Pharma-Bytes

Customer Relationship Marketing or Customer Experience Marketing… Does it really matter?

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000

Many companies today are struggling with how to provide real value to their customers and differentiate themselves from the competition. One approach that many have tried is to implement Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM) programs to acquire, convert, and retain prospects and customers with the ultimate goal of creating loyal brand champions.

While this approach has been a step in the right direction of creating longer-term, more valuable relationships with customers, is an approach based on ACQUIRING, CONVERTING, and RETAINING really customer-centric? Or is this approach more brand-centric and focused on companies TELLING their customers what they want them to know about their brands and how THEY have determined customers will add value to their lives?

Of course, many companies invest time and resources in identifying key insights that inform the development of their CRM programs, but how much do they really understand the entire customer experience and how they could better design their brands and services to add value?

A different approach to answer this question is to focus on Customer Experience Management (CEM) vs. Customer Relationship Marketing. They may sound similar, but the approaches are very different. CEM focuses completely on the customers first and foremost and on identifying how you can add value throughout their entire experience with your brands and services.

CEM starts by conducting a Customer Experience Audit, where you map each step of the customer journey and identify the key moments of truth where decisions are being made. Within these key moments you identify what people are thinking, feeling, and doing. This informs key insights around needs, emotions, and behaviors that you can use to create opportunities for delivering real, tangible value for your customers. It’s this deeper, more meaningful relationship with customers that will deliver the loyalty and business impact for the companies who do it right.

Just think about the companies and brands who have delivered that type of EXPERIENCE for you. Maybe Apple, Nordstrom, Starbucks or Amazon? How loyal are you to their brands? And how often do you play an advocacy role for them without even knowing it?

While a true CEM approach has the potential to transform your entire organization, since it should be incorporated into all aspects of your business, you can start small and build from there. Maybe customers are trying to access support resources during the “doing” phase of their experience across several of your brands. Maybe you've organized the resources by brand, because that is how you are internally structured. But your customers may want to access them differently, so make it a better experience for them even if it doesn't align to your internal structures or budgets. Remember, true CEM is about them, not you; and how they interact with and talk about your brand ultimately controls your brand’s destiny.

Or what if a customer who was feeling overwhelmed and scared after the diagnosis of a serious condition called your call center for assistance after starting one of your brands and you were able to greet her with the knowledge that she is already enrolled in a support program via her physician’s office, walk her step-by-step through how to use your brand using content from your website and then deliver additional support resources immediately after the call. All because you took the time to connect your call center system to your marketing database. And what if you actually contacted the customer first, anticipating her specific needs?

These are just a few examples of how CEM can enhance your customers’ experience and create more value for your customers and you. So start mapping out your customer experiences and find those moments to add value throughout their journeys. And feel free to email me at bmuha@roskahealthcare.com to discuss any of the tools we use in conducting the experience audit.

By Bob Muha, Vice President, Commercial Strategy, Roska Healthcare Advertising

“Need-to-Know” Metrics in a Multichannel World

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 16:57:00 +0000

We live in a multichannel world where we reach our audience when and where they’re most receptive. Multichannel marketing (MCM) exposes target audiences to brand messages using various types of media, including TV, radio, desktop, mobile, and social media. In this environment it is difficult, sometimes impossible, to make a direct connection between a tactic and a sale. And it is frequently irrelevant. What really matters most is your ability to capture the brand essence, engage your audience, and inspire them to take action. That happens over time through various campaigns and tactics. This ultimately is what drives sales.

Measurement is absolutely essential, but only when you measure elements that inform business decisions. These are the “need-to-know” metrics that influence sales. Otherwise, you are just crunching numbers for the sake of crunching numbers. For more insights, watch the video of the Direct Marketing Association’s interview with Roska Healthcare’s SVP of Planning, Metrics, and Analytics, Chuck McLeester, below.

What Do You Measure in a MCM World?
So what do you need to measure and why? At the Direct Marketing Association National Conference last month, Chuck McLeester identified four key areas to measure that impact business decisions and drive sales.

Know where you start: Do benchmark research on brand awareness and measure the effect of increased brand awareness on sales
Leverage every possible opportunity: Uncover hidden sales among non-responders by comparing the sales file to direct mail and e-mail solicitation files
Measure the impact of each engagement: Create a customer engagement score to quantify how each interaction with a customer contributes to overall sales
People are talking…listen and learn: Monitor conversations about your brand in social media and assign a dollar value to the brand conversation

Check out Chuck’s presentation here to find out how to develop and use these brand/business building metrics.

So what measurement camp are you in—measure everything, or strictly use metrics on a “need-to-know” basis? E-mail me or post a comment below and let me know what you think.

Video transcript
So, the fact is that direct marketing measurement has changed dramatically now that we have a multichannel world. Many marketers struggle with attribution in this multichannel world. They want to know exactly where that order came from…what channel influenced the order. And my philosophy is that you only need to measure things that you’re going to make business decisions about.

So, if you are trying to attribute an order to a specific channel because you want to eliminate the under-performing channels, then great…you’re going to need some kind of an algorithm or some kind of a sophisticated method to attribute orders. But, if you’re convinced that, you know, you’re going to have a true multichannel strategy that reaches across all the channels and builds brand awareness at the same time that it’s generating response, then it doesn’t really matter how you attribute that order because you’re not going to eliminate any of the channels anyway.

When I decide to send a friend, flowers from 1-800-FLOWERS, and I type 1-800-FLOWERS into the web, it’s not something that’s attributable to a particular promotion. It’s something that is attributable to the brand essence that they’ve created over time in a multichannel environment.

Are Old-School Ideas About MCM Holding You Back?

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 15:29:00 +0000

The term multichannel marketing (MCM) confuses many people in our industry—often with good reason. Many marketers believe that developing an effective MCM campaign means nothing more than carrying a consistent look and feel of their core creative across a variety of media, only to be dismayed when their MCM campaign yields less-than-expected results.

The truth is, although the concept of MCM is centered on creative continuity across media, it’s much more than that. In order to achieve success, multiple forms of media must work seamlessly with one another to reach the audience when and where they’re most receptive. In pharma, this means connecting with doctors, patients, and caregivers online, in the car, on the train, at the doctor’s office, or wherever else they are throughout the course of their professional or personal healthcare journey. By paying close attention to the wants and needs of various stakeholder segments, and delivering your message through the medium that’s most effective for each, you’ll develop the capability to create an MCM campaign that truly works wonders for your brand.

7 Key Benefits of Doing MCM Right

Customer information and insights derived from such an effort help maximize brand strategy and segmentation while allowing for reinforcement of brand messages
A well-devised MCM strategy can help you recognize key appropriate customers across multiple channels, allowing for future channel development
Channel integration and touch-point strategy can deliver a differentiated customer experience. Cadence and frequency are important to story flow
Channel innovation—using best practices and the best technologies—provides a seamless delivery of the desired customer experience across all channels
Digital can be woven throughout MCM so it does not act in a silo, but forms the connective tissue of the campaign that’s always on and available 24/7
Coordinated channel execution supports the design, delivery, monitoring, and measurement of solutions for customers—ensuring better return on investment
Keeping the best customers engaged exclusively with your brand will support a measurable ROI

While there’s a science to the strategic development of a well-designed MCM program, there are simple Goals and Results exercises you can go through at the start of the process that will begin forming the underpinnings of your program’s success. Check out a recent example of the Goals and Results exercise we recently published in a PM360 eSource column.

