Believe Media, Los Angeles, has entered into a partnership with Action Films, a leading production company in Russia. Per the deal, Believe will be promoted under its own banner in Russia. Believe Media founder/managing director Luke Thornton said, “This alliance with Action Films gives us the ability to enter a market that is still relatively undefined and full of creative possibilities. Furthermore, to do it under the Believe banner underscores the global nature of our brand.” Action Films has turned out more than 1,000 projects and its work has earned such honors as a Cannes Gold Lion and recognition at the London International Awards….Director Brian Scott Weber, whose credits include Busch Gardens, Chevrolet, and ZeroMeth, has signed with Lemonaide Media, the bicoastal house headed by founder/exec producer Jeanne Mattiussi, for exclusive spot representation. He was most recently at Rhythm+Hues. Weber joins a Lemonaide roster that includes director/photographer Dean Karr, directors/cinematographers Morten Sandtroen and Jefferson Miller, and director Ed Miller….Hollywood, Calif.-based agency goodness Mfg. has added sr. art director Rob Bajohr and art director Neal Desai. Bajohr's experience includes sr. art director posts at both Digitas and MRM Worldwide NY. In the social space he helped create Digitas' “Small Business Saturday” experience for American Express OPEN. The campaign used social media incentives, local news media and bloggers to drive consumers to small retailers resulting in a 28% increase in holiday spending. Desai comes to goodness Mfg. via TDA Advertising & Design, Boulder, Colo., where he was an art director…..Jessica Stanchak has joined Beast's New York facility as producer. She comes to the editorial house (which also has offices in Santa Monica, Austin, Detroit, Chicago and San Francisco) after a stint as a producer at edit boutique jumP. Prior to jumP, she served as an assistant producer at Ogilvy & Mather, NY….Cutting Room, New York, has promoted Melissa Lubin to executive producer with former EP Susan Willis moving into the managing partner position. Lubin has come up the ranks at Cutting room, joining in 2005 as a receptionist and ascending to assistant post producer, sr. producer, then head of production and now EP….Digital agency Domani Studios has hired Jonathan Lander as creative director. He will work out of offices in NYC and Chicago. Prior to joining Domani, Lander served as creative director at U.K. interactive agency Code Computerlove….
New FDA Rules To Take Effect For TV Drug Commercials
Those ever-present TV drug ads showing patients hiking, biking or enjoying a day at the beach could soon have a different look: New rules require drugmakers to be clearer and more direct when explaining their medications' risks and side effects.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration spent more than 15 years crafting the guidelines, which are designed to do away with industry practices that downplay or distract viewers from risk information.
Many companies have already adopted the rules, which become binding Nov. 20. But while regulators were drafting them, a new trend emerged: thousands of pharma influencers pushing drugs online with little oversight. A new bill in Congress would compel the FDA to more aggressively police such promotions on social media platforms.
"Some people become very attached to social media influencers and ascribe to them credibility that, in some cases, they don't deserve," said Tony Cox, professor emeritus of marketing at Indiana University.
Still, TV remains the industry's primary advertising format, with over $4 billion spent in the past year, led by blockbuster drugs like weight-loss treatment Wegovy, according to ispot.tv, which tracks ads.
Simpler language and no distractions
The new rules, which cover both TV and radio, instruct drugmakers to use simple, consumer-friendly language when describing their drugs, without medical jargon, distracting visuals or audio effects. A 2007 law directed the FDA to ensure that drug risk information appears "in a clear, conspicuous and neutral manner."
FDA has always required that ads give a balanced picture of both benefits and risks, a requirement that gave rise to those long, rapid-fire lists of side effects parodied on shows like "... Read More