Philadelphia, PA – June 15, 2006 – Doctors who don’t see sales reps may be surfing the net: 45% of physicians report averaging 3 hours per week of internet use. That’s why Podcasting—the newest means of delivering audio and video files via the internet—offers pharmaceutical marketers a unique and timely means of communicating with physicians, consumers and sales reps.

“Podcasting for the Pharmaceutical Industry: The Newest Way to Reach Your Target Audience,” is the subject of a White Paper published today by The Maxwell Group, a leading provider of live online and on-demand events for continuing medical education, clinical research and direct-to-physician brand promotion. (Click here to request the white paper)

Growth is Geometric
In April 2005, podcast listenership was estimated to be 6 million in the U.S. alone, with the audience doubling every three-to-four months. Based on this projection, current podcast listenership is approaching 50 million people.

"Study data show that only 12% of sales calls result in a live meeting with a doctor, and the average call duration is between 30 seconds and 3 minutes," according to Jim Miller, Director of Sales and Marketing for Maxwell. Incorporating podcasting into the pharmaceutical marketing mix offers an opportunity to improve on declining physician access rates, he maintains.

Miller cites the fact that more than 50% of physicians report spending 40 minutes or less each week with pharmaceutical sales reps, but 45% of physicians use the Internet an average of 3 hours a week. Subscriber-based podcasts may be a unique and viable means of cultivating and maintaining open lines of communication between the physician and the product marketing team, he says.

Request the white paper....

About The Maxwell Group Inc.

The Maxwell Group manages more live, direct-to- physician web conferencing events than any other company in the world. This year, Maxwell will conduct more than 6,000 events, reaching some 300,000 physicians worldwide. Through Medconference, the company’s proprietary web conferencing platform, The Maxwell Group offers the only fully-integrated web conferencing technology and support service package specifically designed to assist pharmaceutical companies in brand promotion, speaker training, advisory board meetings, clinical investigator training and more.

Sources: Pew Internet Study, April 2005; Rodney L. Rumford, PodBlaze.com and Freshpodcasts.com; The Maxwell Group, data on file.

Website: http://www.medconference.net

The Maxwell Group Inc
James J. Miller, Jr
Director of Sales & Marketing
email: jim_miller@medconference.net
phone: 610-292-0450 x1220