By David Zaritsky, President and Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital & Science Officer Roska Healthcare Advertising

Top 3 Ways to Get Crowdsourcing to Work in Pharma

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 14:04:00 +0000

Crowdsourcing—posing questions through social media to gauge public opinion on a particular topic—can be one of the most effective ways to quickly and inexpensively gain patient or caregiver insights around a particular disease, condition, or treatment. If time and money are scarce (such as for new business initiatives), you can use one of the many survey software tools available to kick-start your exploratory research efforts as you get to know your target audience and their issues. Although crowdsourcing may seem like a scattershot way to do this, there are 3 important tips that can help ensure that you get a good response to a handful of open- or close-ended questions—quickly:

1. Distribute your survey in relevant forums with high day-to-day traffic

The most important factor in the success of a crowdsourcing initiative is ensuring that your survey reaches the right audience where they reside online. Many failed CS surveys fall short due to a lack of targeted forums on which they can be posted or low traffic on the forums that do exist. If that’s the case for your topic, consider purchasing a distribution list from the research software company to supplement your CS sample. HOWEVER, you may be better off doing a traditional survey—especially if the list provider charges on a pay-per-complete basis; otherwise, you could end up paying for sample you drummed up via your social media posts.

2. Incentivize respondents by allowing them to compare results with others or download exclusive information

Everyone likes to know that they’re “normal” and wants to understand how their results compare to others. So, as a no-cost incentive to complete your survey, you can allow respondents to see how others have answered. Or, by selecting the appropriate survey distribution method, you can direct respondents to your website to download an exclusive PDF on a topic that will likely be of interest to them.

3. Add urgency to the invite and help it “go viral”

By defining a particular time period for completion in order to receive the incentive, you can drive respondents to take action immediately, which is always the best-case scenario. Also, since “birds of a feather flock together,” encourage respondents to send the survey to others with the same condition to spread it virally—even inserting a Tweet button in your survey, if it makes sense to do so.

In summary, crowdsourcing is an extremely valuable tool when employed effectively, and if you keep these simple tips in mind, you can begin the process of exploratory research with your target audience—at minimum cost and effort.

By Geri Kupcha, Research Director Roska Healthcare Advertising

Roska Healthcare Hosts Our Favorite Canines for Take Your Dog to Work Day®

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:40:00 +0000

Roska Healthcare recently took part in the national Take Your Dog to Work Day^®, when quite a few canines (and their owners) had a chance to run around, play, and let off some steam. Having dogs scurrying in and out of offices and wrestling with each other in conference rooms isn’t only fun for them; it’s great for everyone working here. It helps bring teams together and provides needed break from deadlines and status meetings.

Trent and his two-legged friend Lauren

In addition to being a blast for all involved, the event had a greater purpose. As part of Roska HealthCares, the agency’s community outreach initiative, it directly benefited The Humane League of Philadelphia. The agency and its employees raised more than $1200, filling an entire truck with pet supplies, from treats and toys to beds and balls. All of this went directly to help neglected and abused animals in the Philadelphia area. Days like this help keep our creative juices flowing and bring great energy to the workplace, all while providing important support to our community. It’s a win-win situation!

Looking forward to next year!

Creating the Social Media Buzz You Want Without the Regulatory Headaches You Don’t

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 14:28:00 +0000

In pharma, we’re all well aware of the regulatory hoops that we often have to jump through—even to get something as simple as a consumer brochure or an e-mail approved. We adapt, revise, push, compromise, and ultimately come out with a mutually-agreeable result.

In social media—the next big frontier for patient-centric marketing—we’re faced with a whole new set of concerns. They’re rooted in users’ ability to freely comment and exacerbated by the FDA’s lack of explicit guidance on the matter. So how can you leverage the power and intimacy of social media while maintaining regulatory compliance?

In his white paper, “Make Social Media Fundamentals Work for You,” my colleague Chuck McLeester, Senior VP of Planning at Roska Healthcare Advertising, explains that the industry’s reluctance to dive into the social media space doesn’t mean that there aren’t effective, targeted ways to reach your audience while ensuring that everyone feels comfortable with the result. There’s a myriad of great examples out there, and all have one thing in common; they put the patient first and the brand second.

Read Chuck’s advice on leveraging the 3Ps–personalization, personification, and projection–to develop a social media strategy that will benefit patient and brand alike.

By Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital & Science Officer Roska Healthcare Advertising

What Would Make Me Want To Go To A Conference Where I Was The Speaker?

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 22:02:00 +0000

Like you, I’ve attended a lot of conferences. Some of them have been great. Others, not so much. Often, it comes down to the way the information is presented. I think the human brain may only have so much capacity for slide shows and PowerPoint presentations. This summer I got invited to speak at ePharma Summit West on a topic near and dear to me—metrics. I figured I’d use it as my chance to offer something different: take-home strategies that can actually move the needle on brands.

The old metrics models—traffic, repeat visits, page views, time on site—are passive models that don’t work. Measurement needs to be woven into your brand marketing from inception. And a solid metrics and measurement plan, these days, have to actively add to your brand momentum.

So that’s what I’ll be doing at the interactive session I’ll be running at ePharma Summit West on July 17-19, 2012, in San Francisco. Live from the stage I’ll be interacting with you (if you attend), discussing your measurement programs and developing solutions that advance your brand objectives. I’m calling it, “Now That You’ve Built It, How Do You Measure Its Success?” We’ll be taking this topic down out of the clouds with real customer data for real pharma brands—anonymous, of course. We’ll talk about correlational analysis (correlational what?). We’ll get deep down into it. I want to know what you’re measuring and why, then show you what we’re doing, so you can develop a solution-oriented understanding of how to measure the success of your digital assets. I promise nothing corporate.

By the time we’re done you’ll be using correlational analysis to know which variables drive “volume response” and which drive “quality response.” You’ll understand how CRM entry points correlate to adherence. Whether your media spend is reducing your response gap, and whether media runs are increasing your CRM registration. It may not sound like the most exciting stuff in the world—until it starts working for your brand. Then it’s “giddyup!”

ePharma Summit West will be held this year at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, July 17-19. If you want to talk one-on-one about defining what really counts for your brand, and how to develop a measurement strategy that gets results through correlational analysis, let’s catch up for a drink or the breakout sessions at the show.

By Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital & Science Officer Roska Healthcare Advertising

2012 Best Manny Video Award: Part Creative Execution & Part Social Experiment

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 18:50:00 +0000

This year, we were fortunate enough to be selected as a Best Brand Team finalist in the 2012 Manny Awards. While we didn’t win for our Best Brand Team Award submission, we did take home the Best Manny Video Submission Award. In a pretty cool move by MedAd News (the Manny Awards organizer) the honor was awarded via American Idol-style voting live during the awards, where voters would text to vote for their entry―and that’s where the fun really kicked in.

Part Creative Execution

Instead of offering a video chocked full of more information about the agency’s work, the team decided to create a video that not only played to our strengths in metrics and analytics, but also told the truth
about what the audience at the Manny Awards was really thinking.

