DTC in Focus – Page 5 – Xpectives.Health

Announced on Diabetes Alert Day, March 26th, PatientPoint and the American Medical Association (AMA) are developing content to educate patients and their HCPs about the risks of type 2 diabetes as well as cardiovascular disease. The collaboration will utilize PatientPoint’s in-office technology to encourage patients to have an informed conversation about either condition, with the goal of “reaching and activating patients … to prevent the onset of both diseases,” stated the news release.

Educational materials will include a prediabetes PSA in primary care and cardiologist waiting rooms, as well as interactive banner ads and infographics available in the exam rooms. Content will drive patients to either DoIHavePrediabetes.org (which was launched by the AMA, Ad Council, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Diabetes Association) or online, downloadable resources from the AMA and American Heart Association.

Click here to read the full details about this joint educational effort.

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Sharecare recently launched its first-ever Sharecare Awards, honoring standout health and wellness programming and productions. The evening was hosted by Dr. Mehmet Oz, cofounder of Sharecare, and his daughter, Daphne Oz, at the Atlanta History Center.

Winners included Pfizer’s “This is Living with Cancer” for the Chronic Conditions category; “Healthy Living Video Shorts” by the American Heart Association for the Health Living category; and “Male Caregivers in Philadelphia” by AARP for the Sexual/Gender Identity category. According to the updated news release, five additional, special awards were also issued, including:

“Lifetime Achievement Award to acclaimed actress, producer, author, social activist and philanthropist Marlo Thomas for her nearly 30 years of charitable work at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital;
Humanitarian Award (Individual) to renowned neurosurgeon and CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta;
Humanitarian Award (Organization) to the American Red Cross.”

A judging panel comprised of top healthcare and media professionals with relevant expertise selected the finalists. Winners were selected during a second round of judging, which was conducted “by the deans of the Academy of Judges and a committee of additional experts.” Operated through the Sharecare Foundation, the Sharecare Awards are in association with The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, New York Chapter.

Click here for more details, including the full list of finalists and winners.

Join Dr. Oz when he presents a keynote speech at this year’s DTC National Conference. The DTC National will be held April 16-18 in Boston.

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HCB Health has created three internal business units to “best serve an increasingly diverse set of clients and to help manage the firm’s rapid growth,” according to a recently news release. The three units – MedTech, BioPharma, and Health & Wellness – will manage their own P&Ls as well as each having its own dedicated team. All “will report to HCB Partner, Nancy Beesley, who recently became the firm’s president.”

HCB MedTech was “created and staffed with a curated group of deep device expertise and technology talent.” The team will be led by Associate Partner, Managing Director Amy Dowell and Creative Director, James Hamilton. Both are veterans in the MedTech space.

Servicing small to mid-size biopharma companies, HCB BioPharma will “serve the agency’s increasing foothold in the pharma space.” Francesco Lucarelli will lead the charge, serving as EVP, Managing Director. This unit will have offices in Austin and Chicago. He will be joined by Amy Hansen, Executive Creative Director to help “guide and grow” this unit.

HCB Health & Wellness will “focus on prevention and treatment”, serving clients in “large physician networks, hospital systems, health plans, behavioral health, and post-acute care centers.” Associate Partner and Managing Director, Kim Carpenter, and Creative Director, Michele Evans, will helm this team.

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Dan Chichester has re-joined Ogilvy Health, after a five-year hiatus, as Chief Experience Officer (CXO). In this newly-created role, he will be “responsible for driving forward Ogilvy Health’s innovation, digital strategy, and brand engagement,” the news release stated.

Andrew Schirmer, CEO of Ogilvy Health was quoted in the release, stating, “Today, everything in the marketing, communications, and transformation business operates through a digitally enabled ecosystem. What we are building for our clients are brand experiences that reach healthcare providers, payers, caregivers, and patients through a myriad of channels, touchpoints, and platforms. … Dan is exactly who should be leading this charge. I’m really looking forward to working with him and the rest of the leadership team as we continue our push to ensure we are innovating and optimizing on every front,” he said. Chichester will report to Schirmer.

