The COVID-19 crisis has created chaos in B2B medical supply chains.

We see this with the lack of masks, protective equipment, ventilators and testing. 

While shortages and major supply chain disruptions directly related to coronavirus are eating up headlines, other non-essential health industries are being put on hold. 

What does this mean for medical and pharmaceutical company advertising? Here is what MediaRadar data has to tell. 

We encourage you to subscribe to our blog for the latest data surrounding the advertising industry. We will provide daily updates as COVID-19 continues to make its mark on the US economy.

Coronavirus creates a medical scramble

The B2B healthcare industry is incredibly complex on a normal day and these days are anything but normal.

There is a race between governments and companies to make masks, as profiteers price gouge supplies. 

“From a healthcare supply and manufacturing perspective, the impact is immediate throughout the entire supply chain,” says an experienced B2B digital healthcare executive Justin Racine. From manufacturing to distribution to sales, the impact is felt throughout the whole lineup. 

This is why we see new developments like Alibaba’s new eCommerce portal that connects medical suppliers directly with hospitals. 

It is still unclear how massive and long-term these disruptions will be. Big pharmaceutical companies are warning that coronavirus will impact its supplies and sales in major ways. 

In the midst of all the confusion, MediaRadar took a look at the advertising data to see if there have been any major shifts in spending.

MediaRadar Insights on B2B Healthcare Advertising Spend

When we look at the immediate impact of COVID-19 on B2B ad spending from the medical and pharmaceutical industry, we see no significant immediate shift in spending. 

In February, medical and pharmaceutical companies spent $24M on advertising. In March, that number was down to $23M. 

The biggest shifts in spending were within the different health sub-categories. 

Some categories were up month-over-month like:

• Flu Drugs +31%
• Asthma Drugs +13%
• Vitamins +144%

Others were down:

• Medical Devices -19% 
• Medical Supply -47%
• Surgical Device -22%

There was some fallout from non-essential medical procedures. For instance, with much of dentistry on hold, we saw categories either drop or stop their B2B advertising in March. 

When we narrow in on dental sub-categories, we see the following spending changes:

• Dental products were down 66%
• Dental equipment was down 25% 
• Braces were down 78%

When we look at individual companies, 4 of the top 5 medical advertisers increased their B2B marketing month-over-month:

• J&J
• Pfizer
• Amgen
• GlaxoSmithKline

For more updates like this, stay tuned. Subscribe to our blog for more updates on coronavirus and its mark on the economy.