Watch the video now

Part Social Experiment

When voting opened, the agency team attending the awards show not only cast their votes, they also quickly set a very interesting—if not entirely selfless—social experiment into motion. Leveraging text, Twitter, Facebook, and other social sharing connections they use every day, the group got a grassroots, word-of-mouth campaign going that got results. It unfolded something like this:

8:00 PM      21 votes from Roska Healthcare team
8:01 PM      43 texts sent to Roska Healthcare “friends” asking for votes
                  (+mass text requests to an agency member’s contact file)
8:10 PM      3 Facebook posts
8:15 PM      2 tweets sent
8:20 PM      1 LinkedIn update
10:40 PM     Roska Healthcare awarded Best Manny Video Award

Final Thought

The awards show and experiment above underscore the powerful combination of killer creative and smart targeted marketing, to get results. Put another way, you can have the best creative in the world, but without a robust promotional plan―nobody will know it exists. Killer creatives go hand in hand with killer marketing strategies. If they’re not working together, no amount of tweeting in the world is going to make a difference.
By Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital & Science Officer Roska Healthcare Advertising

Measurement Strategies In Pharma: Need-To-Know vs. Nice-To-Know

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Thu, 24 May 2012 12:58:00 +0000

These days it seems as if everyone’s measuring everything in pharmaceutical marketing. Images of the pharma industry hustling around gathering up massive amounts of data points and producing tons of PowerPoint slides most recently come to mind. But is all that activity producing nice-to-know information, versus need-to-know information critical to moving the business forward?

One of my colleagues, Chuck McLeester, is a Professor of Research and Statistics at Temple University. He believes the explosion of computer analytics is a double-edged sword for pharma marketers. Chuck recently wrote an interesting white paper on it, The Golden Age of Measurement Or The Ice Age Of Metrics?, which I recommend.

Let your marketing objectives drive your metrics efforts. The other way around doesn’t work.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for accountability. Budgets are tight. All the more reason to be making sure your data gathering is efficient, effective, and goal-oriented. What you should be doing as a result of the numbers you collect isn’t always self-evident. Data has to be interpreted. Some metrics can even mask others that may be more fundamental to your marketing objectives. Unless your metrics program is moored to a solid marketing strategy, it’s easy to get swept away in a sea of analytics.

Are you measuring what you need to know? Or, still stuck in what’s nice to know? Email me or post a comment below and let me know your thoughts.

By Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital & Science Officer
Roska Healthcare Advertising

Is That Conference Worth Your Time? 3 Things to Look for In A Pharma Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:50:00 +0000

Let’s be honest about pharma marketing conferences―some of them are better than others. The best conferences usually leave me buzzing with ideas, energized and armed to the teeth with actionable strategies I can put into play when I get back to the office. Others, not so much (and honestly I can’t afford the time to attend those). So it got me thinking about what I really look for in a pharmaceutical conference when deciding whether or not to attend.

Is the conference designed to solve brand challenges?
I want everything-the agenda, the speakers, even the conference format—to be focused on helping brands move the ball forward. Toward that goal, I expect, quality information to be presented leading to a robust exchange of ideas. Conferences that solve real brand challenges are worth their weight in gold.
Is the format engaging and highly interactive?
Are the tracks fresh and alive? Do the sessions invite a free-flow sharing of big ideas? Look for conferences offering working sessions where guest speakers get down into the weeds with you and your brand. The eyeforpharma conference that I’ll be attending in June (I’ll be moderating a number of discussions and participating in a panel discussion) on mobile strategies for pharma, for example, puts thought leaders to work to help participants work through real-world brand challenges. When thought leaders roll up their sleeves and get real (versus just presenting a PowerPoint), it often facilitates peer-to-peer discussions that drive exceptional value.
Is the conference “Brand-focused” vs. “Corporate-focused”
Many conferences fail because the speakers focus on corporate initiatives that don’t connect with the realities of everyday brand challenges. Don’t get me wrong, they’re often great speakers with great ideas – but the wrong focus for brand initiatives. If the conference is peppered here and there with brand managers, marketing managers, and a few OPDP representatives, you may want to steer clear. If it’s littered, or even dominated, with these speakers and the criteria listed in number 1 and 2 above are looking good, that might be the conference you simply cannot afford to miss.

In June I’ll be running a number of sessions at eyeforpharma on effective ways of integrating mobile into your marketing strategy. And, June 13th I’ll be participating in Session 5’s panel discussion, along with three big pharma directors, on how we’re using mobile to engage with customers worldwide.

If you’re attending Mobile Strategy for Pharma 2012, shoot me an e-mail and let me know if you want to get real during the conference, solve real problems, or even brainstorm big ideas over a cocktail at the end of the day.

By Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital & Science Officer Roska Healthcare Advertising

Pinning It: Using Pinterest to Drive Deeper Patient Engagement

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:21:00 +0000

Pinterest Landscape
Like “Linsanity,” Pinterest, the newest darling of the social media space, has come, seemingly from out of nowhere, to sweep the imagination of millions of women and quite a few men. Pinterest allows users to virtually pin images to self-styled “boards,” everything from favorite books and places you’d love to visit to home makeover ideas.

And, as with any trend, there are marketers trying to figure out how to capitalize on it. Much has been written about the fact that Pinterest has driven more traffic to online publishers than Twitter. And for retailers, the opportunities seem endless, whether it’s Etsy driving traffic to their site from pins of their handcrafted goods or Kate Spade re-pinning images that customers post featuring products from the brand that they love.

What About Healthcare?
In October, we wrote a post about applying what we call The 3Ps to creating acceptance — an integral part of moving patients from awareness to action.

Personalization acknowledges their condition, provides empathy and emulates
the “loved-one connection” as defined in the Edelman Health Engagement Barometer.
Personification uses life moments to allow patients to see themselves, painting a realisticpicture of the potential problem and solutions.
Projection provides a ‘roadmap’ for action and empowers patients to take responsibility for their health/well-being.

Storytelling is one way that the 3Ps can be incorporated into messaging so that brand communications can be incorporate personalization (in look and feel to a particular patient ‘type’)personification (allowing patients to “see themselves”), and projection (giving patients hope for their future, even when they are uncertain about their long-term prognosis).
Absent clear-cut guidance from the FDA, many brands have shied away from engaging with patients in the social media space, preferring to post patient stories on brand.com websites, instead of going to where groups of patients are likely to be found, which many agree is a missed opportunity.

So, although medical/legal/regulatory pharma challenges and copyright infringement issues relative to images will need to be addressed, Pinterest may well be the vehicle to drive the 3Ps to another level. I propose that patient ambassadors contracted to speak on behalf of the brand may use images pinned to Pinterest to represent more of the essence of who they are, what they believe in and, by proxy, what the brand represents.

Consider the examples below which were pulled from various Pinterest pages.

Personalization How are you feeling words and images relevant to people who are fighting depression.Personification I Fight Like a Girl showcases images from a photo-essay project of the same name created to support breast cancer survivors.

Projection Inspired Healing contains “images that remind me that while we may not be cured, we can always be healed.”

Key Takeaway
Even if patient ambassadors do not directly speak about a product, they do represent your brand, which means they should be trained like anyone else you contract to speak on the company’s behalf. And in this virtual space, the company becomes responsible for re-pins, comments, etc. So while this has the power to drive patient engagement to a deeper level, consider whether, ultimately, the effort is worth the reward.

What do you think about the risk/benefit equation of Pinterest and pharma? Comment below or contact me directly.

By Kimberly Clotman, VP, Group Account Director Roska Healthcare Advertising

Crowdsourcing In Pharma: Engaging Patients & Caregivers To Shape Your Campaigns

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 13:21:00 +0000

Engaging patients and caregivers through social media to help solve your marketing problems and shape campaigns designed to target them may sound adventurous, odd, or even downright scary to your med/legal team (go here to download the full copy of the whitepaper).

Today, marketing to consumers is about meeting the needs of individuals, reaching out to them in their online spaces, and integrating into their daily lives. Doctors diagnose patients and prescribe treatment regimens unique to the needs of each individual patient. To get the best results, your marketing campaign should do the same. That’s where crowdsourcing comes in.
Crowdsourcing is a way to quickly obtain feedback and direction from relevant online audiences about your campaign/communications challenge—think of crowdsourcing as a cross between a
focus group and a quantitative survey. To better determine the role crowdsourcing could play in pharma, we decided to conduct a social experiment.

