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?

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…

Medical Practices as Brands – The Importance of Public Relations for Doctors

Dear House Rules,

When I was in medical school, I thought if I studied hard, learned all I could about human anatomy and diseases, and developed expert diagnostic skills, that would lead automatically to success. It didn’t work out quite that way. I refuse to advertise, but I do hear a lot of my colleagues at medical conferences talk about using public relations (PR)/communications firms. Is this something I should consider?

Signed,
No billboards, please