Why is DTC in a funk?
Oct/11/2007 05:55 Filed in: DTC
Environment
When you look at the senior executives at most pharma companies you tend to find that most of them have a sales background, not a marketing background. They view marketing as a necessary evil and often require Power Point presentations to convince them that they should spend money on DTC ads instead of the sales force. What is so ironic about this situation is that the sales force is becoming more and more irrelevant as doctors become inundated with sales reps who want a few minutes of their time. People with a sales background don't understand core marketing principles but more importantly they don't buy into them and often the DTC marketer is stepping into the batters box with one strike against them.
The other issue is simply lack of talent. When DTC started to get really big in this decade pharma started hiring a wealth of MBA marketers from other companies. Obviously the problem with this model is that is based on "push marketing" and old marketing methods which are not relevant today. I worked with a marketer who had experience working with Coca-Cola and frankly her marketing skills were straight out of the book with no feel for consumers and no acknowledgment that patients and consumers today have more power than ever before. While companies like P&G and Intel are shifting more dollars to alternate channels pharma continues to spend, on average, only 3% of their DTC budgets on the Web. This is disgraceful and clearly shows that DTC marketers are in need of a new skill set.
Finally there is the organization itself. In pharma you are usually in a position for 3-4 years and then you move on. This is just long enough to master the position but what happens when the person behind you doesn't understand the Web? At Lilly we at one time had a world class eMarketing organization. Now most everyone who helped build capabilities is gone or moved onto other positions within the company. It's hard to get passionate about your job when it changes every 3 years.
On top of all this you have bogus awards that are handed out every year so DTC marketers can feel good about themselves and add another line item in their resumes.
Add up all of these issues and you have a below average DTC marketing that is risk adverse, does not acknowledge the power of the new consumer and is worrying more about ROI than patients health issues. I myself have chosen to stay in eMarketing for the past 8 years. I have missed promotional opportunities but I am very passionate about the Web and I chose to stay in eMarketing because I love it.
|