Chichester most recently served as Chief Digital Officer with TBWA\WorldHealth. Prior to that, he was Ogilvy Health’s Chief Digital Office for five years and a part of their Interactive Group as a Creative Director for nine years beforehand.

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Stacey Singer, an agency growth specialist of 30 years, recently announced the launch of her own independent agency consultancy. Having left her post with WPP, where she most recently built and managed their global Client Satisfaction Center of Excellence, Singer told DTC Perspectives that she identified a growing need to help better serve agency accounts and thus led to her new venture. Her eponymous consultancy will help agency clients develop the skills and behaviors required to retain and grow their businesses, as well as provide advisement on areas of vulnerability and how integrating proven techniques will lead to immediate improvements and long-term gains.

According to the press release, Singer said, “Agencies dedicate tremendous resources to winning new business. They have pitch teams, consultants, dashboards and best practices, but few agencies commit the same resources or rigor to retain and grow that business. This practice is particularly unfortunate, as nothing hurts an agency’s morale and bottom line more than the constant cycle of pitching, winning, losing and re-pitching business.”

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The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most powerful sectors in the United States. The United States government has long realized how much of an influence the industry has had since its origin over a century ago and has regulated the industry as such.

Pharmaceutical companies’ largest expenses are research and development costs, which typically range from tens of millions of dollars to several hundred million dollars. With such substantial costs, companies have dedicated more time and energy into developing creative marketing strategies to attract additional consumers.

Here are some of the best marketing strategies that the pharmaceutical industry has seen thus far.

Lobbying and TV Advertisements

Did you know that the United States and New Zealand are the only two countries to allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise their drugs directly to consumers? In the United States alone, pharmaceutical companies have spent countless billions of dollars in order to maintain the ability to advertise directly to consumers over the years. Although lobbying costs are not technically considered marketing expenses, they have a significant effect on direct-to-consumer advertising and, therefore, correspond with advertising expenses.

Although direct-to-consumer advertising in the pharmaceutical industry has several benefits for consumers, it is important that these ads instruct consumers to see physicians prior to deciding on their own that they need to take drugs that are advertised directly to the public. In order to prevent any complications with the medication and to build reliability between consumers and the company, direct-to-consumer advertisements should always encourage consumers to check with their doctor before taking a new medication as well as accurately describe the drug and its purpose.

In 2017 alone, the pharmaceutical industry spent over $6 billion on advertising in direct-to-consumer fashion in the United States. Without lobbying, the government would likely have shut down this form of advertising in the pharmaceutical industry. The industry’s unique ability to keep the direct-to-consumer channel open, along with persistent and coordinated lobbying efforts, make DTC advertising one of the most powerful marketing strategies in the industry.

Drug Discount Cards

Few places outside of the pharmaceutical industry offer coupons that reduce the cost of goods purchased by up to ninety percent. One of the most popular marketing strategies in the industry is the use of drug discount cards. Drug manufacturers work with pharmacies to provide consumers substantial discounts. In return, manufacturers give pharmacies a portion of the original purchase price in exchange for accepting less money directly from consumers.

Pharmacies support discount cards because they encourage people to spend more money on non-drug items inside their stores. In addition, pharmacies that do not accept discount cards have been known to consistently miss out on business in their local markets because the cards have been so widely adopted. Discount cards are both useful and convenient and have therefore been a largely successful marketing tool for the pharmaceutical industry.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is a relatively new form of marketing that has taken the world of business, not just the pharmaceutical industry, by storm over the past few years.

Rather than paying for advertisements that blatantly push messages such as “Buy me now,” content marketing involves authoring helpful guides and blog posts that help consumers learn new information or otherwise offer them something that is completely free of charge.

Content marketing is especially important in pharmaceuticals because it helps build customer loyalty. Most people look up information related to pharmaceuticals when they are concerned about themselves or loved ones due to an illness or medical condition. Accurate and informative guides help build a sense of trustworthiness between the consumer and the company. Connecting with consumers at such significant and emotional times is a solid way of building loyalty to the pharmaceutical company.

