Company: Boehringer Ingelheim 
2007 Ad Spending: $505.3 million
2006 Ad Spending: $191.8 million
Breakdown
Where Boehringer is spending money: As one of the few drugmakers to boost U.S. ad spending in 2007, Boehringer Ingelheim pumped up its budgets for several products. Its prostate drug Flomax got a 65 percent boost in spending to $87.3 million, and heartburn treatment Zantac saw a 29.9 percent hike to $41.9 million. But the biggest leaps came in spending on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease drug Spiriva and restless legs-slash-Parkinson's treatment Mirapex. Spending on Spiriva grew to $81 million from $22.9 million, and Mirapex got $60.9 million for its first big campaign.
Those big investments paid off: Spiriva "led the way" in boosting Boehringer's revenues, the company said in announcing its 2007 results. The COPD drug delivered a 35 percent boost in global sales to €1.8 billion. Mirapex sales grew 26 percent to 644 million euros. And Flomax posted a 19 percent rise to €1.02 billion.
Where Boehringer isn't spending money: Boehringer didn't push one of its biggest drugs via U.S. measured media: Micardis, a blood-pressure drug. The product nevertheless grew sales by 23 percent to $1.12 billion.
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercepharma.com/special-reports/novartis-top-13-advertising-budgets
[2] http://www.fiercepharma.com/special-reports/top-13-advertising-budgets
[3] http://www.fiercepharma.com/special-reports/sanofi-aventis-top-13-advertising-budgets