Advertising and marketing

[Guest guest]

Dear members and friends

Advertising and marketing

Advertisements can be used to publicize study and can help to increase recruitment rates. However, there are many country- specific ethical, regulatory, and institutional regulations surrounding how and where studies can be advertised. Every advertisement needs to be approved by the IRB/ IEC before use.

Advertising should be carefully planned as part of the recruitment strategy and can be targeted directly to potential subjects, encouraging them to volunteer, or to physicians so that they will refer suitable subjects. It is important to decide on the characteristics of the target audience (e.g. age, race, gender) and to prepare the strategy accordingly. For example, a different strategy would be required when targeting elderly people with heart disease than it would if the target population was young, healthy females.

It is useful to remember that your advertisement might need to target the caregiver as well as the subject (e.g. studies in the elderly or in children). Here, both subject and decision- maker profiling are crucial in creating an effective campaign. Discussing a study with subject groups can also yield valuable information when selecting the best methods to use.

[Ref: Beasley D. Perfect harmony. Applied clinical trials 2004;November. Available from: www.actmagazine.com/appliedclinicaltrials/article/articledetail.jsp?id=129272. Accessed February 10, 2005.]

Thanks and Regards

Tarun Wadhwa

The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Homepage.