THE SOCIAL EXPERIMENT
We kept the exercise simple and designed a crowdsourcing experiment that enlisted caregivers of cancer patients, asking them to better define their needs and perceived duties around the task of care giving, and simply asked them what they needed from a support program. What we learned opened our eyes to the power and passion of individuals.

ENGAGING THE CROWD
A short survey consisting of just three questions was designed and pushed out to 37 different online groups across several social media channels, including Facebook, LinkedIn, and forums—all were cancer-related social networks. I used my real name, my actual Gmail account (or forum-specific identity for transparency), and clearly stated that I was interested in creating better caregiver/patient support programs.

EYE-OPENING RESULTS
Twenty-five responses were received within 24 hours of the program launch, representing half of the 50 total completes received during the seven-day experiment. While we can’t fit all of the findings from the crowd in this post, two key findings came across loud and clear.

Caregivers of cancer patients need help with the basics of everyday life.
80% of the crowd felt keeping their patient in good spirits and making sure their patient took their medication were top of the list. Following close behind were providing transportation, performing chores/shopping, and attending doctor appointments with the patient for whom they provide care. And, the caregivers stated they needed more than a great patient-support program. They needed support in taking care of themselves, getting a break to avoid burnout, and keeping their own attitudes positive.
Providing day-to-day medical management is the job of the healthcare team.
Only 35% of the crowd felt they should be monitoring their patient’s progress or taking vital signs. Similarly, just 35% of the crowd felt they should be advising their patients about treatment options. Simply put, the majority of the crowd doesn’t feel they need support here and rely on the doctors and treatment teams to provide this level of support.

While not a representative sample of the entire caregiver universe, the findings from our experiment are invaluable. We were able to intercept caregivers in their online spaces, while they go about their daily lives, and engage them to help us refine our support programs to meet their individual needs. The final gem from the experiment? Several caregivers proactively reached out to me asking if they could do more—even participate in a patient advisory board.
How are you leveraging social media and the crowd in new and innovative ways to deliver more relevant content and value? E-mail me or post a comment below to discuss what’s working for you and how you’re blazing new trails.

By Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital & Science Officer Roska Healthcare Advertising

Click Heat Tracking—Going Beyond Basic Website Analytics to Optimize The User Experience

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:55:00 +0000

Your team has spent hours at a whiteboard dreaming up the concept. The technology and creative departments have spent long nights with their heads down crafting the visuals, architecting information, and designing the user experience. The end result is your website—the online representation of your brand. You turn it live and unleash it into the digital ecosystem.

Now what?

Building your website is only half the battle, knowing exactly how your audience (be they healthcare professionals, patients or caregivers) is interacting with your site is the other half. While there are lots of great analytic tools out there that will dump enough numerical data on you to cry “Uncle”, (we wrote another post on defining metrics and why you should be diligent) how do you really know where visitors are clicking on your website so you can refine the design, and continually evolve the experience to better meet the needs of your audience?

That’s where click tracking comes into play.

About Click Tracking and Heat Maps
Through a combination of proprietary technology and third-party software, our agency is able to generate visual “heat map” overlays of where visitors to our sites are clicking. Think of it as a transparent touchpad overlay on top of a website. Every time a visitor clicks, or “touches” the screen, that interaction is recorded and used to generate a heat map—showing where visitors are clicking and, most important, where they are not.

Putting Practice Into Play
I’ll use our own recent website re-launch to illustrate that insights gained through data visualization is not just good for pharma—it’s good for any industry.

Below is both a clean screenshot of the “About” section of our website, and an export of what this page actually looks like from a user engagement/interaction standpoint (the brighter/more intense the color the greater number of clicks—think Doppler radar from your local weather station).

In the example above, four key insights can be gained about visitor engagement:

Top navigation is providing access to content as intended—visitors are clicking the “Strengths” section most frequently from this section.
Left rail navigation is functioning well—“Careers” subnav clicked the most, reinforcing the success of our most recent staff recruiting campaign.
Visitors are using contextual deep links—accessing/engaging with more content on the site.
No interaction/engagement is transferring over to our social properties (Pharma-Bytes blog, @RoskaDigital Twitter feed, SlideShare, or LinkedIn channels).

While the first three insights support what we’re doing right, and successful areas of the user experience, the fourth insight is equally important. No clicks on these icons informs us that one of two things are occurring—visitors to our agency website are getting what they need and are not interested in ancillary content/properties, or we haven’t yet optimized the location/representation of the value of these areas on the site.

Generating Results Combining hard metrics (those generated from tools like Google Analytics, Omniture, etc.) to identify opportunities to optimize traffic sources and content, with softer click tracking to optimize design and user experience, results in online experiences that are highly tailored to the needs of customers. By utilizing this method of measurement and optimization we were able to realize a significant boost in activity and engagement with our brand.

200% increase in traffic
100% increase in new visitors
1.2x increase in time spent on site amongst repeat visitors
95% increase in overall page views
Significant increase in contact with our agency leaders driven from web traffic
Increased in-bound requests for earned media opportunities

How are you visualizing and optimizing your online engagements? E-mail me or post a comment below to discuss what’s working for you and most important, what’s not.

By Heather Brady, Digital Campaign Planner Roska Healthcare Advertising

Einstein On Pharmaceutical Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Advertising

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:53:00 +0000

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein

Was Albert Einstein thinking about DTC advertising in the pharmaceutical marketing space when he uttered this famous quote? Probably not, but it’s certainly applicable to the current DTC advertising model.

Traditional DTC marketing is based on the premise that consumer 'awareness' of a problem will propel them to take 'action' (usually in the form of asking their doctor about an Rx brand or inquiring about a medical condition). The reality is that most consumers are caught in a gap between awareness and action. They never go and see their doctors based on traditional DTC advertising and marketing campaigns (to be completely truthful, about 1% actually take action, which is still abysmal).

So, as communication experts, if our goal is to maximize the number of patients who take action, we need to engage them, gain their acceptance, and form the bridge between awareness and action—

Acceptance that their conditions and/or symptoms require medical intervention
Acceptance that Rx treatment is a positive step toward better health
Acceptance that their physicians’ recommendations and treatment plan is the right course of action

Being the scientist and intellect that he was, Einstein probably would have approached the problem of acceptance through research and insights (and then develop a theory, model and prove it out to ‘law’). Several pivotal studies he might have looked at would have examined the psychology of acceptance—the Health Belief Model, the Prochaska Transtheoretical Model, the Kübler-Ross Grief Theory— all indicating that acceptance is not a single event but a mindset continuum. And from these studies, three distinct stages (patient mindsets) along this acceptance continuum would be defined:

Avoidance
Assessment
Acknowledgement

While Einstein never sought to figure out how to bridge the acceptance gap, a group of very smart people at our agency took on the task and proved out a solution. It’s called The Catalyst Brand Acceptance Model and it’s designed to move patients from awareness to acceptance and ultimately action.

It is important to understand that each stage along the acceptance continuum presents different, often difficult hurdles for patients as they grapple with all aspects of accepting their medical conditions. However, it is these patient challenges that also provide real opportunity for us to offer engaging, proactive solutions.

