. And we were the superstars of thecompany – everyone rooting for our success.”

Because of this sense of excitement surrounding Lipi-tor, it has become one of thecampaigns with which Hoholickis most proud. “We were invent-ing this new marketing disci-pline for our company and forthe industry,” Hoholick recalls.“It felt like pioneering. It was themost fun time of my career.”

A move to Pharmacia andCelebrex

Following the acquisition ofWarner-Lambert by Pfizer in2000, Hoholick left Parke-Davisfo r P h a r m a c i a , w h e r e h ebecame the senior director ofm a r k e t i n g f o r C e l e b r e x .Hoholick is extremely proud ofhis work with Celebrex, whichhe found to be “very energiz-ing” because i t “producedremarkable results in getting patients on therapy.”

It was at Pharmacia that Hoholick worked with phar-maceutical marketer Joe Shields (now at Pfizer followingPfizer’s acquisition of Wyeth this year) in the develop-ment of the “Inside RA” disease state campaign, a cam-paign that Hoholick believes is “best in class” and is “stillproud of how it has truly helped RA patients deal with thishorrible condition.”

After working at Pharmacia for a year, Hoholick had abrief stint at Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, before shifting toAmgen, where he has remained for the past six years. Asthe executive director of marketing, Hoholick leads the allof the company’s DTC marketing efforts. This includesbrands such as Aranesp, Enbrel and Neulasta.

The “I’m Ready” campaign for Neulasta, a drug usedto aid cancer patients on chemotherapy, is a source ofgreat pride for Hoholick. In addition to being awarded aSilver POE Award from DTC Perspectives, the campaignalso inspired numerous cancer patients to “conquer” can-cer and to write appreciation letters to Amgen (many ofwhich Hoholick still keeps and reads).

Jay Carter, a senior vice president at AbelsonTaylor,worked with Hoholick on this Neulasta campaign and,based on this experience, is quick to refer to Hoholick asbeing a “patient advocate.”

“If I, or someone I loved, ever had a serious disease, Iwould hope it was Joe Hoholick doing the DTC for thatproduct,” Carter said. “Joe is the kind of guy that isalways the patient’s advocate first. He figured out longago that as long as you do what’s right for the patient,you’ll do what’s right for the brand.”

Advice and reflection

Hoholick’s inclination towardpatient advocacy has led himthrough a long and successfulcareer in DTC. Throughout hismarketing career, Hoholick hasacquired the skill and know-howto be a shrewd and inspiringleader in the DTC marketing dis-cipline. To those new to market-ing, Hoholick recommends find-i n g a “ w e l l - e x p e r i e n c e dadver tising guru and mentorunder them. Ask them to sharewith you the secret of that suc-cessful campaign that turned acategory around in their past. Inthat story, will be a clear productstrategy that positioned theirproduct for transformation and a

‘big-selling idea’ that was born out of research insight,product truth and plain hard work. These stories of suc-cessful advertising inspire, even prescribe a way of think-ing about new advertising development that maximizessuccess.”

And while Hoholick himself has put in countless yearsof “plain hard work,” he always makes time for his NewYork Yankees. In fact, despite all that he has accom-plished in his career, Hoholick laments one thing: “Ialways aspired not to retire until I get into the BaseballEncyclopedia by having at least one put out in centerfieldin Yankee pinstripes. Brian Cashman (the Yankees gener-al manager) is not ringing my number a lot though,” hesays.

Heartbeat Digital’s Bill Drummy presents a Hall of Fame award to Joe Hoholick.


Hall of Fame

Lucy RoseIrrepressible, Indefatigable andPassionateThese are a few of the words marketers and agencyexecutives use to describe Lucy Rose.

BY DTC PERSPECTIVES

Just about everyone involved with pharma marketingand promotion has met with, listened to or asked for helpfrom Janet L. “Lucy” Rose. Known by many as simply“Lucy,” Rose has been a critical proponent of diseaseeducation campaigns, patient education and consumerpromotion for prescription drugs. She also played a keyrole in developing the policy that allowed broadcastadvertising for Rx drugs back in the late 1990s when sheheld the position of directed of the FDA’s Division of DrugMarketing, Advertising and Communication (DDMAC).

Rose is a physician assistant, has a Master’s degreein business administration, held the position of nationalmanaging director in the life sciences regulatory andcapital markets consulting at Deloitte & Touche LLP, andalso manages her own consulting firm, Lucy Rose andAssociates. And she’s a member of the DTC Perspec-tives’ Hall of Fame, having been inducted during anawards event in mid-October along with three leadingDTC marketers.

Rose also has been an inspiration to many marketers.Paula Garrett, senior director of consumer marketing atEli Lilly and one of the marketers named to the Hall ofFame this year, recalled the influence Rose had on hercareer during the presentation event. Upon seeing apresentation by Rose at Eli Lilly, Garrett said she wasinspired an overwhelmed by Rose’s passion and knowl-edge. “She just owned the auditorium,” Garrett recalled.

Rose has continued to be an advocate for responsiblepromotion and speaks enthusiastically about the respon-sibility of marketers to create messages and promotionsthat are effective and fair.

“What we can control is the messaging we put for-

ward,” she says. “Needless to say, it’s more importantthan ever that we remember the original thinking behindDTC – to encourage patients to play an active role in themanagement of their health by providing them with dis-ease education as well as appropriate treatment options.”