Caryl Anne Crowne

Sponsored Content

Pharma’s presence in patient engagement solutions at the physician’s office has often been a hot topic for debate. Are physicians turned off to these products when they see pharma ads? Is there ever a case where pharma ads are acceptable? How do patients feel? You might be surprised…

Obviously, physicians’ opinions play a critical role in how PatientPoint® in-office solutions are developed, as we have to ensure they are actively using our platforms and find them helpful once in market. To find out more, we partnered with the Digital Health Coalition to conduct proprietary research into physicians’ attitudes and behaviors toward patient engagement technology.

The results demonstrate that patient engagement solutions at the point-of-care can provide pharma with an opportunity to drive better physician-patient discussions, insert their brand into those discussions and ultimately help educate on better treatment decisions. This is an unprecedented and unique ability to impact both audiences at that magic moment when treatment decisions are being made.

Physicians are actually excited

So how do physicians feel about having technology in their offices? To borrow from Tim McGraw, “they like it, they love it, they want some more of it.”

In fact, 44% of physicians surveyed said they find new technology that engages patients exciting – and that they use it as much as they can. More than a third feel they need it to remain up-to-date.

Physicians want to be on the cutting edge of healthcare. They value new technology’s role in enhancing the patient experience and providing better information to their patients. The key is not technology just for technology’s sake – it has to help providers be more efficient or provide better care.

But that still leaves the question, “Are physicians comfortable with pharma being present at the point of care?” According to our recent research, the answer is: YES!

When asked if they would be interested in receiving free digital engagement solutions that include highly contextual, tailored content along with pharma-branded advertising, three-quarters of surveyed physicians said they’d welcome it.

Note the emphasis on tailored content. Physicians are consumers as well as healthcare providers. Sticking ads in their office with no real benefit to them won’t sit well. However, when you leverage highly targeted, specialty-specific education, pharma brand messages are not seen as intrusive, but rather part of a personalized information package that helps providers and patients make better treatment decisions.

This is just a snippet of a broader study – and we are happy to share the learnings.

You’re welcome to dive deeper into the study results by visiting http://patientpoint.com/resources/patient-engagement-technology/

Linda Ruschau

The other night I tucked my nine-year-old son Caleb into bed and closed the door. I walked by his room shortly thereafter expecting him to be out cold. Instead, I heard him belting out “Tresiba rea-dy” in tune with the TV commercial we had seen that day. A few days later I took him for a check-up with the pediatrician and was floored when he requested a prescription for, you guessed it, Tresiba.

Okay, it’s possible I made that last part up, but I’m thinking that the song stuck in Caleb’s head wasn’t the brand recall Novo Nordisk had in mind when they contracted for that jingle.

Whether it’s catchy ditties, adorable characters like Xifaxan’s gut guy, or celebrity endorsements, pharma marketers have been pulling out all the stops to make their brands stand out. While these efforts are unquestionably splashy and often memorable, they don’t necessarily resonate with the right audience. Of course, TV commercials like these have drawn scrutiny from the wrong audience, serving as a magnet for criticism of DTC advertising from the American Medical Association, patient advocacy groups, and Congress.

Pharma TV spend crossed the $4 billion mark for the first time in 2016 and rose even higher in 2017 per Kantar Media. It’s clearly not going anywhere any time soon, but with TV spend still dwarfing digital and other media spend, there is a real opportunity for pharma to get it right on DTC by taking advantage of far more targeted platforms.

TV drug commercials are inevitably going to be irrelevant to a large majority of the audience. Even a commercial involving a highly prevalent disease such as diabetes will be applicable to a limited portion of viewers. And most advertised drugs are for conditions with far smaller patient populations than diabetes. Broadcasting these ads to a large, general audience leads to the exact issues critics point to, namely, higher drug prices to offset huge marketing costs and the mass hypochondria caused by self-diagnosis. Yes, there are some who will gain awareness of a condition they or a loved one may in fact be suffering from or a treatment option they should consider, but most who see these commercials will not.