Uncovering the motivating factors and developing communications that specifically apply to all three stages (denial, assessment, acknowledgement) propels patients along the acceptance continuum toward taking action. As marketers, by motivating patients through these stages of acceptance, we accomplish three important things:

Help drive the patient decision-making process
Increase the number of patients who take the desired action
Maximize the brand ROI

By understanding the psychology of acceptance and creating more effective healthcare communications, we motivate more patients to take action, talk with their physicians and initiate appropriate treatment to address their medical conditions.

Do you think Einstein would agree the Catalyst Brand Acceptance Model can improve your direct-to-consumer campaigns? Contact me directly, or drop a comment in the box below and let me know your thoughts.

By Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital & Science Officer

Pharma Marketing: What Are We Measuring and Why?

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:39:00 +0000

Metrics and measurement are more important than ever. Management is increasingly focused on accountability and ROI, and metrics dashboards powered by multiple sources ensure that we can measure anything.

Google Analytics tallies, rolls-up, drills down and dissects whatever you tag. Internal data like rep territories, sales calls, patient databases, etc. can be married with external databases like physician prescribing data, census data, disease incidence, allergy indices, etc. Add it all up and you get data soup.

The Dashboard Trap
Just because your dashboard can measure everything doesn’t mean you should. We’ve become so obsessed with what we can count that we’ve lost track of why we’re counting. You need a carefully thought-out measurement plan that’s tied directly to your objectives, one that provides only actionable information that drives decisions.

An account manager asked me, "How should we code the various opt-in vehicles to track how many patients opt-in from each?" My question back was, "Why do you want to know? What decision does it drive? You won’t eliminate any opt-in vehicles because you want to give patients the opportunity to opt-in at every touch point."

The manager replied, "Well, don’t you think that would be nice to know?"

As you evaluate what data to collect ask yourself: What is nice to know vs. need to know? Is the information actionable? Does it relate to my objectives?

4 Key Measurement Questions
When putting together your next pharmaceutical marketing or advertising campaign, here are four questions to ask that will streamline your measurement plan:

1. What are we trying to accomplish? Clearly define your objectives and get management’s buy in.

2. What are the key metrics? Only track metrics related to your objectives. You’ll find you need less than "everything but the kitchen sink".

3. Where do I get the data? Be selective with data points, especially online metrics. Of course you’ll need more metrics to define website engagement than you will just to count opt-ins, but focus on the most important points of engagement. You don’t need to track every possible navigation path and page view.

4. How quickly and how frequently do I need the data?
Some things you need to know right away; others can wait. A basic tenet of decision analysis is calculating the value of information. The cost of obtaining information should be less than the value of the information itself. You’ll pay a premium to get IMS Rx data earlier, and staff hours add up quickly to generate daily or weekly reports across all metrics, so choose wisely.

Why Less Is More In Pharma Marketing
You might think it’s best to collect all the information you can get just in case you need it. If you think that senior management appreciates all this data, you may want to reconsider. Efficient measurement is tied to objectives. Management will appreciate your concise focus when you report back only the metrics that are related to your objectives.

If this post got your analytics juices flowing, go here for the blog post I did last year on unbranded DTC promotion and measuring the ROI. Or. access the full article published in PM360.

How are you measuring your pharma marketing and advertising campaigns? Email me or post a comment below.

By Chuck McLeester, Senior VP Planning, Metrics & Analytics
Roska Healthcare Advertising

For Pharmaceutical Advertising It’s Time to Think Inside the Box

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:21:00 +0000

Out of the box thinking is gold. It can differentiate me-too brands in competitive markets and increase profits. Clients demand it. Awards laud and applaud it. But it can also be a double-edged sword, often pushing the boundaries of what can and can’t be said, leading to an overstatement of efficacy, omission and/or minimization of risk information and making unsubstantiated superiority claims (the three most common violations sited by the FDA in 2009 – 2011).
Agency creative teams often complain that creativity isn’t possible within the box (confines) of regulatory guidance. However, what if we change the focus? Instead of trying to push the boundaries “out”, we push them “in”, focusing on advertising that falls well within the government and FDA guidelines. This sea change requires us to do something counter-intuitive. Think inside the box.
Inside – The New Outside.
Let’s start with the understanding that creativity isn’t defined by the size of the box, but how our solutions resonate within it. Here are a few of my thoughts about how to start thinking “inside the box”:

Ensure the agency’s creative team is rooted and grounded in the scientific rigor of the product and disease state. A deeper dive into the data and science will uncover hidden gems and opportunities. As a result, creative concepts will be more compelling, convincing, and a well-supported source of authority.
Foster an innate connection between the medical and creative teams. Bring them together early in the process and have them joined at the hip through the conceptual stages. Medically relevant creative solutions will soon outshine those ubiquitous, clichéd, formulaic offerings that fail to communicate substantial messages.
Engage the medical/legal/regulatory team early in the creative development. Ask them to review initial concepts. By doing so, you often avoid the situation where sweeping wholesale judgments must be made at the eleventh hour.

When the agency team truly embraces change and understands the parameters of “the box”, they’ll find opportunities galore (and the need to rewrite marketing claims to comply with warning letters will be a thing of the past).

Do you believe now is the time to focus on brilliant “in the box” thinking? Or do you think the existing model is doing just fine? Email me your thoughts and start a positive dialogue.
By Jay Bolling, President & CEO
Roska Healthcare Advertising

4 Mobile Marketing Must Haves

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:07:00 +0000

The mobile revolution is here. While the word revolution gets overused, the point is, you need a mobile strategy to reach audiences on the go (whether they are healthcare professionals, patients or caregivers). For this post, I boiled down the mass of information and strategies out there to create a quick, insider’s guide to mobile. So, here you go:

1.Right-size Your Content. DON’T take your entire brand.com website and try and make it mobile friendly. It won’t be. Instead, serve up pared back content that gives your audience only what they need—while they’re on the go.

2. Integrate Into Everyday Life. Physicians, nurses, patients and caregivers are not technologists. They just happen to be people who use technology as a part of their everyday life. Ensure your content, app, whatever—make their jobs easier. Make the management of their disease easier. Make their discussion with one another easier and more productive.

3. Make It Easy to Find. You put a lot of time and money into your solution. But nobody’s going to use your great solution if they can’t find it. So, market it. Optimize it for mobile search. Promote it using mobile media and traditional/digital channels.

4. Measure Your Success. Put the metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) in place to know if you hit the mark (or more important if you just released a dud). Prove the value not only to your audience, but the senior management team that funded that puppy. It’s how you’ll know you made an impact in the lives of the people you touched, and also have the data to secure the funding for your next big initiative.

And, don’t lose sight of the core foundation for building any solid strategy (digital or otherwise).

Gather Insights. You need to truly know your audience, whether HCPs, pharmacists, patients or caregivers.
Make it Relevant. Understand what’s important to your customers. It’s not about shouting out your message or app, it’s about giving them what they want and fulfilling their needs.
Provide Value. Whatever you’re offering—content, dosing apps, co-pay offsets—provide value. It’ll create connections and establish relationships that will pay dividends big time.

Think I missed any major steps or buckets? Email me or post a comment below.

By Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital & Science Officer
Roska Healthcare Advertising

Apple iPad Killed the Flash Video Star: H.264 May Offer Video Across All Devices

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:24:00 +0000

Broadband access to the Internet has become commonplace. And, the desire to view online video by healthcare professionals only continues to increase. Until recent, Adobe Flash (flv format) has been the industry standard for viewing online video; however, its popularity with marketers (and their tech teams) have dropped over time for a variety of reasons. One key reason is that Flash is not compatible with the most popular mobile devices (iPhone, iPod, and iPad). While Apple rocked as the device leader for the past 3 years, it’s kept Flash from being the video star of mobile.