Mel Sokotch, an author, industry consultant and for-mer advertising executive at Foote, Cone and Belding, isamong those who acknowledge the important role Roseplayed in the development of DTC promotion. “Back inthe mid-1990s, Lucy was director of DDMAC and thiswhole issue of DTC and broadcast was being debated,”Sokotch recalled. Ultimately, the draft guidance thatcleared the way for broadcast DTC “was in large part puttogether by Lucy Rose,” he added. “If anybody herethinks they would be here in 2009 in Livingston, N.J.,having this incredible event without Lucy Rose, thinkagain.”

These are sentiments echoed by Pfizer chief medicalofficer Dr. Freda Lewis-Hall, who congratulated Rose aspart of a video testimonial that was shown at the DTCPerspectives’ Hall of Fame awards event in mid-October.Lewis-Hall, who was not able to attend the event in per-son, noted that she has known Rose for several yearsand that she truly admires all the work and effort thatRose has invested in “the service of patients.” Sheadded, “You’ve been one of those leaders you want onyour side when you are ready to tackle the toughest ofchallenges. As a business leader and a governmentleader, a trusted counselor and a friend of the patient,you have shown us that DTC outreach can be a highlyeffective tool in patient education and in helping patientshave those difficult but necessary conversations withtheir doctors. Freda Hall said in the video tribute.

(Continued on page 58)


protection of advertising for more than 30 years. This protectionwould bar taxes on advertising that are designed to discouragespeech by taxing it, as S. 1763 would do. Amendment proponentshave said that this $37 billion tax on pharmaceutical advertisingwould “help stem the tide of confusing and misleading drug adsthat you . . . see every day on TV and in magazines.”

Actually, Congress only two years ago approved an extensiveadministrative process, sponsored by Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) that gave the Food and DrugAdministration the tools to hold evidentiary hearings about adsthey believe are untruthful or deceptive (the Supreme Courtstandard) and to levy fines of up to $250,000 a day for ads thatviolate that standard. That is a much more effective way to assurethat consumers receive accurate information in advertising ratherthan taxing it.

As to the importance of advertising of prescription drugs, Iwould recommend that advocates of a tax on advertising consid-er the 1976 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Virginia StateBoard of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc.425 U.S. 748 (1976). In the majority opinion that struck down astate statute barring advertising of the price of prescription drugs,Justice Blackmun wrote:

“As to the particular consumer’s interest in the free flow ofcommercial information, that interest may be as keen, if notkeener by far, than his interest in the day’s most urgent politicaldebate. . . .Those whom the suppression of prescription drugprice information hits the hardest are the poor, the sick, and par-ticularly the aged. A disproportionate amount of their incometends to be spent on prescription drugs; yet they are the least ableto learn, by shopping from pharmacist to pharmacist, where theirscarce dollars are best spent. When drug prices vary as strikinglyas they do, information as to who is charging what becomesmore than a convenience. It could mean the alleviation of physi-cal pain or the enjoyment of basic necessities.”

Over the past 33 years, the Supreme Court has broadened itsprotection of commercial speech even further. An amendmentto tax advertising, of any kind, certainly would seem inconsistentwith the protection being afforded to commercial speech by ourhighest Court.

Jim Davidson is an attorney and founder of the public policy firmDavidson & Company. He currently chairs the Public Policy Groupat the Washington law firm of Polsinelli Shughart PC, and he hasbeen actively engaged in supporting the advertising industry onCapitol Hill for almost 20 years. He can be reached by e-mail [email protected].

(Eye on the Hill, continued from page 57)

(Continued from page 55)

Hall of Fame

A distinguished record of service

Prior to joining Deloitte & Touche, LLP, Rose owned her ownconsulting business, Lucy Rose and Associates, LLC for tenyears. During that time, she served numerous pharmaceutical,biological, medical device companies; advertising agencies;public relations firms and CME providers.

Her extensive services include all regulatory aspectsregarding advertising and promotion programs; regulatorytraining; CME consultation; and providing extensive complianceservices, including performing compliance assessments,among other services. She has spoken at more than 200 publicprograms and has delivered more than 400 in-company train-ing programs.

Getting it done right

Sokotch also recalled an anecdote about how Rose helpedout one of his former clients during his introduction at the DTCHall of Fame event. Shortly after broadcast DTC became per-missible, Sokotch recalled, one of the pharma clients workingwith the former Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB) agency launcheda major campaign for a weight-loss treatment. The ads debutedon a Thursday, but by the following Monday the DDMAC director

who had succeeded Rose was on the telephone with the majorbroadcast networks asking that the ad get pulled.

The client realized there was a major problem, and at thispoint Sokotch suggested bringing in Rose to facilitate a meet-ing with DDMAC/FDA. “I got [Lucy Rose] on the phone, luckily,and explained the situation and said that we were in trouble,and she agreed we were in trouble,” he explained.

“But this really typifies how important Lucy Rose is to thisindustry. She helped us enormously and she helped us in theright way. She facilitated a meeting with DDMAC…. We strate-gized and figured it out. What was so important is that Lucyhelped us not only to understand what the regulations wereand just comply with the regulations, but really helped us tounderstand the spirit of getting it done right and not skirting therules.

“In terms of where we are today, many down in Washingtonwould like to see DTC go away. It is people like Lucy Rose whokeep us honest and keep us straight and remind us that thespirit of DTC is really informing, educating and presentingoptions…. I am not sure there is anyone in this business thathas more impact in helping us getting it right than Lucy Rose,”Sokotch said.

Hall of Fame - DTC Perspectives Perspectivesspoke with the 2009 DTC Hall of Fame inductee about this...

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