Better Products, Better Health Through Patient Engagement

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

Putting the “Social” Back in “Social Media”

Dear House Rules,

At our pharma company, we know how important social media is. We have a LinkedIn presence, a Facebook page, and even a Twitter feed! We use all these new media as additional ways to get our message out, whether that message is about a new product or important legislation or an article that mentions our product in a favorable light or—well, you get the idea. Still, we get almost no “likes,” “comments,” or “shares,” and sometimes I wonder if anyone’s actually reading our content. How can I engage our customers more via our social media outlets?

Signed,
Helllloooo? Is Anybody Out There?

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!

More Than Black and White: How Color’s Transforming the Medical Device Field

Dear House Rules,

I’m a pharma company executive, and every time I see a medical device, it looks clinical, capable – and boring. All that beige. Can color really affect how physicians and patients perceive devices? Is it possible that we might even be able to tie these perceptions into (or let them inform the choices for) a device’s branding colors? 

Signed, 

Technicolor medicine  

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?

Media Kits: The At-a-Glance Company Story You Control

Dear House Rules,

What’s a media kit and why do I need one? We already have a website, after all.

Signed,

Not a public relations firm