Media Brief Template for Healthcare / Pharma Programmatic Display Campaigns

Begin every healthcare programmatic brief by specifying campaign type. DTC campaigns target patients, caregivers, and the general public with branded drug promotion subject to FDA OPDP fair balance requirements. HCP campaigns target physicians, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists with professional promotional materials requiring NPI-matched targeting and healthcare-specific DSPs. Unbranded disease awareness campaigns educate about conditions without promoting branded products and carry lighter regulatory requirements. Each type requires a separate brief, separate MLR review track, and separate DSP strategy.

Specify the precise drug name (generic + brand), approved indication(s) per FDA label, and current regulatory status (approved, in-review, launch pending). For multi-indication drugs, list each indication separately — programmatic campaigns must be indication-specific and cannot promote off-label uses. Include the NDA or BLA number for Rx drugs and the 510(k) or PMA number for devices. This information is required by both your media agency and any healthcare DSP requiring pharmaceutical advertiser verification.

Document the MLR review cycle commitment dates: creative submission deadline, MLR committee review period (typically 4–8 weeks for Rx display), expected approval date, and campaign launch target date. If creative has not yet received MLR approval at the time of brief submission, flag the campaign as 'trafficking conditional on MLR approval' and specify the protocol if approval is delayed past the launch date (hold media or launch with a pre-approved evergreen asset). Never traffic unapproved healthcare display creative — this is the single most critical compliance requirement.

Explicitly declare the approved audience targeting methodologies for this campaign. Check each approved approach: (1) Contextual targeting — ads placed on content pages about the condition/treatment category without user-level health condition data; (2) General health intent behavioral segments without condition-specific labels; (3) Demographic/geographic targeting only (no health behavior data); (4) NPI-matched HCP professional targeting (HCP campaigns only). Explicitly prohibit any audience segments built from identified health condition data, diagnosis-code-based targeting, or patient-identifiable information that could constitute HIPAA protected health information.

For HCP campaigns, attach the NPI target list (CSV format with NPI numbers) segmented by: specialty (e.g., oncologists, cardiologists, general practitioners), prescribing volume decile per IQVIA data (D8–D10 high-volume as primary tier, D5–D7 moderate-volume as secondary), and geographic concentration (top 20 DMAs by prescribing volume). Specify the universe size per tier: most rare disease campaigns have fewer than 15,000 total target NPIs, while primary care campaigns may target 500,000+ NPIs. Universe size determines which healthcare DSP platforms have sufficient NPI matching coverage.

Specify the healthcare-specific DSP for HCP programmatic display. DeepIntent: best NPI matching rate for specialty physicians, integrated with IQVIA data for script lift measurement — recommended for targeted specialty drugs. Doceree: strong HCP network in primary care and multi-specialty; strong for high-volume HCP campaigns. PulsePoint: premium health publisher network including WebMD, Healthgrades, Medscape — best for brand safety and editorial adjacency. OptimizeRx: point-of-care EHR delivery — recommended for rare disease campaigns where NPI target list is under 10,000 physicians. Document DSP selection rationale in the brief.

HCP campaigns require larger, richer creative formats than standard DTC display. Specify required sizes: 300x600 half-page (primary e-detail unit, highest HCP engagement), 970x250 billboard (editorial context, high visibility), 728x90 leaderboard (supplementary), and whether expandable rich media is approved (requires separate MLR review for expanded state). For clinical promotion, specify whether interactive elements are included: MOA animation, efficacy data toggle, downloadable PI (prescribing information), e-sample request form. All interactive features must individually clear MLR review.

Specify the HCP campaign measurement approach: name the HCP holdout group design (what percentage of target NPIs will be withheld from exposure as control group — recommend 20–30% for valid lift calculation), the script lift measurement vendor (IQVIA, Symphony Health), the NRx data feed refresh frequency (typically weekly), and the attribution window for measuring lift (recommend 8–12 weeks post-campaign launch). Document the minimum NRx sample size required for statistical significance given your NPI target list size — rare disease campaigns with fewer than 5,000 prescribers require 16–20 weeks of data to achieve significance.

For DTC patient targeting, list approved audience sources in order of compliance certainty: (1) highest compliance — contextual targeting on condition/symptom content pages via IAS, DV, or Peer39 contextual engine (no user data); (2) general health information seekers (non-condition-specific behavioral segments from publisher first-party data); (3) demographic and geographic targeting reflecting the condition's epidemiology (age, gender, geography); (4) site retargeting from users who visited your branded drug website (permissible as they voluntarily disclosed interest). Explicitly exclude: third-party audience segments using diagnosis codes, condition-specific medical data, or any data derived from EHR/pharmacy records.

Specify the publisher strategy: list the approved health publisher PMP deals (Everyday Health, WebMD, Health Union communities, Mayo Clinic Health System content, hospital system patient portals) at negotiated CPMs of $6–$15. Specify what percentage of budget should run through approved PMPs (recommended minimum: 60–70% for brand-safe Rx DTC) vs. open auction (maximum 30–40% for reach extension). List any publisher exclusion categories: news, political, adult content, non-healthcare programmatic open exchange — standard brand safety controls insufficient for pharmaceutical advertising; require healthcare-specific blocklists.

Specify the conversion event hierarchy tracked via UTM-tagged display campaigns: (1) Disease awareness site visit (condition information page), (2) Branded drug site visit (product information page), (3) Copay card page visit, (4) Copay card download or digital activation, (5) Patient support program phone number click, (6) Patient support program web enrollment form completion. Rank these in priority order and specify the primary optimization metric for this campaign (recommend copay card activation for most DTC Rx campaigns as the clearest intent signal). Confirm all UTM parameters are pre-built and tracking is validated before trafficking.

Attach a complete asset manifest listing every approved creative unit with: creative name/ID, format dimensions, animation length (if applicable), MLR approval reference number, approval date, and expiration date. Healthcare display creative MLR approvals typically expire after 12–24 months or when clinical data is updated. Build automated alerts 60 days before expiration to initiate re-review before assets are pulled from live campaigns. Never serve creative past its MLR expiration date — expired assets constitute unapproved pharmaceutical promotion regardless of media placement.

For every display CTA that links to a landing page, document: (1) page URL, (2) MLR approval reference number and date, (3) current approval status (active/under review), (4) date of last content update (any content change triggers re-review requirement), (5) fair balance presentation method (inline text, linked brief summary, expandable module). Designate a compliance liaison responsible for monitoring landing page approval status weekly during the campaign and alerting media operations if a page enters re-review so the associated display ad can be paused immediately.

If the brief covers both HCP and DTC programmatic, specify budget allocation as separate line items in the media plan: HCP programmatic (DSP platform, publisher, creative separately from DTC) and DTC programmatic (DSP platform, publisher, creative separately from HCP). Regulatory and legal teams require this segregation for compliance reporting — HCP and DTC promotional spend must be tracked independently for OPDP audit readiness and internal brand compliance reporting. A shared DSP campaign with mixed HCP and DTC audiences is a compliance risk.

Specify primary KPIs by campaign type: HCP primary = NRx lift % above holdout control; DTC primary = copay card activation rate (target: 0.05–0.15% of served impressions). Secondary KPIs: HCP — e-detail completion rate (target: 0.3–0.8%), HCP reach % of target NPI list (target: 60–75%), detail ad CTR (target: 0.08–0.25%); DTC — disease site CTR (0.06–0.20%), patient support program enrollment rate (0.02–0.05%), branded search lift (5–15% in campaign DMAs vs. control). Document all benchmarks in the brief so post-campaign attribution is evaluated against pre-agreed standards.