It can be a real challenge to distinguish a brand in a crowded field with lots of competitors and no breakthrough science. Chances are, you’re working with a limited promotion budget as well, since the profit margins probably won’t support much else. However, even if you can’t afford to offer the glossy, tailored, high-end starter kits of more specialized brands, there are still ways to differentiate your brand in a sea of lookalikes.

To effectively develop value-added services, it’s important to deeply understand customer needs and define services that truly address them. You need to choose wisely when it comes to your marketing spend. Some of the more innovative services you may want to consider include the following:

• Remote monitoring — Lots of services are emerging to help HCPs and caregivers manage patients remotely. This includes monitoring activities, treatments, symptoms, and outcomes through a number of different avenues. Bayer and Biogen have both partnered with Fitbit to offer activity trackers in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) and Multiple Sclerosis (MS), to motivate patients to be more active, provide HCPs with access to patients’ daily trend data, and to conduct studies that link activity to patient outcomes. Why not suggest similar partnerships for more common conditions like hypercholesterolemia or hypertension, both of which can benefit from increased patient activity?

• Caregiver Collaboration Tools — “It takes a village” has never applied more than today, when patients can have a myriad of both personal and professional support systems helping them manage a particular condition. Companies such as Janssen with their Care4Today app and Medisafe can provide insight into patient behaviors and therapy adherence to multiple stakeholders in real time. Patients can upload their specific regimen (medication, dosage, frequency) and sync family members, friends and/or caregivers to send push notifications when doses are missed. Medisafe has been shown to increase adherence rates by 26% compared to general medication rates for long-term therapies. Data like that can offer the necessary support when arguing for the initial monetary outlay these services require.

• Virtual Communities — Most pharma companies have largely overcome social media hurdles, and we see organizations such as Novartis building online communities for Cystic Fibrosis patients and Biogen for MS patients. It’s easy to see how such communities could offer low-cost ways to support patients with more common diseases, and can differentiate brands in the process. Even something as simple as a sponsored blog offering weekly activity tips or healthy recipes can set a brand apart.

Every one of these options presents a unique opportunity to increase your brand’s presence in even the most crowded space. With the guidance of an expert strategic partner, you can make even a “me-too” brand stand out as a thought leader in its category.