Breaking Away from the Pharma Way
Monday, October 18, 2010 at 4:35PM Pharma online spending will hit $1 Billion this year says the marketing research firm eMarketer. But can you name one single innovative program with a compelling ROI profile?
Ad Age’s Rich Thomaselli has said that this growth is “stymied by lack of clear FDA guidelines.” But innovation online is also being thwarted by the “pharma way” mindset that tries the same approaches using new tools.
The fact is, for pharma marketing to truly take off in the digital realm, we need to take our cues from those that are successfully captivating audiences online in new ways. Consumer brands and non-profits have turned traditional promotion programs into compelling social experiences that users can easily join via their laptop or desktop computer. Some examples:
- Via a media and Facebook partnership, iconic Nike recently launched a platform that connects basketball players looking for casual “pick-up” games and enables them to schedule time together on the local basketball court of their choice. No more lurking on the sidelines hoping to get playing time!
- 100+ year old company Ford Motors took online marketing by storm with its Ford Fiesta Movement. User-generated video sparked unprecedented amounts of attention which translated into pre-orders for a vehicle that at the time wasn’t available to the public yet!
- And it’s not just consumer brands, in June Actor Ed Norton presented Crowdrise, a cross-channel platform that has turned volunteering and online donation into a social experience. Crowdrise uses the Web to turn the gravity of causes and issues, into the fun of doing something together with people like yourself.
There’s no doubt that FDA regulations dictate the means with which pharma marketers can present information, but it takes more than a company or regulatory mandate to start “carefully” exploring the Wild West of social media. And giving up on digital also isn’t an option. We have to get creative, but do so responsibly in a regulated industry where public health is our first priority.
Personally I’ve started to see an uptick in the hiring of former consumer marketing executives from companies like American Express by pharma companies. It’s my hope that these fresh new minds continue to join our forces.
If you can’t hire one, talk to one. Research his or her team’s campaign. And remember what they’ve done: broken their own marketing molds to play new roles, armed with the power technology provides.
Let me know your thoughts.
Paul LeVine
Vice President, Analytics
Reader Comments (1)
Thanks for the great post, i continue to learn from your advice!
Hmm this is probably why not many people write comments on my blog even though there are quite a number of hits a day
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