… and everybody went home early. They might have overlooked the stale chips and flat soda, but they couldn’t tolerate the tiny apartment and a host who wouldn’t stop talking
about himself.
Everyone knows that the best parties are lively and full of interesting people. There’s enough space to flow freely so you to try new things and engage in a variety
of conversations.
Why can’t pharmaceutical marketing plan, prepare and present the kind of party our customers will eagerly attend and lasts well into the night?
The reason most
often given for our not-so-great parties is the fact that our parties are regulated. We want to throw a great party but legal/regulatory won’t let us.
Clearly, the regulations
limit some things but they don’t limit every thing.
As marketers, we control the generosity of our fundamental brand idea and the nature of our relationship with customers.
We’ll never be something people want to join if our brand story and behavior is all about us, and no bigger than our core claims -- and, worse, treats our customers as an enemy in need of
conquering.
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Our customers are smart. Their skepticism has blossomed, and the ability to see through exaggeration and hype is a cultural value. People connect online to discover (i.e., Google),
share (i.e., Facebook), transact (i.e., Amazon), and express themselves (i.e., YouTube). They are more informed through their social graph, they value transparency and responsiveness, and when brands
meet the expectations of their customers, they are sometimes rewarded with advocacy. Which matters. Because marketing has been outsourced to our customers.
So why are pharma marketers still
trying to fight it? Why are we still focused so intensely on Reach and Frequency? Why aren’t we challenging our agencies to help brands flourish in a world filled with all-powerful customers?
Why can’t we see that without lively, engaging content we can’t have a conversation? Having so little to say in a world full of so many interesting conversations has to be frustrating (and
perhaps disheartening.)
As marketers, we need to purposefully blur the lines between marketing, customer service, sales, and corporate communications. We need to embrace the collision between
content and contact, analog and digital, buyer and seller, and creator and consumer. We need to embrace the new era of customer self-marketing and know we must shift from advertising to facilitating,
because that’s the only hope we have of aligning with our customers’ power.
Our days will be more interesting. Much more.
To get there we must be willing to reconsider the
way we work. We must consider what your job as a marketer was and what it needs to be now.
A Contemporary Marketer …
| WAS | IS |
|---|
| Messaging and media specialist | Chief orchestrator of customer touchpoints, traditionally disparate functions, and owned, paid and earned media |
| Focused on the execution of established marketing processes | Adaptable to changing customer needs/behaviors; Forming new kinds of relationships with customers |
| Campaign-time | Real-time |
| Telling and selling | Marketing that provides value |
| Message testing | Performance
management |
| Discrete channel-specific solutions | Connections thinking |
You have to generate force to work against the market
– and that consumes tremendous resources.
It’s time to consider the sustainability of our marketing approach and efforts. It’s time to challenge the status quo and make our
brands more purposeful, generative and joinable.
That’s a party where everyone comes early and stays late.
Editor's note: This newsletter, originally schedule to be posted on
Oct. 14, was delayed due to technical difficulties.