OPTIMIZING BRAND PERFORMANCE

Influencing Professional Influencers
By JONATHAN KAY AND LARRY FRIEDMAN
The pharmaceutical industry often applies consumer marketing strategies, using channels that were once out of bounds but now are part of the standard media mix. Direct to Consumer (DTC) provides a powerful example of this trend. Prescription brands today appear on television and “talk” directly to patients and caregivers.

This approach is controversial. Detractors question if consumers are equipped to understand and act on messages from pharmaceutical companies. Even in the wake of the “consumer revolution in healthcare,” physicians still have specialized knowledge, training, and clinical experience that consumers lack.

So how different is medical marketing? While prescription brands are targeting consumers, we also see consumer brands targeting physicians. The assumptions questioning how well prepared consumers are to hear messages about prescription brands are being turned upside down. Consider the consumer brand that targets physicians to promote its product to patients. In these cases, the brand is using physicians’ special training and authority to influence consumer decisions.

A consumer brand relying on a physician as a public or private spokesperson is nothing new. It is even expected for medically related products such as over-the-counter medicines. We also see physicians as influencers for brands that are not clinical in nature, including food, fitness, and oral-care products.

Just as pharmaceutical brands have adopted consumer marketing techniques, consumer brands have adopted some channels and tactics that have long been the territory of pharmaceutical products. While there is considerable overlap in marketing practices between medical and consumer brands, market research presents an advantage when it comes to assessing the potential impact of a physician as a professional influencer—whether the brand is a drug or not. That advantage comes from experience and context, including:

  • An understanding of healthcare system dynamics, including the relationships among physicians, patients, and payers
  • Access to physicians, with tools to measure successful message implementation and detailing of doctors

The Value of Professional Influencers
When market research does not consider the impact of professional influencers, it offers only a partial view of the market. It also limits the effectiveness of critical business decisions, such as where a brand should increase investment to improve results and, conversely, where it can spend less without losing ground.

For brand managers to make the best decisions about their marketing and sales mix, they must take a holistic view of the market. This includes assessing the potential and performance of every channel, as well as the importance and impact of every brand attribute. Evaluating brand attributes along with communication channels—including “messengers” such as professional influencers—is vital to driving brand health, growth, and value.

A New Communication Model
A new communication model—Influence 3.0—provides the complete view of communications necessary in today’s world. It captures the two types of communication used today to influence product innovation, purchase, and use:

  • Brands talking to consumers (brand generated)
  • Consumers (patients, caregivers, doctors) talking with one another— and back to brands (consumer generated)

Consumer-generated communication refers to word-of-mouth messages, which proliferate faster than ever today due to the rise of social media. Brand-generated messages influence consumer-generated discussions—and vice versa.

All contacts with a brand work together. It is critical to look at the full range of channels and how they interact to develop the right communication strategies for brands. Each either adds to or takes away from a brand’s image. Pharma’s challenge is to assess the full range of media options—new and traditional—and understand which are most influential for their brands, how they interact, and what the best mix is to drive positive brand experiences.

Influence 3.0 provides a map of today’s communication landscape. Using the model as a framework helps market researchers produce more actionable results when considering the full range of contact points and attributes that drive prescribing or purchase behavior. By including professional influencers in market research studies, brand teams can make the best investment decisions across the marketing and sales mix.When considering using doctors to influence the purchase of consumer goods, it is valuable to measure the stated and derived importance of physician recommendations. It is also critical to measure physicians and “check in” with consumers to see if doctors are “on message.” The right messenger is irrelevant if he or she is delivering the wrong message!

The Power of Physician Influencers
When considering the doctor as a professional influencer, it is important to remember that the physician is a special type of professional. Unlike other professional influencers, physicians give advice in a private capacity. They are not only credible experts but have unique training and experience that impact a patient’s health. Therefore, a physician’s recommendation may be more than influential. Many patients may view it as a directive.

How optional is it for patients to follow that directive? In reality, patients routinely decide whether or not to comply with physicians’ treatment recommendations. They may not fill a prescription or use a medicine the way it was prescribed. Usually, however, when doctors recommend a treatment, patients take it. With most consumer goods more accessible and affordable than prescription products, physician influence is likely to be at least as great, if not greater.

Including Professional Influencers
Consider the case of a European food brand. The company hired reps to detail physicians about its brands targeted to consumers with digestive and cholesterol problems. In this case, the “chain of influence” goes from the brand manager to the rep to the physician to the patient to the point of purchase. Research proves that using reps in the influence chain is a successful strategy. Physicians visited by reps are more likely to “prescribe” or recommend the food product than their peers who are not detailed. In addition, patients who receive a physician recommendation are more likely to purchase the product.

There is one caveat. As in the game Telephone, with so many links in the chain, there are many opportunities for the message to morph. The brand manager then would lose control of the communication. Therefore, it is essential to use market research at every stage of the process—not just to set strategy but also to track progress and ensure successful implementation.

A Comprehensive Approach
When including physicians as professional influencers in the marketing strategy, it is critical to be comprehensive in planning and evaluating the program.
Successful approaches:

  • Take a holistic view, accounting for all the elements that impact brand performance. They consider the rational and emotional attributes that drive physicians to recommend a brand (Power in the Mind elements), as well as the environmental factors impacting prescribing and purchase decisions, such as access and affordability (Power in the Market elements)
  • Consider all channels, both brand generated and consumer generated
  • Show creativity (for instance, using reps to detail physicians about food)

A comprehensive approach should employ market research that includes physicians as professional influencers at every stage, including setting, tracking, and refining strategy. This enables brand teams not only to determine the most effective message but also ensure reps are delivering it and doctors are remembering it. As a result, both the message and the messenger are optimized, supporting strong brand performance.