Unless you have been there don't point fingers

May/01/2007 09:40 Filed in: Pharma Business
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It was disturbing to learn this week, according to John Mack's survey, that BLOGS critical of the pharmaceutical industry are viewed more credible than BLOGS supportive of the industry. There's a lot wrong with the pharmaceutical industry from DTC marketing to CEO's who are so anxious to please Wall Street that the lose site of what we should be all about but unless you have worked in the pharma industry there is no way that you can sit on the fence and point fingers at people inside the house.



I don't believe that at any time in its history the pharmaceutical industry has been facing more challenges than the current environment. Wall Street demands profits, Congress wants accountability, people want real answers to health problems and CEO's continue to be shuffled in and out. As I have written many times on this BLOG before the industry is in dire need of strong leadership. Working in the pharma industry is unique and unless you have spent time on the inside I don't believe that you can understand the environment in which we work. In my 10 years in the pharma and health industry I have seen some amazing things including manipulation of data to support more money for DTC channels, senior managers making decisions about DTC marketing without an understanding of how to measure ROI's and personal agendas that lead to decisions of what is best for the person making them not the brand.


Yet as a pharmaceutical marketer I have chosen to make a stand and do what is right for my customers and patients. Are there that many people out there who purposely hide data from the FDA that could harm patients? Are there managers who make decisions based upon what is right for the balance sheet rather than the patient? The answer to these questions is probably yes. But these managers didn't just come into a company with the idea that sales is more important than patient health. It is started when people don't question numbers or data or don't have the knowledge to ask the right questions.


The pharmaceutical industry is at a crossroads. CEO's need to communicate throughout the organization that whatever else we do the patients always come first. As marketers we all have to put ourselves in our patients shoes and ask "what do they need and want". CEO's have to be strong enough to stand up to MBA Wall Street analysts whose slogan is "instant gratification takes too long" and pharma marketers have to be held accountable for everything they do.


It's easy to point fingers on the outside looking in but frankly there are no short term fixes for any of these problems. It's going to take time at a time when the marketing environment is changing as we speak. What is wrong with pharma is indicative of what's wrong with American Business..too many layers..too much emphasis on paychecks and not enough emphasis on being customer centric.

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