Last September, Adobe saw the writing on the wall and announced their media server (Adobe's Flash Media Server 4.5) will have the ability to detect any device visiting a website and determine the best format to stream content. Sounds great, but two concerns with the Flash Media Server still exist:

1. It currently only supports Flash video formats (flv)

2. In some cases, it’s cost prohibitive to install and maintain

While interesting from a technology and ‘geek’ perspective, what does all this mean to marketers? How can one user experience be created that’s as seamless as possible, cost effective to deploy across all devices, and not give design and tech teams fits?

So, I assessed the present situation and came up with a realistic approach to serving video across the majority of browsers and devices, with as little duplication of effort an assets as possible, making the marketer, creative, tech team, and client happy.

Present Situation
Whether you’re marketing to healthcare professionals or consumers, most are consuming video on various devices. Whether performing research, viewing testimonials, watching presentations, or just plain hitting Netflix or YouTube, video consumption is becoming more popular every day. And, if your online/digital campaigns don’t or can’t display video across the majority of desktop and mobile devices, you’re missing big opportunities to connect with your audience.

Potential Solution
The good news is there’s a format called “m4v” available that uses “H.264” (the same compression used for BlueRay DVDs). When used together, they create a neat little video format that will play across virtually any mobile/tablet device and in the Flash player itself. Based on our tests, it performs well on mobile and may offer a potential solution for overcoming the limitations of Flash video formats.

Recommendation
Implementing the solution above is not that hard. And, it let’s you leverage a single video asset (as opposed to creating different videos for different devices). All you need to do is tell your agency, creative, or tech team to have your website detect the device and web browser hitting your website before it loads. If the browser can handle HTML5 and on an Apple device, play the H.264 video right through the browser. On the other hand, if the browser is older and the device is anything other than an Apple product, load Flash and play the H.264 video through Flash.

The end result? With a few lines of code, and one video file, you can unify the video user experience across virtually all browsers and devices.

If there’s anything I’ve missed or you want to continue the debate, leave a message in the comments or contact me directly.

By Dennis Hatcher, Director of Technology

Cheat Sheet for the New FDA Social Media Guidelines

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:51:00 +0000

I’ve read countless blog posts, POVs and articles discussing the new FDA social media guidelines released in December of last year (cleverly worded as “Responding to Unsolicited Requests for Off-Label Information About Prescription Drugs and Medical Devices.”)

Most people reading this blog don’t have the hour in their day needed to read the actual document, decipher it (let’s face it, the title alone is somewhat cryptic), and most important figure out what to do with it.

So, I created the cheat sheet below that can easily be read over your next coffee break or between meetings.

Point 1. The FDA is expressing trust and faith in us. (so let’s not screw it up). In writing, the FDA recognizes:

Firms are capable of responding to requests about their own products in a truthful, non-misleading, and accurate manner
It can be in the best interest of public health for a firm to respond to an unsolicited request about off-label use of its products (after all, who knows the most about the product than the manufacturer?)
If a firm responds to unsolicited requests the FDA does not intend to use the firm’s response as evidence of intent that the product be used for unapproved or unclear use (reading between the lines…no FDA warning letter if you follow the rules)

Point 2. There is finally FDA draft guidance on what we can do – respond to unsolicited requests for information about off-label use. For this point I’ll focus on public requests only (those viewable on a website, YouTube channel, Facebook, etc.) The same principles apply regardless of whether the information was posted to a digital property you own, or on completely independent properties on which you choose to inject/respond.

1. Your medical team should respond, not your marketing team.

2. Your answer should be tailored to the specific request (don’t go broader or you’ll receive the letter you wish you hadn’t). To be completely safe, it may be best to pull information straight from your PI.

3. Information provided should be truthful, accurate and balanced (see point 2 above).

4. Information should help direct people to the right information and right resource. Give them an appropriate number for medical affairs to properly discuss their request. Be proactive and state that the request is for a use that has not been approved or cleared by the FDA. State your actual indication and provide a link to the full prescribing and safety information in your response. And, make sure you provide adequate risk information so your response is truly balanced.

Point 3. Read between the lines. Nowhere in the guidance does it state off-label statements or requests must be deleted. Read this point 3 times out loud at your next med/legal review. Then, enlightening the group by stating that if one person is requesting this information, many people are requesting it. Leaving the post visible, with a properly-worded response would not only help the original poster, but all those having that same request (just remember – those responses are of an enduring nature, so keep an eye on your label and track your responses to ensure you update everything if your label changes). Another interesting point is that nowhere in the document does the FDA provide guidance around on-label requests. This, in conjunction with Point 1 above, is a little cue that we should keep innovating and exploring (responsibly) in the on-label promotion/conversation space.

Point 4. Maintain and file your records. You should always maintain and file all responses. Not only is is good for you (and provides a proper audit trail), but submitting them on a regular basis to the FDA will also show good faith and keep the agency at the forefront of technology and consumer health.

Summary
This is a first step by the FDA. I’m hopeful there will be future hearings and additional guidance that allows us to innovate and better connect with physicians, patients and caregivers.

Remember what I said in Point 1. The FDA is expressing confidence in us. Let’s not screw it up.

If there’s anything I’ve missed or you want to continue the debate, leave a message in the comments or contact me directly.

By Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital & Science Officer

2011 Holiday Pharma Fun in Social Media – Sort of…

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:31:00 +0000

‘Tis the season for…social media in pharma? Well…sort of. This year the developers at the company I work for, Roska Healthcare Advertising, decided it would not only be fun to create an interactive holiday card (the likes of JibJab), but also to serve me up as the geeky poster child shamelessly promoting the fun (I had nothing to do with this).

While I had nothing to do with the card this year, other than be the token geeky elf of the office, I was pleased to see that the creative team of misfits – as well as the development team of elves – really gave thought to this year’s fun and games and made sure our promotion still held true to the core position that really makes our company different.

Without any prodding by Santa, Mrs. Claus, Jack Frost, Frosty the Snowman, or any other Yule Tide character…the team at Roska Healthcare made sure this year’s interactive activity put our money where our mouth is and incorporated the 3 P’s of pharma marketing into our own seasonal promotion.

I invite you to interact with the card, upload some of your greatest photos, and pass along loads of cheer and well wishes. During the process, look for the 3 P’s we seek to embody in all out strategic communications: Personalization, Personification, and Projection.

It was a great 2011. I wish everyone all the best for 2012. And, if you want to have a bunch of fun at my expense, please utilize our agency’s interactive holiday card.

4 Things Pharma Can Learn From PepsiCo to Avoid FDA Warning Letters and FTC Fines

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:25:00 +0000

Pharma marketers and manufacturers can add a few more government agencies and watchdog groups to their growing list of ‘reviewers’. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) to name just two.

I’ve been covering the debate over online data mining and behavioral targeting for some time. If you need a refresher, want to see what sparked a fire last year, and read a lively exchange in the comments section with Jeff Chester, executive director of the CDD from my post go here.

The FTC and the watchdog groups rightly state that consumers should know what data is being tracked while they’re browsing various web/mobile properties and/or clicking ads. I have no issue with this. Where I do have an issue is the assertion that mining data and behavioral targeting is bad. When done properly, it can actually help patients find therapies indicated for them. It can help caregivers find support programs to help them keep their loved one compliant so they achieve a better outcome. Why on Earth would we ever want to put legislation in place, or create yet one more obstacle to achieving superior care in an increasingly challenging and stressed healthcare environment?

