Pharmaceutical advertisers in the U.S. are among the largest television spenders. According to iSpot, they have collectively invested $2.18 billion in linear media this year.
This year’s upfronts has brought to light the growing list challenges that marketers face in the space. From the turbulent economic conditions, to the looming threats of a pharmaceutical television ad ban proposed by U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Pharma is a port in a storm. Publicis Health Media CEO Andrea Palmer said that it is not uncommon to see pharma investment levels remain flat or even increase when other categories are pulling back.
Although brands in this sector aren’t as affected by consumer sentiment as automotive or CPG advertisers are, they don’t ignore current affairs. Toby Katcher is svp video investments at CMI Media Group. “We would be foolish to believe that it wouldn’t have been on their mind,” he said.
According Jason Gloye of VML Health’s NA lead and global Chief Client Officer, pharma marketers will also be likely to extend media negotiations past the traditional end date of the upfronts season, July 4th.
He said, “There is a lot of caution and hesitation in general both politically and economically.”
Kennedy’s threat (#19659005) In any event, pharma marketers could face their own unique challenge in the months ahead. Kennedy has repeatedly suggested the Trump Administration could impose a TV ad banning . While it’s unlikely that this will happen, stranger policy ideas have been advanced by current U.S. governments (see: Greenland and the Panama Canal). Tariffs levied on islands that are uninhabited).
It appears that most pharma brands follow the same playbook when it comes to media spending: don’t panic and keep doing business as usual until it’s taken from you.
This is because, for those deciding the next step, there are as many unknowns as there are complaints. We don’t yet know how much the pharmaceutical industry will be affected or which products will be prohibited from being shown during commercial breaks.
It is also unclear what Kennedy and his administration consider “television”one of the few plots that they share with the advertising industry. Would the ban be limited to linear broadcast television and cable or would it also include FAST channels and ad-supported streams? What about YouTube?
If the policy is not implemented, it will still be a threat to pharma marketers who are already facing increasingly strict state healthcare privacy laws. Branchlab’s evp for sales, Mallory Wils, said that stricter legislation in New York City and Washington was “setting the standard for stricter privacy laws across the board.”
Wils continued: “Marketers must now navigate a patchwork state-level regulation which requires more adaptable and privacy forward approaches to targeting and measuring.” Palmer responded that clients wanted more flexibility from publishers in the form opt-out clauses and cancellation levers. Palmer said that although it’s a “category fact” for the sector to approach upfronts season, (a drug’s regulation process delaying ad campaign is a familiar situation), there’s more reason to ask this year. Palmer said that although “no one has a ‘crystal ball’, there is economic uncertainty, administrative uncertainty, and all of these things are out of control for anyone,” it was important to conceptually future-proof the business.
Beyond TV
Up until recently, pharmaceutical advertisers dominated television. According to iSpot, prescription drug brands will account for 13% of all linear U.S. TV ad spending in 2025. That’s $2.18 billion.
Historically, the sector has taken a conservative approach to new channels. Healthcare and pharmaceutical advertisers spent the most media dollars (27.8%) of the $30 billion total ad spending in 2024 for this sector. This was more than any other client group.
As consumer brands shifted their spend away from linear, advertisers who remained were able to benefit from more favorable pricing.
This status quo will not last much longer. Some pharma clients, like consumer brands, are hoping to spread media investments across an broader range of digital channels. They’re following the path set by consumer brand marketers.
They’re increasingly spending on CTV and paid social. Overall category spending increased 5% from 2023 to 2024and according eMarketer the majority of this increase was due to digital channels. U.S. The digital pharma ad spend is expected to increase to $20,19 billion this coming year from $14.95 in 2022.
Debbie Makrakis is the vp for video investment at CMI. She did not provide a breakdown.
They’re realizing that you can be more specific in your targeting than with linear TV. It’s no longer just about age and demographics. We can use lists of first-party targets. She said that we could use health diagnoses or disease states to target. Gloye, from VML Health, said that linear advertising is a waste of money unless it’s for a mass vaccination or Advil or heartburn medicine.
When they buy big-ticket television, they are increasingly targeting live sports coverage in their investment. This is especially true for NFL coverage. It offers advertisers of all stripes a last-ditch chance to reach a mass audience.
Pharma has not been a major player in the [the] NFL. “They’re becoming this now,” said the head of investment at a holding company, who chose to remain anonymous in order to be honest.
Wils, of Branchlab, said that the pharmaceutical industry has shifted its focus from TV to multi-screen. Michael Burgi contributed this report.
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