WATERTOWN, MA -- (Marketwire) -- 08/15/08 -- Cymfony, a TNS Media Intelligence company,today reported that caregivers of children with asthma discussnon-pharmaceutical treatment options more than twice as often as themost-discussed type of asthma drug. Cymfony drew this conclusion from itsstudy of over 15,000 posts on blogs, discussion boards, and social networksites written between October 2007 - April 2008 in which parents discussedtreatment approaches for their child's asthma."Pharmaceuticals play a central role in treatment of children with asthma,but parents see them as only part of the solution to their child'scondition," according to Csaba Dancshazy, the Cymfony analyst who authoredthe report. "Parents seek information on managing their children'slifestyle as well as alternative therapies to complement the action of themedication. To meet these caregivers' needs for a range of ways to helptheir child cope, drug companies may wish to increase efforts in patienteducation to become a valued information source and not just one treatmentoption among many in the market."
Other findings from the study indicate that parents are somewhat negativeabout most classes of asthma drugs, with inhaled corticosteroids being theexception. And while about one-third of these discussions take place ondisease-specific or general medical sites, the majority takes place onsites with no medical content.
"There has been steady growth in use of the Internet for both informationalneeds and emotional support around management of chronic conditions," saidCymfony President Andrew Bernstein. "Pharmaceutical brand marketers need tounderstand the online context for patients and caregivers."
The 30-page study, "Treating Pediatric Asthma," is available for purchasefrom Cymfony and TNS Healthcare. More information on the study is availableat www.cymfony.com/asthma.asp.
Separately, Cymfony announced the availability of the only syndicatedsocial media tracking service specifically focused on asthma brands. Theservice aggregates discussion of 22 medications in 7 therapeutic categoriesfrom over 8000 social media sources including message forums, discussiongroups and blogs. Pharmaceutical marketing professionals can subscribe tothis data to understand brand perceptions as well as the issues associatedwith the diagnosis and treatment of the disease among patients andcaregivers.
Cymfony's ongoing social media tracking platform can be used to gain a nearreal-time understanding of consumer issues, questions, and concerns aboutasthma. For example, brands can measure the impact of specific campaignsby tracking the presence of messaging and changes in conversation volume.Social media analysis complements research methodologies such as surveysand focus groups. TNS Healthcare's physician panels and other services canbe used to explore findings of the syndicated study.
About TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony
TNS MI/Cymfony tells brands and companies what people are saying about them-- whether the people are bloggers, traditional journalists or eveninfluential consumers. TNS MI/Cymfony sifts and interprets the millions ofvoices at the intersection of traditional and social media to gain insightsthat help companies identify the people, keep on top of the issues andrespond to the trends impacting their business -- at the speed of themarket. We call this approach to harnessing this new dynamic "marketinfluence analytics."
TNS MI/Cymfony pioneered the innovative technology to extract meaning fromhigh volumes and diverse sources of text. U.S. intelligence agencies havebeen relying on our technology for more than eight years. We are aninnovator in the integration of social and traditional media, offeringaccess to the greatest breadth of content sources and analytical expertise.
Contact TNS MI/Cymfony at 617-673-6000 (x2) or visitwww.cymfony.com/asthma.asp for more information.
About TNS Healthcare
TNS Healthcare provides market research consulting to the worldwidepharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industries, as well ashealth-focused ad agencies, media and analysts. It offers globallyconsistent solutions and custom advisory services to support productintroductions; brand, treatment and sales performance optimization; andphysician and DTC promotional assessment.
Informing decisions across the life cycle, TNS Healthcare offersaction-ready insights for pre-launch landscaping, market and opportunityassessment, segmentation, positioning, message and campaign creation,pricing, forecasting, attitude and awareness measurement and post-launchtracking. It delivers information across stakeholders -- includingphysicians, patients and consumers -- to help companies anticipate andimpact customers' behaviors. TNS Healthcare provides both qualitative andquantitative offerings, using traditional and on-line methodologies,combining worldwide reach with local expertise.
Contact Ilene Siegalovsky, Senior Vice President of Marketing andCommunications for TNS Healthcare at 201-836-0040 x 225 or visitwww.tns-global.com/healthcare for more information.
