Healthy Skepticism Library item: 16214

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Electronic Source

Levitt A
Explore, Be Bold & Measure! Healthcare, Word of Mouth, and Web 2.0
Eyeforpharma.com 2009 07 10
http://social.eyeforpharma.com/story/explore-be-bold-measure-healthcare-word-mouth-and-web-20

Full text:

Pharmaceutical companies are just starting to embrace newer forms of media. Most aren’t quite sure how to integrate social media programs into their marketing plan, and are even less certain about how to measure these tactics. As an industry, we need to explore this exciting new space and observe the behavior of customers, and learn from them and their actions. And over time, as we track their usage, persistence, and reach to others, we may begin to devise a metric about “involvement” that brand managers can embrace.

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

Take a look at most any pharmaceutical brand’s 2009 budget and chances are, it will look almost exactly like the next brand’s budget. Though the dollar amounts will differ, the tactical line items will all be pretty much the same –- TV, print, Internet marketing, sales aids, conventions, speaker training, direct mail, etc….

In 2009, our industry will spend close to $5 billion on DTC promotion, trying to get a consumer to give up their attention. But do most people really care what you have to say in your ads, or do they skip through those ads with their Tivo just like you do when you watch TV?

And let’s be honest: it’s really difficult to prove results or explain the impact that a certain GRP level will have on moving market share. Can we really be sure that because X number of people may have seen your advertisement, your share moved? Are we learning anything new by running another TV spot or a spread in Health Magazine?

So what’s going to be the next big thing for you as a pharma brand marketer to consider that can differentiate your company and brand from the rest of the pack?

Welcome to the Next Wave of the Wild West

The exciting news is that our industry is starting to embrace the idea that pharma brands need to integrate social media into their marketing plans -– even though most managers would admit to being uncertain about how to use the variety of these new Web 2.0 tools. And chances are, even more are less certain about how to measure the results.

As a matter of fact, brand managers just like you love to ask the question, “How can you measure the success of this program?” when they consider something new and innovative. It’s a reasonable question, of course, and one that must be asked. But is it also safe to say that this question may be a diversion based on an underlying issue of risk avoidance in our highly conservative industry?

It seems to me that you want to try something new, but are generally afraid of going into uncharted space. Of course it’s easier and safer to just run another print ad, or pull off another consultant meeting with some KOLs. Your boss won’t question those kinds of budget expenditures, since she did those very same tactics just a few years ago before she got that promotion. But bring forward some new ideas and you better be prepared to defend your innovation!

Is your bonus this year tied to “testing new ideas” and sharing what you’ve learned inside your organization? Should it be? What affect might that have on your passion for innovation?

Back in the late 90’s, innovative brand managers tried to figure out how to use the Internet for brand marketing, and now it’s a certain line item in anyone’s budget. Metrics were a piece of cake, too. How many people clicked through that banner we just ran on WebMD? Who responded to that email we sent out offering a 7-day trial?

Introducing the New Web 2.0 Metric

As we push the envelope with new types of Internet marketing, focused on Web 2.0 and social networking, we need to consider a new metric, one based on the idea of involvement. Let’s call it “ROI 2.0”, or Return on Involvement.

You may wonder, how can we adequately measure the impact of a well-organized social networking program, where one individual brand evangelist may interact with a dozen people in her social network, and talk about your brand? How do those 20 minutes that a user of your product spends chatting at the soccer field on a Sunday morning with someone who could use your product compare to multiple exposures to a 30-second TV ad that you run, which plays in the background in the morning over the family breakfast table on the Today Show?

How much value can we place on the recommendation of a trusted friend about a way to treat a particular disease state, using a certain prescription product that he’s used for the past six months? How does that level of involvement compare with the time or energy someone may spend with a direct mail piece you sent out that lands on their doorstep?

We are now beginning to measure this impact of involvement and engagement in an entirely new way. And as we begin to capture more data points that help identify the ROI of social media programming, we can also reflect on some more traditional measures. For example, there is a preponderance of data that confirms that word of mouth remains the most trusted form of advertising across the globe. A recent report by Nielsen revealed that “recommendations from consumers” topped the charts at 78% (vs. TV at 56% and brand websites at 60%) in terms of what advertising source people trust the most. A similar recent study by Roper showed us that “word of mouth” is “the best source for information about trying new prescription products”, well ahead of “advertising” at just 21%.

Remember, Playing It Safe Is Actually Risky!

So this all begs the question, how much money in your budget is dedicated to “word of mouth” or “social media”? Chances are, if you are like most of the companies out there, you’ve spent a fair amount of time listening to vendors share their ideas about how you can engage in this space, but have yet to take real action. Sure, it’s exciting to talk about these ideas in team meetings and with your agency, about how great it would be to do something like this…. But then, the uncertainty of how to execute sets in, other priorities bubble up, fear of uncovering those dreaded AE’s abound, and before you know it, your innovative idea gets wiped off of your budget. And then, you’re back to running another print ad so you can manage the three new fire drills that hit you this week.

Sound familiar?

As an industry, we must continue to explore this dynamic, new social media space and push through the challenges that our friends in Legal and Regulatory will throw at us. With the new tools that are out there, we can observe the behavior of customers, and learn from them and their online activities. We must embrace that which is new and novel (think: Internet, circa 1998), and push forward into areas that make sense for brand development, not just because something is “new” but because it will build your brand in a way that other media just can’t.

A Paradigm Shift: Now, the People Are the Message

Take for example companies such as BzzAgent (www.bzzagent.com) who creates WOM programs for consumer packaged goods companies all the time. They engage regular people with product samples, which makes them feel appreciated and lets them know that their voice actually matters.Those people then help spread messages to people in their social network. Again, think: involvement.

Communispace (www.communispace.com) creates private communities for a number of Finance, OTC and other packaged goods products, which allows companies to have a powerful new way to conduct a type of market research. At the same time, they are beginning to build relationships for companies with a group of consumers who care to share their opinion, and who want to be involved.

Though our industry may tend to lag behind others with our marketing innovations, there are new solutions that can enable word of mouth, create community, and deliver unique insights into consumer behavior, even in the pharma space. And through these types of marketing activities, pharma companies can move the bar dramatically to generate huge “ROI 2.0” returns.

As a place to start, we can measure and model various data points, such as the number of brand ambassadors in a program and the number of conversations that are generated from them. We can then further explore opt-in rates from calls-to-action, time spent on websites, referrals into the physician office, and of course, the number of new prescriptions that come from word of mouth programming. We can also map the spread of conversations to show impact at a very specific geographic level.

And this doesn’t even begin to consider the loyalty effect of the consumers who participate in a structured program. Think of the involvement you can have with some of your most passionate consumers who use your Rx product, day in and day out!

Think Differently. Get Noticed.

The key here is to embrace the new technologies that exist. Find the ways to put them to work for your brand in order to involve your customer base in a whole new way. Dive in and explore the options, and become a pioneer inside your company. Be the one who can educate others about why this matters, and how it can happen.

It’s up to you to change the game –- and your marketing budget. Think differently about how to truly engage and involve the people who use your products. Let them share messages with you, and with the people in their social network. You’ll be closer to your customers and you’ll provide value, offer a remarkable service, and learn something along the way.

And over time, as we track consumer product usage, persistence with that particular product – and imagine this, a patient’s reach to other consumers about that product -– we may begin to devise a clearer metric about “ROI 2.0” or “Return on Involvement”. Once that happens, brand managers across the board will be able to more easily embrace ideas around social media. And they’ll be the ones using it to convince their CEO how incredibly smart they were to try something new!