Health & Marketing Literacy | The Plucky Patient

pharma

Soar! Again.

Inspiring.

Misleading

Informative.

Confusing

Ubiquitous.

Oversaturated

Jump to our capabilities

Patient and provider attitudes toward pharma's direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing are ones of tension and contradiction.

51%

of consumers think prescription drug advertising is mostly a good thing.1

61%

of consumers believe that DTC ads increase awareness of new drugs.2

41%

of doctors think patient exposure to DTC ads benefits their interactions with them.3

57%

of consumers think pharma companies spend too much money on advertising to patients.1

68%

of consumers believe that DTC ads make drugs seem better than they really are.2

41%

of doctors think patients can get confused about the effectiveness of a drug because of DTC ads.3

1. Kaiser Family Foundation (2015) Kaiser Health Tracking Poll 2. National Survey of Health Information and Communication (2017) 3. Aiken, KJ et.al (2004) FDA Survey

58%

of the general public has a negative opinion of the pharmaceutical industry

Gallup (Sept. 2025) Farming, Computer, Restaurant Industries Lead U.S. Ratings

Pharma has a TRUST problem. And despite all the product and disease awareness marketing efforts, it's NOT getting any better.

While issues related to access and affordability are big drivers for this distrust, part of the animosity may stem from consumers' low health literacy, digital literacy, and critical thinking skills.

Some health and marketing literacy challenges that shape patient perspectives and impact their communication with providers about medication include:

–misinterpreting efficacy and its supportive data

–underestimating risk and safety information

–insufficient knowledge of the clinical trial process and its

relationship to product claims and promotion

–misunderstanding the role and process of the FDA in product

approval and advertising

–misconceptions and confusion regarding adverse event reporting

To address these issues, pharma should target three concepts through consumer education and awareness marketing.

ON-LABEL COMPLIANCE

Opportunities

Promoting consumer education on the role and process of clinical research

Proactively identifying strategies for addressing potential "off-label" concerns

Deploying visual and auditory markers in promotions that call out why and how certain claims are related to the label

FAIR BALANCE PRESENTATION

Opportunities

Educating consumers on the concept of fair-balance and how it's applied to ads

Building trust through increased transparency of the promotional review process

Including an individual that represents the patient voice during the PRC process

ADVERSE EVENT REPORTING

Opportunities

Educating consumers on how adverse event information is collected and assessed during clinical trials

Addressing misconceptions about listed AE's and likelihood of occurrence

Promoting awareness and clarifying misperceptions of AE reporting systems

WHAT ABOUT DISEASE AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS?

Unbranded disease awareness campaigns can be a double-edge sword for pharma.

The content and narratives they provide can address knowledge gaps, create a sense of a shared experience, and be a trusted source of support for those who haven't found it elsewhere.

Conversely, they can conflate disease education with product promotion that further sows confusion and creates unrealistic expectations about drug efficacy and safety. Additionally, they risk actually eroding trust if not properly identified as promotional as consumers may fell misled.

Solutions for these challenges

The Plucky Patient helps pharma create communications that account for consumer confusion, provider skepticism, regulatory expectations, and the practical realities of treatment decision-making.

Our approach is grounded in how real people interpret prescription drug advertising.

Our capabilities include:

Consumer insight grounded in real-world DTC ad interpretation
Relationship-centered communication strategies
Patient-provider conversation planning
Risk/benefit promotional analyses
Multiple communication style assessment and deployment
Message clarity and comprehension review
Omnichannel DTC and HCP alignment
Trust-building campaign architecture
Launch and post-launch communication optimization

We help pharmaceutical brands create DTC communications that do more than generate awareness: they support understanding, earn provider confidence, and prepare patients for better conversations about care.

Learn More

pharma

Soar! Again.

Inspiring.

Misleading

Informative.

Confusing

Ubiquitous.

Oversaturated

Jump to our capabilities

Patient and provider attitudes toward pharma's direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing are ones of tension and contradiction.

51%

of consumers think prescription drug advertising is mostly a good thing.1

61%

of consumers believe that DTC ads increase awareness of new drugs.2

41%

of doctors think patient exposure to DTC ads benefits their interactions with them.3

57%

of consumers think pharma companies spend too much money on advertising to patients.1

68%

of consumers believe that DTC ads make drugs seem better than they really are.2

41%

of doctors think patients can get confused about the effectiveness of a drug because of DTC ads.3

1. Kaiser Family Foundation (2015) Kaiser Health Tracking Poll 2. National Survey of Health Information and Communication (2017) 3. Aiken, KJ et.al (2004) FDA Survey

58%

of the general public has a negative opinion of the pharmaceutical industry

Gallup (Sept. 2025) Farming, Computer, Restaurant Industries Lead U.S. Ratings

Pharma has a TRUST problem. And despite all the product and disease awareness marketing efforts, it's NOT getting any better.

While issues related to access and affordability are big drivers for this distrust, part of the animosity may stem from consumers' low health literacy, digital literacy, and critical thinking skills.

Some health and marketing literacy challenges that shape patient perspectives and impact their communication with providers about medication include:

To address these issues, pharma should target three concepts through consumer education and awareness marketing.

ON-LABEL COMPLIANCE

Opportunities

Promoting consumer education on the role and process of clinical research

Proactively identifying strategies for addressing potential "off-label" concerns

Deploying visual and auditory markers in promotions that call out why and how certain claims are related to the label

FAIR BALANCE PRESENTATION

Opportunities

Educating consumers on the concept of fair-balance and how it's applied to ads

Building trust through increased transparency of the promotional review process

Including an individual that represents the patient voice during the PRC process

ADVERSE EVENT REPORTING

Opportunities

Educating consumers on how adverse event information is collected and assessed during clinical trials

Addressing misconceptions about listed AE's and likelihood of occurrence

Promoting awareness and clarifying misperceptions of AE reporting systems

WHAT ABOUT DISEASE AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS?

Unbranded disease awareness campaigns can be a double-edge sword for pharma.

The content and narratives they provide can address knowledge gaps, create a sense of a shared experience, and be a trusted source of support for those who haven't found it elsewhere.

Conversely, they can conflate disease education with product promotion that further sows confusion and creates unrealistic expectations about drug efficacy and safety. Additionally, they risk actually eroding trust if not properly identified as promotional as consumers may fell misled.

Solutions for these challenges

We help pharmaceutical brands create DTC communications that do more than generate awareness: they support understanding, earn provider confidence, and prepare patients for better conversations about care.

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