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A word to my readers....
Aug/25/2008 11:18 Filed in: DTC
Environment
Think about the impact our products have on consumers and how many people would be worse off without some of today's pharmaceutical products. Yes, there are people who think that drugs are worse than the disease but the reality is that we are living longer today largely because of pharmaceutical products. The industry as a whole has taken it on the chin in recent years but that's because sensational headlines sell and it's easier to get money via litigation than to look at the overall benefits to society.
When I write posts here on my BLOG I do not pretend to know it all. I am still learning and have learned a great deal from people like Paula, Doug and Anne at Eli Lilly,Steven and Eric at Medtronic and Mill at Grey. I believe that the core of marketing education needs to change because the environment in which we market has changed so much. Never before has there been so much information available to consumers at a time when people questions sales messages and are talking to each other about everything from new drugs to cars. It is therefore more important than ever that we think of a new paradigm in business and that is: the balance between selling and relationship building. Branding today is not pushing messages it's more about bringing people together to talk about your product or brand, it's admitting your mistakes (i.e. Apple) and being more transparent in everything we do. Segmentation models are not very effective today because of media fragmentation and the Internet. We need, as marketers, to think about segmentation of one person.
As I look at good DTC (Enbrel, Cymbalta, Cialis) and bad DTC (Rozerem) I see a major overlooked opportunity in online branding. Watch the Discover Health channel and you will hear patients, as they are looking for answers, say that they went online to research medications and medical conditions. Yet a lot of pharma websites are static brochures repurposed for the Web with push messages and little emotional support. Speaking of emotional support when was the last time a DTC TV ad touched you emotionally and made you think?
The lack of new initiatives online has resulted in a lot of health interactive agencies scaling back staff. People are leaving the health area and some agencies are now looking outside health & pharma companies to get business. Given how many people go online for health information this is very discouraging.
Since I have been writing this BLOG I have received both praise and rants from those in the industry, patients and consumers. Because I am so passionate about DTC marketing and have posted some critiques here there are probably a lot of companies that would not hire me or grant me the privilege of an interview. That's the price I will gladly pay to write what I feel as my passion for DTC marketing continues to drive me.
I hope you will continue to keep reading my BLOG as I explore the world of DTC marketing but remember that I don't know it all but I do know that we have to become more humanized as an industry and less of a company that is focused on ROI and dollars and cents. George Merck said it best
"Medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits."
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