Quo Vadis? What does an economic slowdown mean for pharma marketing?

I would like to know what does a slowdown in the US economy mean for the pharmaceutical marketing community? Are pharma marketing jobs secure? Many in the industry don’t seem to think so. I hear of the nervous rumblings at lunch or after meetings in which staff has been informed of budget cuts. Agencies are starting to brace themselves for accounts going dark or a sharp reduction in spending.

Pharma media spending—a bell weather for our job security—seems uncertain (at best).

In a statement announcing its revised outlook, WebMD pointed to "a recent shift toward shorter-term buying commitments in certain of its customers' consumer advertising purchases which the Company believes is driven by increased caution in the current business climate."

Specifically, the company lowered its 2008 revenue forecast from a range of $395 to $415 million to $380 to $395 million. "The biggest question is whether the slower trends are WebMD-specific or industry-wide," Goldman Sachs analyst Jennifer Watson wrote in a client note Wednesday.

Quo Vadis (where are you going to those who skipped high school Latin). This is a fair question that members of any industry must ask one another. Where is our industry going?

Technically, to define the term recession, it means that our economy has had two consecutive quarters of receding GDP. President Bush admits that we have had a “significant slowdown” in our economy—but stops short at calling it a recession. From a definitional point of view, it really is a matter of semantics.

I’m more than curious. I just want to know if I should be worried.

The answer to this, hangs on the answer to a bigger question--could somebody please offer an answer to a much more straightforward question: Are we in a recession yet? Economists, politicos and pundits alike seem to be unsure if the US economy has slipped into a recession. It sure feels like it. But what does this even mean?

Where are we heading in the pharmaceutical marketing industry? Are we sensing a broad-based spending slowdown? If so, do you feel it will lead to a scaling back in pharma marketing hiring? Could lay-offs be on the horizon across our industry? Pharma stocks are soaring or at least maintaining their value. Why the does this paradox present itself? Where is this caution coming from? Is there a presumption that there will be a further decline in America's ability to purchase the medication they need? If it's going to come to that, the future may really be bleak.

At the same time pharma industry is one of those sectors on which you can count to always have demand and call for attention. Along with agriculture and energy there will always be a need for pharmaceutical products. In times of recession the need for basic care will not disappear.

The defining factor of the vulnerability of the pharma industry will be determined by the difference between what is being consumed now vs. what is absolutely necessary. I say there barely there should be no difference. We can't be consuming unnecessary medication. the day Americans will be ill because they can't afford the medication they need (that is already happening to some extent) is a sad day in the history of this country and something that has not been in the mainstream since the 1930s. How far we haven't come.

As far as our marketing jobs...who knows.