On Tuesday, September 28th I’m going to be speaking at the ePatient Connections conference in Philadelphia. I’m teaming up with one of our clients to present a case study on using our Evidence-Based Marketing approach to maximize the impact of an integrated unbranded campaign. One of the most important aspects of this project that we’ll be talking about is the integration between the multiple promotional efforts of the brand.
When you’re layering on an unbranded effort, what is the action cascade that transpires between your campaigns? In most cases, brand teams and their agencies assume they know the answer. This is what we want to happen, so this is what will happen. Not so. We did research to validate what patients would say to their doctors as a result of exposure to the unbranded campaign, what the doctors would do based on what the patients articulated, and what patients were likely to do as a result of their physician’s action. What we learned drove modifications to the messaging and approach that substantially increased the likelihood of a patient receiving a recommendation for the brand.
So why am I telling you all of this? Well a couple of days ago I came across an article about a new unbranded effort from a leading pharma company and a top advocacy group using a well-known celebrity spokesperson. Now, their product is not even on the market yet, so this is a hefty effort for an already educationally-saturated disease state. (You might not be surprised that I’m already questioning the level of evidence behind this investment decision.) But within the article, I came across a quote from the CEO of the advocacy group that really threw me. “The site is unbranded and excludes marketing of any kind.” Really? Then why would the pharma company make the investment in the first place? Just because it’s unbranded doesn’t mean it can’t work for your brand.
If you’re like most of our clients, you don’t have an “altruistic marketing” line item in your budget. Come join us at ePatient Connections and see the difference Evidence-Based Marketing can make. And don’t just take our word for it—feel free to ask our Client co-presenter what it’s meant to her team and her brand.
Professional and Consumer Marketing Integration – Is it More Elusive Than World Peace?
September 20, 2010
Unbranded Patient Marketing—Strategic or Altruistic?
September 6, 2010
Professional and Consumer Marketing Integration – Is it More Elusive Than World Peace?
When I started working in this business, a mentor of mine – Francis Gace – defined DTC marketing as “sending an educated patient, to an informed physician.” Within this simple phrase was the implication that the promotional marketing efforts for physicians and patients for a given product need to be integrally linked.
Yet, at the brand management and execution level they are more divorced than ever. It starts with the silos within the brand teams and extends to the fiefdoms of specialized suppliers. What’s lost is the opportunity to optimize marketing investments and increase overall marketing effectiveness.
Professional and Consumer Marketing investments need to be integrated. Two simple facts illustrate this point. First, the true benefit of DTC is not persuading patients in mass, but persuading physicians through mass patient experience. Second, the articulated patient requests driven through consumer marketing shape an MD’s perceptions of the Brand.
Integration between professional and consumer marketing is NOT a choice, but the degree to which you capitalize upon this critical opportunity is.
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