Your client in
doctors' offices
Here's a way to reach folks with targeted advertising
By Diego Vasquez
Nov 14, 2011
Advertisers love a captive audience. With their long dwell time, doctor's offices offer one of the most captive audiences available in out-of-home advertising.
Patients often wait 20 to 25 minutes to see a physician, and advertisers, particularly in the pharmaceutical and health food categories, see it as an opportunity to reach people with their health on their mind.
Posters and pamphlets have long been popular vehicles for waiting room advertising, but increasingly advertisers are using digital options, mainly LCD screens that air a mixture of health-related video content and advertising.
To find out how to get your client in waiting rooms, read on.
This is one in a Media Life series on buying out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.
Fast Facts
What
Advertising in medical waiting rooms.
Who
There are a small number of companies that specialize in waiting room advertising, some in the offices of general practitioners and others in more specialized settings such as dental offices or diabetes clinics.
How it works
Digital video advertising networks are now common in medical waiting rooms, where their messages are delivered on a 32-inch LCD screen.
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The networks run a 25- to 30-minute loop that's typically 70 percent editorial content and 30 percent advertising.
There's also a small amount of time reserved for messages and information from the clinic or office itself.
Some networks use licensed content from TV networks such as CNN or NBC, while others create original health-related content. Physicians demand credible sources for all the material, because they do not want to feed their patients incorrect information. Offices often check content for accuracy.
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Advertisers can sponsor segments but they're rarely integrated into the content. Rather a relevant brand will follow a segment with a 15-, 30- or 60-second spot detailing the benefits of their product.
For example, a segment on diabetes might be followed by a spot for a brand of insulin, or a piece on dietary fiber could be followed by an ad for a fiber-rich cereal.
Non-digital options for medical waiting rooms such as posters or pamphlets are also available, but those are becoming less common. Usually they're used as a complement to digital ads in the waiting room and sometimes are available in the exam room.
Markets
Waiting room advertising is available in all major markets.
Numbers
Among U.S. adults, 83 percent have had contact with a healthcare professional in the past year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For children that number is 92 percent.
The CDC says there are 956 million annual physician office visits, with 60.5 percent of those visits to primary care physicians.
How it is measured
Physicians track how many patients are seen each day. Return-on-investment factors can also be tracked, such as a regional sales boost for a specific product that has been marketed.
What product categories work well
Recent or current medical waiting room advertisers include prescription and over-the-counter drugs, food, consumer packaged goods, healthcare products and retail.
Demographics
Advertisers can target patients by ethnicity, such as clinics with high concentrations of Hispanic or Asian patients, or by location.
They can also target by specific ailment, such as clinics that specialize in diabetes or dermatology treatments.
Making the buy
Lead time, including production and approval of content, typically ranges from four to six weeks.
Pricing varies widely depending on the elements involved and the length of a campaign. Advertisers can spend a few thousand dollars for a month-long static campaign, or $1 million or more for a multi-year digital video program.
Video CPMs typically range from $20 to $55.
Who’s already been in waiting rooms
Recent brands that have advertised in waiting rooms include GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Merck, Procter & Gamble, Novartis, General Mills and Target.
What they’re saying
"What advertisers say in the living room is different than what you want to say when going in to see the doctor. It's a moment in time that's lost if you don't do it there. Patients can get a one-on-one connection with doctor. That's the only time I can connect with a healthcare provider and ask, is this right for me? And that's where advertisers can take advantage." – Deborah Schnell, president of sales and strategic planning at Healthy Advice Networks
Web site info
Healthy Advice Networks
www.healthyadvicenetworks.com
Accent Health
http://www.accenthealth.com
Smart Health Media
http://www.smarthealthmedia.com
ContextMedia
www.contextmediainc.com
Care Media Holdings
http://www.caremediaholdings.com/home
InfoSlate
http://www.infoslate.info
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