DTC ads do play an important role in fostering an important doctor-patient conversation around treatment options. Utilizing these ads in the right context is the best way to counter anti-DTC sentiment.

Digital media –Splashing billions of impressions all over the Internet would be no better than the mass marketing of TV. However, both endemically-aligned contextual campaigns and wider data-driven targeting offer far less wasteful DTC options.
Search – Search engine marketing will continue to be a tried and true method. It cuts out the fat by gauging the user’s interest off the bat.
Social Media – Various social platforms offer excellent targeting options to reach those following an organization or individual tied to a given condition. Pharma is certainly still learning how to play within the limitations of social, but with a growing number of people getting health information from social, there’s no doubt it’s a place pharma will want to be.
Point of Care – There are numerous in-office opportunities that allow for targeted, relevant consumer advertising. Such efforts are particularly valuable in specialty offices.

A side benefit of all of the above is that they are immediately actionable – for digital tactics, users can interact with ads or click-through to learn more about a given treatment. For point of care, of course, they can have a conversation with their healthcare provider on the spot.

Each of these avenues avoids the chief criticism of DTC advertising mentioned above. Promotion through proper channels to an audience primed for relevant messaging will cut back on excess doctor’s appointments and will help reduce the burden on the healthcare system. Reallocating budgets and shifting to more focused options will mean efficient marketing budgets and would ultimately help reduce healthcare costs.

Despite mounting pressure to eliminate DTC advertising, pharma can still provide real value for patients in the right environments to help them make important health decisions. There is too much at stake for the pharma industry and other key interests for an all or nothing outcome. In the end, it may come down to more appropriately-targeted, below the radar approaches that serve as a compromise. While Caleb may still get that Tresiba jingle stuck in his head, at least it will be while researching the merits of basal insulin instead of in the middle of watching a Bulls game.

Aryeh Lebeau

Zen Chu, MD, of Accelerated Medical Ventures and senior lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management, said “We’ve got so many new technologies and redesigned experiences impacting both the value we deliver and also the value patients are getting from healthcare.” A SWOT analysis shows that virtual reality (VR) is a novelty that will be become another successful communication marketing platform in the pharmaceutical mass media mix. From the assessment below, the benefits of the strengths and opportunities of VR marketing techniques substantially outweigh the challenges of the weaknesses and threats, which inevitably will decrease over time.

Strengths

Marketing approaches are enhanced with VR by providing more innovative information with immersive storytelling. Patients are exposed to the impacts of their medications by viewing colorful three-dimensional (3D) videos instead of reading dull, long-winded, monotonous drug information in black and white printed materials. The immersive Mechanism of Action (MOA) animation of VR is a full circle video experience with 3D images that provides narrative while stimulating the senses. Spatial audio allows patients to hear information emanating from all directions that result in a blended experience. In-depth sensory perception with VR creates empathy with an inspirational message that takes patients on a journey, captures their full attention, draws them into an encounter with pharmaceuticals, and coerces them into exploring their options while ensuring a memorable experience. Patients are motivated to become engaged with drugs in a resourceful way immediately after a VR pharmaceutical experience, which strengthens the value of VR as a marketing tool.

Weaknesses

Pharmaceutical marketers encounter challenges with the promotion of 3D imaginary visuals, the possible high cost of required equipment, an increase in manpower budgets and the subsequent lower marketing budgets and the lack of technology acceptance. Often times, VR marketers are confronted with the seemingly futile struggle to overcome the fantasy versus reality theme. 3D visuals bring the patient into a conceptual, fantasy world of a fictional environment as opposed to augmented realty (AR) which delivers a physical, real-world environment including sound, video, and graphics generated by computer technology. The cost of the necessary head gear can be expensive which could hinder marketing strategies that would promote it as an easily attainable communication vehicle. The patients’ perception is that it is not worth their investment of time and money considering the high probability of the insignificant value of 3D visuals that are not operational on such devices as iPads. VR campaigns necessitate more staff, such as artists, animators, and copywriters, which escalate the cost of manpower while decreasing the available funding for marketing efforts. Modern technology lacks human interaction in a manner that patients believe is detached and aloof. Simple, high-tech tools such as glasses lack warmth and are devoid of personal touch. Combining medicine with technology is regarded by some patients as standoffish and distant.

