Rising Strong

Ask a Celebrity If Drug X Is Right for You

Dear House Rules,

Our company is in the early stages of developing a marketing campaign for a new product. I’ve seen other pharma companies use celebrities to influence people regarding a particular brand—sometimes, it seems to work perfectly, sometimes, not so much. As for our company, we’re skeptical. Having a Kardashian endorse make-up is ideal synergy, but what credibility can a celebrity bring to a pharma brand? Where do you stand on the concept of using “influencers” in pharmaceutical marketing? Is this something we should look into?

Signed,

Should I Be More Starstruck?

How to Be Hip (HIPAA-Compliant, That Is)

Dear House Rules,

As a pharmaceutical marketer, I’m excited about our company’s social media presence and digital advertising strategy. However, some of the stories I’ve heard from my colleagues have made me skittish about violating privacy laws. I know that no marketing progress can be made these days without venturing into the digital space. How can I use social media and deploy regular digital content while staying on the right side of the law?

Signed,

Missing Print

Watching is Believing: Add Video to Your Marketing Mix

Dear House Rules,

As pharma marketers, we do our best to stay on top of the current trends in the field. We’ve produced emails and eDetails, developed ongoing social media post calendars, and even created guerilla marketing campaigns to accompany more traditional new product announcements after launch meetings. It’s important to us – and to the clients we serve – that we’re ahead of the curve. So what’s next?

Signed,

Living on the Cutting Edge

Telling the Story of Your Brand

Dear House Rules,

Our marketing team has noticed an increasing amount of “chatter” about our brands on social media, and this is content we cannot control. How do we counter this and take back the reins? We welcome input from our patients, but ultimately, we want to be the ones driving our brand’s marketing message. How can we accomplish this without turning off social media comments and rejecting the input of our end users?

Signed,

Want to Stay in the Driver’s Seat

Public Relations in Healthcare

Dear House Rules,

I’ve just been informed by my boss, the Director of Marketing, that our company is going to be adding more public relations to our marketing mix next year. While I’m certainly used to writing and sending press releases to the major medical journals and important pharma bloggers, I’m less familiar with integrating PR into an ongoing advertising and marketing calendar. Any ideas?

Signed,

For Immediate Release…

Yeah, Right – Marketing to Millennials

Dear House Rules,

My company is coming out with a product that treats a condition many millennials suffer from, according to our data. However, all of our experience to date has involved marketing to the Baby Boomer generation, who respond to quite different tactics. How do we effectively market to a group of consumers that seems to have an inherent mistrust (if our young adult kids are any guide) of “Big Pharma?”

Signed,

How Do I Reach Young Adults Today?

It Only Takes One: Building a Network of Influencers for Your Brand

Dear House Rules,

Dear House Rules:
We’re a relatively young marketing firm in the pharmaceutical space. As such, we don’t have a vast network of past clients to rely on, and we haven’t yet produced a huge amount of work worthy of our online portfolio. Everything I read tells me we just need a single good push to be off and running – but how do we find the person or company to give it to us?

Signed,

Just need one chance… we’ll do the rest!

Does Print Still Have a Place in Healthcare Marketing?

Dear House Rules,

The future of healthcare marketing is digital – everyone knows that. So what about the few holdouts in our company’s marketing department who continue to advocate for print as part of an effective overall marketing mix? Are they stuck in the past – or are they actually on to something?

Signed,

Is little paper the secret weapon of Big Pharma?