Let’s get smart. We still have the opportunity to do a good job policing our industry and putting best practices in place, before legislation mandates a suboptimal set of rules for us.

And, we can learn a lot from the recent spanking PepsiCo received from the watchdog groups and complaints filed to the FTC regarding their recent shenanigans.

1. Accurately Describe Your Online Activity. If it’s a game, call it a game. If it’s a promotion, tell people. If it’s a persistency program, make sure people understand for who it’s intended, the medications used, and the approved indications.

2. Develop Campaigns With Full Transparency/Disclosure. Tell your consumers what your program is about, what you want them to get out of it, and why they should care. Transparency and disclosure builds trust and social currency you can’t get any other way.

3. Succinctly Describe Your Data Collection And Use Policies. Tell people what data you’re collecting, how you will use it (for their benefit), and more importantly…how you will not use it/protect it.

4. If You Didn’t Follow 1-3…Fix It…Now. Look at your own campaigns and then read the complaints against PepsiCo again. If you made any of these mistakes, fix them now. Be proactive. It will pay dividends in the end.

There is still time for pharma to police itself. If we pay close attention to other industries, the warnings, the filing of complaints, we can write our own best practices that will benefit everyone – marketers, manufacturers, healthcare providers…and most importantly patients.

If there’s anything I’ve missed or you want to continue the debate, leave a message in the comments or contact me directly.

By Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital & Science Officer

Forget FDA’s Social Media Guidance…Bring Real Life Stories to Patients Using the 3Ps

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 21:05:00 +0000

While pharma companies wait for the long-delayed FDA Guidance on the use of social media, patients and caregivers share information about diseases, drugs and treatments on Facebook, Twitter and numerous online forums devoted to specific conditions.

733,000+ people like StandUptoCancer on Facebook
40,000+ like Gluten FreeVille
Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior has 10,000+ likes

The reason that healthcare is so alive in the social media space is simple — people want to connect, interact and share information about their health. They want to know that they’re not alone, and to learn how others in their situation are feeling and coping. Caregivers of patients with serious diseases also want to share and seek information about their patients. One caregiver on a liver cancer forum put it well:

We're the place to vent. These forums are designed to be a safe place where people can feel comfortable saying things or asking questions that they never would dare say to the people around them. Others not on a cancer journey don't really understand what runs through the minds of those dealing with tests, diagnoses, or treatment for their loved ones. No question is off limits and there is not judgment of anything you want to express. Likely we've
seen it all before —sadly.

And while pharma can’t provide that type of open forum, we can certainly use other tactics that are acceptable in the current regulatory environment to connect patients with the experiences of others in their situation. You can invite patients to tell their story and clean up anything that’s objectionable to medical, legal or regulatory. Once you have an acceptable version you can use your digital properties to post patient profiles, showcase real-life caregivers and their coping strategies, tell success stories, motivate people to continue with their therapy, and more.

Don’t limit yourself to brand.com to reach out to patients and caregivers. Create a YouTube channel. Consider an unbranded site that you optimize to reach patients and caregivers with a particular condition and do a branded hand-off once you have them engaged. Whichever, tactics you employ, the key to success is incorporating the 3Ps into your communications.

Personalization acknowledges their condition, provides empathy and emulates
the “loved-one connection” as defined in the Edelman Health Engagement Barometer.
Personification uses life moments to allow patients to see themselves, painting a realistic picture of the potential problem and solutions.
Projection provides a ‘roadmap’ for action and empowers patients to take responsibility for their health/well-being.

The 3Ps create acceptance — an integral part of moving patients from awareness to action. They form the basis of Roska Healthcare’s Catalyst Brand Acceptance Model. For more information on the Catalyst Brand Acceptance Model.

If there’s anything I’ve missed or you want to continue the debate, leave a message in the comments or contact me directly.

By Chuck McLeester, Senior VP Planning, Metrics & Analytics

Why Facebook’s August 15 Comment Policy Shouldn’t Impact Your Pharma Brand

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 03:58:00 +0000

The fact that Facebook’s new policy going into effect August 15th – where admins of pharma pages will no longer be able to disable commenting (with the exception of branded Rx drug pages with fair balance and ISI) – has been well covered in the press. Go here if you need a refresher.

Rather than writing about the mechanics behind the move, providing advice to brand managers or agencies that are pulling their hair out trying to work around the inevitable, I thought I’d focus on why the new Facebook policy should NOT impact your brand.

That statement might sound a bit odd, but if you created your Facebook strategy correctly, the August 15^th change shouldn’t impact you at all for two simple reasons.

You already know your pharma brand pages shouldn’t expect to be ‘liked’ because it goes against the psychosocial behavior of patients. We published a post previously on A Different Perspective about the challenge of getting patients to reach the point of acceptance, that their lives are forever changed upon diagnosis of a chronic disease, and they are living a ‘new normal’. Do we really think they’re going to declare public support for a medication that’s helping them hide their condition from public display, or not continually remind them they have the disease? Consumers may feel gratitude the medication is available, they may feel better physically taking their medication, but do they ‘like’ it? No. It’s a continual reminder that they are flawed in some way and must take their medication to achieve their ‘new normal’. Regardless, you don’t have anything to fret over in August, because your pages are exempt. And, the good news is there are a few recommendations for how you can create greater engagement and a reason for people to like your Page farther down in this post.
You’re already ahead of the curve and have a social media policy in place that allows for open commenting. Yes, I said it. You’re progressive enough to have processes and procedures in place to respond to off-label discussion and have a solid system (and resources) for following up on potential mentions of adverse events. I’ve never seen a company receive a warning letter for honestly trying to do right, responding appropriately, being transparent and doing it’s best to comply with existing regulations.

With the August15^thchange looming, the position you’re in may well be water over the damn at this point. Here are a few suggestions that might help never put you in this position in the future.

For Product Brand Pages
Develop a content strategy that appeals to the Facebook audience. You’ll probably still have commenting turned off, but your content strategy should give the audience as much value as possible. Build into your Page interesting, dynamic and responsive interactions like:

Video stories from real patients (not canned scripts and hired actors)

Provide patients with access to co-pay cards/discounts (who isn’t interested in saving money in this economy?)

Link to your patient support programs (the Facebook Universe is enormous. If people are seeking support, help them find it)

Repurpose your valuable assets and make them available (take all of the assets you worked so hard to create an provide a way to access the via the Page)

Are you going to see a huge bolus of ‘likes’ when you alter your brand Page? Probably not, but it also won’t cost you a fortune to capture a few thousand extra ‘likes’ and enrollments in your patient support programs – driven largely from the assets you’ve already created. Go here to visit the TOBI Page and see an example from Novartis that is moving that direction.

For Disease State/Lightly Branded Pages
Open commenting is coming (in less than two weeks), so you need to deal with it, understand the psychosocial behavior of the Facebook audience and build your social currency. Here’s a few things to think about when developing your next strategy:

Establish your social media policy and rules of engagement. Without clear internal guidelines, you can’t effectively develop an external-facing strategy. Take the time, consult experts, get it documented and internally approved. We’re getting more social by the day, so time is of the essence.

Give people a reason to ‘like’ your Page. Give them value. Provide them support. Offer up exclusive access to a coupon by participating in an interactive activity, or host an upcoming event.

Engage in the conversation. With your social media policies in place, engage in the conversation. Monitor the conversation and interject where required by present regulations. Do your best to follow-up on what might be an adverse event and provide a link and phone number to the FDA site to help consumers report side effects they may be experiencing. Put the processes and people in place to do this right. Your consumers and bottom line will appreciate it.