Opportunities

The promotion of products with branding, growth of empathy awareness through an imaginative experience, education, and training are all marketing opportunities that engage patients and doctors while increasing sales, drug compliance, and the number of new drug users. VR produces branding by supporting products that stimulate creativity and evoke senses which results in a unique, complete experience rather than merely a visual presentation. Empathy is built when doctors reaffirm to themselves that they chose their medical careers so they could positively influence humanity. VR serves as training and education for doctors with the optimistic outlook that any mistakes would occur during these simulated patient encounters and not in the real world. By presenting in videos the negative impacts on the quality of life with drug non-compliance, doctors are encouraged to prescribe certain therapeutic medications to keep patients on drug therapy for a longer period of time. This not only equates to improved health, but also an increase in sales and market penetration during growth and maturity drug cycles.

Threats

VR marketing strategies are susceptible to exposing the missing value or content, glossing over the specific benefits and risks of the drug, depicting non-compliance with the FDA, and focusing on a flashy fad. The VR experience is an entertaining simulation, but does not always include the requisite information. Striking graphics can overshadow the content. The patient remembers the glitzy presentation while recalling the data as lackluster. As one pharma marketing executive at Ferring Pharmaceuticals said, “Content is king and experience is queen.” Patients may lose interest in the health topic and be unable to identify the positive and negative impacts of the drug after viewing the video for only a few seconds if there is not an angle to keep them focused on the content. Messages are sometimes camouflaged by a great deal of pizzazz; however, they need to be a true representation of the drug that shows compliance with FDA approval and specific industry regulations. Many patients are under the impression that glasses can be easily replaced with the next innovation which may be less associated with a passing, showy toy, and more connected with a modest health apparatus that has longevity in the industry.

In summary, a SWOT analysis outlines the positives of VR pharmaceutical marketing which surpass the negatives. In the near future, challenges will be overcome in at least three ways:

The cost of equipment is decreasing as demand increases and less expensive, more sleekly designed head gear bursts onto the market;
Technology acceptance is growing immeasurably;
More value and content is being added.

Undoubtedly, VR is destined to become the newest, avant-garde media tool in pharma that will increase patient engagement and ROI exponentially while improving patient well-being.

References

Bell, J. (2018). Pharma wades into the world of virtual reality marketing. BioPharma Dive.

Best ways to use virtual and augmented reality for pharma. (2017). Viseven.

Champagne, D., Hung, A. and Leclerc, O. (2018). The road to digital success in pharma. Pharmaceuticals and Medical Products.

How is the pharma industry marketing today in 2018? (2018). #TrendTalks.

Senson, A. (2015). “Virtual reality in healthcare: where’s the innovation?” TechCrunch.

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A revolution in pharma marketing

Did you know?

72% of patients go online to learn about their condition.
And 1 in 4 turn to the internet before speaking to a doctor.
Yet only 3% of healthcare advertising budget is spent on digital. And most digital DTC advertising is ineffective.

Are you making the most of DTC digital advertising? This summer, DTC Perspectives and MetrixLab partnered up to bring you a webinar led by Frank Chipman, MetrixLab’s SVP and Healthcare Practice Leader. Click here to watch the recording of the 40-minute webinar to find out how pharmaceutical brands can benefit from this huge opportunity, including coverage on:

The benefits of and growing focus on DTC digital advertising for pharma brands;
Clear guidelines on how to significantly improve the impact and ROI of your DTC digital ads;
A short Q&A session following the presentation.

For more on this topic, you can also read MetrixLab’s whitepaper about digital advertising for pharma companies. Plus, discover some best practices for effective pharma and OTC Facebook mobile ads, as revealed in their recent study for Facebook.

Click here to view the original posting of this content.

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