Didn’t attend DTC Perspectives’ big DTC National conference in Boston this year?
No worries. I spent three days there last week (my first time). Several of us tweeted the highlights using hashtag #DTCN2011, so you can view all the tweets by searching the hashtag on Twitter. You can still view the conference agenda online.
I tweeted. A lot. But one can only say so much in 140 characters or less. So beyond the tweets, I wanted to provide a more in-depth review. Below is the first in a series of blog posts with key observations by day:
DTC National: Day One
Day one of the conference kicked off with a small pre-conference workshop in the morning. Pharma folks gathered for a series of small panel discussions, moderated by Bob Ehrlich, on the following topics:
- Optimizing The Brand Web Site
- The Use of Search
- Advertising on the Web/mobile
- Direct Mail and Direct Response
I was surprised there wasn’t a social media panel, but perhaps everyone’s sick of talking about that for now. How much more can we say about FDA still not delivering guidance anyway?
The panels were lively and informative, focusing in depth on these areas more than – as I learned in later days – the main conference itself. The audience asked questions and there were healthy discussions. I always like the smaller group settings better at these things. A few highlights:
• I laughed during the “Optimizing the Brand Web Site” session when conference chairman and moderator Bob Ehrlich asked the panel to stop talking about mobile (because there was a separate upcoming panel on mobile). What was left unsaid was that the Web and mobile are so intertwined that the two cannot be separated. I saw a tweet last week rom the iStrategy conference (source unknown) that over 50% of Web activity occurs on a mobile device! But wait … I’m not supposed to be talking about mobile here … so moving on …
• I spoke on the panel on which I thought was going to be about online and mobile media – “Advertising on the Web/mobile” - but which turned out to be all about mobile. We talked about optimizing sites and the plethora of healthcare apps available today. And we all agreed that there is a lot more for pharma to be doing in this channel. It struck me, too, that there’s so much more to mobile than just apps or mobile sites … there’s mobile media, mobile search, and optimizing emails for mobile viewing. At what point will pharma pay attention to these on a regular basis? I fear we’re a long ways off.
• I particularly enjoyed the “Use of Search” panel where Yahoo!, Google, and Bing representatives (among others) all gathered to discuss character limitations and potential implications of coming DDMAC guidance. To their credit, they were certainly mindful of the issues the industry faces. And the question was asked … who says there have to be character limitations? Not FDA .... Google, Yahoo! and Bing decide! I was pleased to see so many search reps at the conference and their industry’s openness to working with the pharma industry's – shall we call them – "special circumstances."
• The multicultural panel was hosted by several multicultural marketing agencies who made the very valid case for pharma to be reaching out to minorities, especially in relevant conditions such as diabetes and hypertension that disproportionally affect African-Americans and Hispanics. I have the hunch multicultural marketing is to pharma now as social media marketing was to pharma a few years ago: Marketers have an inkling they need to be doing it, but they don’t know much about it so they avoid it altogether.
While Bob’s panel moderation style came across a bit condescending - as if he didn’t believe people went on the Web or used mobile phones to do anything but talk - it also provided healthy perspective. We in the marketing and digital worlds drink our own Kool-Aid every day. Bob’s right – some of the consumers we’re trying to reach are read more..
Saturday, 21 April 2012
Social Media Marketing-Panel Discussions-Pharma Industry-Mobile Search
Saturday, 10 March 2012
Social Media Marketing-Personal Experience-Insurance Marketers-Insurance Marketing
Often, when proponents of pharma eMarketing get together at industry conferences, or cry into their beers at receptions afterward, they lament the fact that the drug industry isn't doing as much as other industries in the "e" arena. Sometimes, they cite eMarketing campaigns of companies like Procter & Gamble (P&G) and ask, Why aren't drug companies doing that?
The responses to that question generally fall into the category of "It's Regulations, Stupid!" That is, FDA regulations are hampering what pharma marketers can do online. The packaged goods industry -- of which P&G is a member -- is not regulated like the drug industry is regulated. True that!
So, let's look at another industry that IS regulated: the insurance industry. Where do insurance marketers spend their dollars and how does that compare with pharma? It just so happens that I came across some data that might shed some light on that (see the chart below; click on the chart to enlarge).
The data come from Kantar Media. The Internet data does NOT include search advertising. The insurance data is for the first three quarters of 2011 (total spend = $3.56 Bn) whereas the data for pharma is for 2010 (total spend = $4.3 Bn). To compare apples to apples, in 2010 the insurance industry media spend pie looks like this: TV, 54%; Print, 6%; Internet, 21%.
No matter how you look at it, the insurance industry favors Internet over print whereas the opposite is true for pharma. Why?
Here's what I have learned from personal experience. In my family -- and probably in your family too -- health decisions and purchases are generally the domain of my wife, whereas insurance decisions and purchases are my responsibility. It's no secret that pharma marketers target mostly women. My wife reads magazines like Prevention, etc. that feature a lot of drug ads. I don't read these magazines. While I have seen print ads for insurance companies, they haven't made much of an impression on me, whereas TV ads have.
So, from my personal experience, it's logical that both industries allocate a big portion of their media spend on TV advertising, but only the drug industry spends a lot on print advertising.
What's surprising, however, is the insurance industry's 28% of total media spend on the Internet (versus 5% for the pharma industry).
Coincidentally, yesterday I received an e-mail message from Geico about their "Family Pricing Program" for my son Greg. (We are Geico customers, having both our car and home insurance with them.) The message said:
"If Gregory is getting ready to graduate, preparing for a new job, or looking to establish a little independence, our Family Pricing program allows you the freedom of moving Gregory to his own policy while he continues to receive the same great rates you're currently receiving."That spooked me a bit because Greg just started his first full-time job after graduating and I mentioned to my wife that soon it will be time for Greg to get his own insurance policy! I tweeted:
"Got email from Geico about transferring my son 2 his own car insur plan now that he has a job. How'd they know I was just thinking that?"Of course, they didn't know what I was thinking, but it was nice to know that they anticipated what I may be thinking! Geico knows a lot about me and my family. They know our ages, our sex, our driver's license numbers, our driving records, what kinds of cars we own, etc. I had to give them that information to get insurance. No big deal.
So, it would be easy for Geico to anticipate that Greg recently graduated and that he may have a new job. Further, they know from experience that parents want to get their kids off their insurance plans ASAP.
After I posted that tweet, I received this response from "Shay" tweeting from the @GEICO_Service Twitter account:
"We would be more than happy to give him a quote! He can go to geico.com or give us a call at 1-800-861-8380. -Shay"That was a pleasant note th read more..