• by Craig Douglass , Brendan Gallagher , October 14, 2011

… 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.

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 …

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.