There’s been a lot of talk these days about the future of direct-to-consumer advertising. If you’re a media buyer at a healthcare agency or a marketing manager in a life sciences organization, you’re undoubtedly busy, and likely feeling the pressure of some level of uncertainty. Tighter regulatory scrutiny, higher media costs, continued fragmentation of consumer attention, and the need to drive real, measurable outcomes, so diversifying your channel mix can be a game changer. The unexpected opportunity? Out of home advertising.
In the first of a 2-part series, we’re breaking down why adding or elevating out of home advertising (OOH/DOOH) in your 2026 media plan deserves a second look, even if you’ve dismissed it as a strategic lever in the past. Specifically, we’ll discuss:
Using OOH/DOOH to diversify your media plan can reduce risk, increase reach and relevance, and deliver incremental value in an unpredictable DTC landscape.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know the advertising environment for prescription drugs is facing more scrutiny than ever. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is intensifying enforcement of promotional rules for drug advertising in the U.S., signaling that what was once a fairly predictable environment is now less so. Specifically, on September 9 2025, the FDA and Department of Health and Human Services announced a broad enforcement initiative targeting DTC pharmaceutical advertising—including a wave of letters to companies. With the focus seemingly on influencer marketing, social, and broadcast media, as well as the adequate use provision, the implication for pharma marketers is clear: It’s no longer just about “does the creative work?” but “is it compliant always, everywhere?”
With this regulatory backdrop, many “go-to” media channels are becoming riskier, more cost-intensive, and harder to predict. Unfortunately, for many pharma brands the most pressing strategic question in 2026 isn’t about the customer, it’s “How do we maintain visibility, credibility, and relevance—without overexposing ourselves to regulatory or cost risk?”
Pundits generally agree that rulemaking will take a while, and lobbyists are encouraging pharma to “stay-the-course” when it comes to DTC advertising. Early data show interesting behavior: for the top ten pharma brands, national TV ad spend hit ~$199 million in September 2025 — higher than each of the summer-months (~$174 million) despite the regulatory crackdown announcement in early September. Yet when looking at the quarter as a whole, Q3 2025 spend (~$544.8 million) was down ~19% vs Q2 (~$675.1 million) for those same brands, showing that the summer slump offset any September uptick.
As pharma marketers begin to finalize their 2026 plans and close the books on 2025, we’re starting to see the DTC landscape uncertainty play out in a few key ways:
1. Delayed broadcast media launches as brands review, and / or need to rebuild creative.
2. Budget shifts to accommodate creative rebuilds, or longer media spots as brands move to safeguard against adequate provision attacks.
3. Conservative brands pulling back broadcast spend despite indications of potential growth headed into 2025. All of these realities leave gaps in brand marketing plans that are hard to pivot and recover from.
For media buyers, this means two things:
2. The changing risk environment makes alternative channels like OOH/DOOH even more strategically relevant as part of a diversified media plan
OOH/DOOH has evolved immensely from the stereotypical billboard, and has undeniable attributes for pharma marketers:
1. It’s always on and always visible. OOH/DOOH is unskippable, can’t be blocked, and sits in the physical world where people live, work, and move.
2. It offers contextual, privacy-safe reach. As a true one-to-many channel, OOH/DOOH doesn’t rely on any personal data for targeting or measurement, yet it’s uniquely suited to targeting based on population health attributes or contextual proximity to care.
3. It’s a perfect top-of-funnel amplifier in the omnichannel mix. It can be used to drive online activity, raise awareness before a website visit or provider discussion, or support bottom-of-funnel point-of-care placements (e.g., pharmacies, clinics, etc.).
OOH/DOOH makes pharma marketers’ media portfolios more resilient. Should other digital-only platforms face regulatory or privacy disruptions (which seems increasingly likely), brands have a physical channel delivering presence outside the walled gardens. And, since OOH/DOOH does not depend solely on digital behavioral targeting or tokenized targeting, pharma marketers can earmark portion of media spend that is less exposed to regulatory risk.
"A Harris Poll by OAAA found that 78% of people who saw pharma advertising engaged, whether they reported visiting the website, searching for information, inquiring with their doctor, or filling a prescription, OOH/DOOH captured their attention."
Maria Cipicchio
SVP, Strategic Market Intelligence
Privacy protection and regulatory conservativism are built-in to OOH/DOOH, not just because of the one-to-many nature, but also because of the nature of the creative. There’s plenty of space for Important Safety Information (ISI) on “product-claim” ads. When ISI is used, providing a QR code or website is a viable solution because it’s not time-bound, as in broadcast media. A potential patient can always access it. OOH/DOOH lends itself particularly well to “reminder” and “help-seeking” ads. “Reminder” ads can use the names of products, but don’t make specific product claims, avoiding the need for ISI. “Help-seeking” ads focus on immediately actionable calls-to-action, especially given their potential proximity to points-of-care: “ask your doctor about…”
The physical “in-the-world” nature of OOH/DOOH is effective. A Harris Poll by OAAA found that 78% of people who saw pharma advertising engaged, whether they reported visiting the website, searching for information, inquiring with their doctor, or filling a prescription, OOH/DOOH captured their attention.
OOH/DOOH has come a long way, and can increasingly play a strategic role in sophisticated, omnichannel strategies. As pharma marketers look to fill potential gaps in their 2026 media plan, OOH/DOOH provides nationwide, cost-efficient, and effective reach.
But it’s not just the current DTC landscape that is driving changes to how pharma marketers think about OOH/DOOH, it’s also their increasing ability to apply data-driven precision to out of home placements. Stay tuned for the second part of our OOH series, publishing tomorrow, and see how a new partnership between OptimizeRx and Lamar Advertising is changing the game for pharma brands.