These are my principles..if you don't like them I have others
When I first started my DTC marketing career over 7 years ago working at Eli Lilly my manager came up to me at a meeting and told me that "I needed to learn about DTC marketing". I quickly responded that "DTC marketing needs to learn about consumer marketing". Regular readers of this blog know that I have expressed time and time again that the power has shifted to patients and consumers away from marketers and yet DTC marketers continue to "push" messages to consumers via channels like TV that have little ROI while largely ignoring the Web.
I have seen firsthand how marketers manipulate data to get what THEY want instead of doing what is best for the brand and patients. I have seen millions of dollars wasted on Super Bowl spots to "make a bigger splash" and keep investors happy rather than use the money to reach a targeted audience with a personally relevant message. And I have seen hours and hours of Power Point presentations developed to "justify" the support of a golf sponsorship so the CEO could golf with Tiger Woods. These are the things that get me upset and ensure that I have a bottle of Jack Daniel's close by.
Now I am not naive and I know that the objective of ANY business in America is to make money for shareholders and investors but I believe, as George Merck did, that by marketing pharmaceutical products that make a difference in patients health and lives will lead to success at every level of the organization. Somehow that belief has been replaced by people who are more interested in getting promoted and saying the right things then what they really believe. Managers and Directors have become corporate MBA mouthpieces that say the "politically correct" things in order to further their own careers. While pharma companies use slogans like "answers that matter" and "putting patients first" it is usually proceeded with "provided we can make money of course".
I read a lot of business publications and websites. It's always nice to read about breakthrough marketers like Apple and P&G who are trying new things and exploring new ways to engage consumers. I see a new trend emerging: implementing with speed and trying new things. These two trends seem to be ignored by the most part by pharma marketers. While taking risks with TV ads they seem to ignore efforts to reach them via the Web, other than including a basic push website with some video. On a recent consultant call the person conducting the interview asked me why I thought this was happening and the answer is all too clear. It's happening because both senior executives don't understand the Internet and because middle managers who gain expertise on the Internet are moved to new positions within the company. At Lilly for example an award winning eMarketing team has been dismantled with key people leaving the company while other have moved to other positions within the organization that have little to do with eMarketing. Notice to management: if someone has gained expertise in eMarketing and provided results KEEP them where they are and reward innovation and risk.
Industry publications do little to address challenges that pharma faces from itself because they have too many conflicts of interest and rely more on a network of the "DTC marketers club". They don't want to say anything which could damage their business or decrease attendance at events for which they charge $2000 or more.
As a marketer I do not pretend to know it all. I
am still learning everyday about marketing and
the power that consumers now exert over us. This
process will never end and I will always ask
"what if..." or "how can we make it better.." I
refuse to speak down to my customers and
prospects. I would rather give them good, factual
based information and allow them to make educated
decisions based upon their needs. I continually
summarize and forward reports on new consumers as
well the Internet with recommendations and
insights. I want this process to be evolutionary
so that people can ask the right questions. The
Holy Grail for eMarketing people is to get a
budget that will allow us to do a great job and
be brought into the strategy process early enough
so we can truly integrate with the brand. Alas
the search for the Holy Grail continues....
While at Eli Lilly I was extremely lucky to be
chosen to work on a high profile brand like
Cialis at a company that was not known as a DTC
marketer. People were brought in from outside the
company because of their expertise and at first
they did make a huge difference but after a while
they seemed to get "absorbed into the collective"
like the Borg on Star Trek. When my online
marketing budget had been cut in leu of TV I knew
it was wrong and rather than be a "yes person" I
quit. I have no regrets about that because I did
not manipulate or hide any data from anyone.
In the movie "Wall Street" which was just
rereleased as a 20th anniversary edition Martin
Sheen tells his son "it's yourself you have to be
proud of". This blog gets a fair amount of
traffic and I thank all of you who read it but I
know that this website will never earn me money
but maybe just maybe one or two DTC marketers can
start to find the strength to try new things or
go against the grain and stand up for what they
believe in rather than what others want to hear.
