Right now we’re all thinking about starting a brand new year, ready to put our good intentions into action—you know, our plans to work out more, eat less. Form new good habits. Break the bad ones. It seems to be human nature to need—or at least like—a trigger point for change. So every January 1, we declare our intentions to make daily wellness choices in the new year. And we all know what happens next. By June a few of us are still at it, but many of us are back where we started.
That 6-month mark is a familiar theme for pharmaceutical marketers. Because that’s the time the average persistence curve takes a dramatic dive south, especially for chronic conditions. If we think like Advertisers, we rely on mass media DTC campaigns to tell people “ask your doctor” and we consider the box checked. But when our consumers walk out of the doctor’s office with a new Rx and some good intentions in hand, it’s like another New Year’s Day. Six months later, where will they be?
Advocate brand-builders understand that ROI for long term commitment is return on involvement. So they focus more of their time, attention and investment post-script—they ask themselves not “how can we get consumers to adhere?” but “how can we stick with our consumers?” The Advocate definition of DTC is Do, Teach, Connect.
Here’s why:
1) Because mass media offers no utility to us as consumers except to make us aware, and awareness is the most superficial level of involvement.
Do means taking action vs. sending messages:
- Adding utility to media –making it somehow useful, not just interruptive
- Creating tools and personalized support systems
- Showing up to solve problems where and when it matters most
- Using mass media instead as a mass invitation to an involving, personalized experience
2) Because, as we learned in Pink Tank’s 2010 She Says Survey of 1300 women, consumers want more transparency from pharma companies when it comes to risks and benefits.
Teach means empowering choice, not preaching information:
- Improving their “health literacy” about therapies and procedures
- Tying rewards and risks together in a complete, logical and honest story
- Giving them ways to visualize what’s happening inside, especially in chronic and preventive conditions where they may feel no cause/effect
3) Because now a physician’s opinion is a lesser part of the equation. Over 40% of She Says Survey respondents told us that before filling a prescription they gather consensus through their Circle of Influencers both online and off. Consumers are now taking a bigger role in their own care and self-navigating their way, armed with knowledge and community.
Connect means finding new ways to bridge disconnects and dead-ends healthcare consumers meet as they try to self-navigate:
- Correcting misalignments or gaps in their Circle of Influencers
- Helping to start or facilitate conversations between influencers
- Thinking outside the industry for innovative partnerships to form new continuums of self-care
So how about this: On January 1, 2012, let’s resolve to involve healthcare consumers more by redefining and redesigning our DTC efforts with the goals of Do, Teach, Connect. The result could be a happier and more involving New Year for all of us.
*For more information on health and wellness visit thewellatgsw.com
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