DON’T create a faux experience. In my opinion, creating a “custom wall”, that does not allow commenting goes against the intention of Facebook. You need to align your content and strategy with your visitors’ expected experience. If you look at your strategy and think you can’t do that, then you probably shouldn’t invest in building a Facebook Page.

The Final Word
View the August15th deadline as a wake up call. Unless you own and fully control your digital property, you’ll always be subject to policy changes of others. When building digital strategies keep this in mind and also don’t lose sight of your customers and what they want/need. Give them support, provide them value, and do it on their terms.
If there’s anything I’ve missed or you want to continue the debate, leave a message in the comments or contact me directly.

By Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital & Science Officer

Unbranded DTC Advertising: Where’s the ROI?

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 18:22:00 +0000

Multiple choice – Unbranded DTC advertising is a:

a. Market expansion strategy that only benefits the category leader

b. Regulatory inevitability that will be the death of DTC

c. Waste of money

d. First step toward engaging patients with your brand and generating a measurable ROI

e. None of the above

If you answered anything other than d, then read on. Unbranded advertising is not what you think. It has the power to bring patients into your brand’s franchise in a cost-effective way – patients who might not otherwise pay attention to your message. Read the full PM360 article here: http://www.pm360online.com/f1_Unbranded_DTC_Advertising_ROI_Pharma_Healthcare_0511

Estimates have put the ROI on branded DTC advertising at about 2:1.

Properly planned, executed, measured and managed, unbranded advertising can do much better. More on the ROI metrics later, but first, here’s why unbranded advertising can work for you whether you manage a new, first-in-class brand or a later entrant to an established category.

Awareness Isn’t Enough

Branded DTC is based on the traditional consumer marketing assumption that brand awareness leads to increased sales; that awareness leads directly to action. The assumption is that just like hearing about a consumer brand on TV entices people to buy that brand at the supermarket, hearing about a pharmaceutical brand will entice them to ask for it at the doctor’s office.

Except that it doesn’t work that way. Simply increasing awareness of a disease state is not enough. There’s a big step between awareness and action in consumer behavior around healthcare – and that’s acceptance. Consumers need to understand and accept their need for treatment before they take action about a specific brand. Telling them about your brand before they’ve internalized the need for it is futile.

Making Unbranded Work for Your Brand

Using a combination of online and offline vehicles you can engage consumers to assess their risk and find out more about a disease or condition, not your brand. When they respond you need to carefully manage their journey toward acceptance. Don’t take them directly to Brand.com – they’re not ready for that. Instead, create an online presence where they can explore and assess their potential risk. Make it easy for them to link to brand information when the time is right for them.

As you manage this dialog, it’s important to understand that acceptance is not a single event, but rather a process. There are three steps on the path toward acceptance: Avoidance, Assessment, and Acknowledgement. These three phases of acceptance are defined in the Catalyst™ Brand Acceptance Model developed by Roska Healthcare Advertising in consultation with Wharton School behavioral psychologist Talia Myron-Schatz, PhD.

Find out more about the stages of acceptance here.

Where’s the ROI?

Here are two ways you can prove the ROI of this approach:

Isolated market testing
Patient value vs. patient acquisition cost

Isolated market testing

Pick a group of markets and pilot your unbranded effort for an 8 to 12 week period. Measure NRxs in those markets from the onset of the campaign through 3 months post campaign (the extended time gives patients a chance to evaluate their situation and see their physician). Compare the NRxs during that period against NRxs in non-test markets for the same period, and against NRxs in the same markets for prior periods. Did your brand grow more (or lose less) in the test markets vs. the control markets? Calculate and extrapolate the incremental revenue from the test markets and compare it against the cost of rolling out the campaign. The analysis will show your ROI from the unbranded effort.

If there are other variables at play, factor them into a regression analysis to determine the relative weight of those factors against the unbranded DTC.

Patient Value vs. Patient Acquisition Cost

This methodology compares a patient’s lifetime value to the brand against the cost to acquire a new patient. It requires that you know the average length of therapy in days for your brand and the wholesale average cost of your brand per day.

Monitor each key metric in your pilot markets – cost to get a response, conversion rate of responses to Rxs, and cost to acquire a patient. Managing your online or offline DTC efforts to the cost per response requires ongoing tweaking to the media buy, but ongoing adjustments can yield improvements of 70% or more in cost per response. Conversion to Rxs takes longer to measure, but you can do it with a combination of incentive redemptions and incremental Rxs in the test market (as measured above).

The Bottom Line

Unbranded advertising can give your brand an advantage when it comes to reaching people who are not yet ready to take action. It allows you to start a conversation and insert your brand into it after you’ve led the prospect through the assessment phase – when they’ve moved beyond avoidance and denial and they’re ready to take action.

If there’s anything I’ve missed or you want to continue the debate, leave a message in the comments or contact me directly.

By Chuck McLeester, Senior VP Planning, Metrics & Analytics

IMS wins Supreme Court ruling, an important decision for the future of Rx marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Kurt Mueller, Chief Digital and Science Officer) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 19:04:00 +0000

The recent IMS ruling is an important decision for the future of pharmaceutical marketing. Rx data is used to target, segment and measure the effectiveness of sales/marketing efforts. State legislators have made a move to block access to data on privacy grounds, but the Supreme Court has recently ruled in favor of the industry:

Vermont further argues that detailers’ use of prescriber-identifying information undermines the doctor patient relationship by allowing detailers to influence treatment decisions. But if pharmaceutical marketing affects treatment decisions, it can do so only because it is persuasive.

Fear that speech might persuade provides no lawful basis for quieting it.

Vermont law currently restricts the sale, disclosure, and use of pharmacy records that reveal the prescribing practices of individual doctors. But on June 23, 2011, Justices Kennedy, Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, Alito, and Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court that speech in aid of pharmaceutical marketing is a form of expression protected by the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. As a consequence, Vermont’s statute must be subjected to heightened judicial scrutiny. In their opinion, as it relates to practical operation, Vermont’s law “goes even beyond mere content discrimination, to actual viewpoint discrimination.”

Branded pharmaceutical promotion is one of the most regulated forms of communications of any industry. Every word is scrutinized by lawyers, regulators, medical professionals, and the FDA to ensure its accuracy and ‘fair balance’ in presentation of the supporting data. As a result, I’m continually astonished by the apparent short-sightedness of individuals like William Sorrell (Attorney General of Vermont) and other outspoken industry critics who attempt to limit the dissemination of this information based on its ability to “influence prescription decisions that are not in the best interests of patients.”

Why isn’t ‘accurate information’ in the best interest of anyone who is making treatment decisions? If a physician sees a significant number of diabetes patients, isn’t it a benefit to her/him for the industry to provide accurate information specific to diabetes. On one hand, our industry is criticized for disseminating information that consumers may not need (e.g., in broadcast DTC advertising) and, at the same time, we’re criticized for using data that allows us to target messages to those who it most benefits (e.g., The Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Watchdog, U.S. Public Interest Research Groups and World Privacy Forum’s 144-page complaint in late November, and current state regulations such as Vermont).

Consumers and healthcare professionals need more information about pharmaceutical products, not less. And the more targeted it is to their specific interests and needs, the better. When will legislators and certain ‘public interest’ groups stop trying to tell us what’s best for us, and let us evaluate this ‘accurate information’ so we can make a decision for ourselves. I’m curious to know how many of the Vermont legislatures actually asked physicians what they want, before making decisions in ‘their best interest?’

What’s your take on the ruling? Drop me a line in the comments or email me to continue the discussion.

By Jay Bolling, President of Roska Healthcare Advertising