The following post and linked full article is co-authored with David Davenport-Firth, Executive VP, Health Behaviour Strategy & Intervention, Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide
The model for marketing healthcare brands is changing. There are many voices for health, pharmaceutical, and “wellness” products. When we are creating materials for a brand, we should look at the users for who they are: people who are motived by their own needs, interests, desires, and constraints. They have infinite choices and a myriad of sources for information on pharmaceutical products and can chose from as many types of narratives, stories, and styles of storytelling.
Do you know who maintains the authority position online or off for your brand or condition? Equally as important: who commands the largest share of voice? Pharmaceutical brands need to use their expertise and research to be THE canonical resource for their product when physicians, patients, and caregivers want to really understand a therapy. This is why creating for behavior change is so critical in a competitive market.
Marketers have to move quickly to surface on their users’ radar. Patients, caregivers, and even healthcare professionals have little opportunity to read every article to compare all sources to determine the most authoritative website or author. They are typically motivated through a discovery process that is difficult to navigate and often fraught with difficult literature and conflicting opinion. This motivation is typically one driver of many. Pharmaceutical and healthcare brands need to be consistent and persistent to reach audiences.
Message and Volume
The modern patient, caregiver, and physician all have access to a limitless well of information. The availability of information creates a massive challenge for both user and content creator. For many users, what they are drawn to is the content that they find “favorable.” The information that is accessible, visual, easily discoverable, and even appearing first in search engines may not be the best information. This is the challenge, and opportunity, for the modern healthcare communicator.
