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Vincent Parry

Member since March 2017Contact Vincent

Vince Parry is a veteran branding expert specializing in health and wellness. Before he founded Parry Branding Group, Vince was the Chief Branding Officer for inVentiv Health, and the Chief Creative Officer of Young & Rubicam's global healthcare network, Sudler & Hennessey. He is the author of "Identity Crisis."

Articles by Vincent All articles by Vincent

  • Pharma TV Ads Should Die A Quick Death in Marketing Insider on 12/15/2017

    Unlike consumer goods branding, healthcare branding is not a celebration of self. People don't engage with healthcare brands to shape their identity. "Look, I got a new Dior bag...a new BMW...a cool brand of beer!" Healthcare branding is a protection of self, helping to restore aspects of one's identity lost to illness.

  • Get The Healthcare Bump in Marketing: Health on 03/20/2017

    Add a white-coat endorsement to your brand for greater sales and loyalty.

Comments by Vincent All comments by Vincent

  • Pharma TV Ads Should Die A Quick Death by Vince Parry (Marketing Insider on 12/15/2017)

    The results of the effects of TV advertising are far from obvious. Historically, healthcare marketers are not very innovative.  They just do what everyone else is doing without really stretching for something else beyond the status quo.  Since their audience cannot make a direct purchase, but rather must convince a physician to Rx the drug AND get permission from insurance formularies, it's impossible to gauge the per capita return on investment.  But my main thesis is that drug companies are making fools of their brands and ruining their reptuations as serious medicines by fielding TV ads that compel them to behave like consumer goods brands.  The only ones laughing all the way to the bank are the consumer agencies who have a vested interest in maintaining this pathetic and poorly vetted dynamic.

  • Pharma TV Ads Should Die A Quick Death by Vince Parry (Marketing Insider on 12/15/2017)

    Spoken like a true veteran, Frank. Healthcare marketers are blinded by the glitter of TV, and blind to the fact that other media are vastly more cost effective. Plus, as my central thesis states, TV ads the way they are executed make great brands look foolish.  There is a better way if only they'd come to their sense and try something different.

  • Pharma TV Ads Should Die A Quick Death by Vince Parry (Marketing Insider on 12/15/2017)

    Ron, thanks for your thoughtful comments. And we agree that pharma ads promote a "pro choice" environment intended to engender discussions on the relative merits of one therapy vs. another, or the risks vs. the benefits.  But I do believe the ads, in many cases, go well beyond awareness and try to build identities that entertain rather than inform, and that's like dressing up a lovely serious person in clown clothes. I'm a fan of these brands, but hate to see them pander. I think there's vast room for improvement.  However, clients won't change the pattern until another one acts as a guinea pig and goes for something truly innovative.

  • Pharma TV Ads Should Die A Quick Death by Vince Parry (Marketing Insider on 12/15/2017)

    We agree that here are many factors contributing to the high costs of healthcare in the US, and perhaps expensive TV is one of them.  But more often than not, the choice of who gets such drugs are not the patients themselves, but rather the doctors who prescribe them. Pharma companies ulltimately want to be "pro choice" in offering drug alternatives.  Patients don't have to choose expensive drugs if their doctors don't feel that it's right for them. And if doctors DO decide to Rx them, then they must feel that patients' are getting their money's worth. As one ad for Opdivo says, what would you do to get a chance to live longer? Value is in the eye of the beholder, and beholders should have choices.

  • Pharma TV Ads Should Die A Quick Death by Vince Parry (Marketing Insider on 12/15/2017)

    Eric, agree that nothing reaches the masses better than...TV mass media.  Two points: 1. I would suggest changing the narrative of the ads so it builds awareness without sacrificing dignity and brand identity; 2. Many of these drugs are for illnesses that have very small patient populations, populations that can be reached more efficiently via direct marketing.  Pharma ads as they exist now should die a quick death.  I wasn't implying that there's no room for improvement.  Thanks for your comment.

  • Pharma TV Ads Should Die A Quick Death by Vince Parry (Marketing Insider on 12/15/2017)

    Don't know if you work in the healhcare industry, but many studies have shown that educational ads about healthcare get very little interest from the great majority of people. These ads are extremely expensive, and the per capita investment does not yield very good returns.  I was speaking about the majority, not everyone.  Thanks for your comment.

  • Get The Healthcare Bump by Vince Parry (Marketing: Health on 03/20/2017)

    Yes, Dermatologists often do carry their own line of skin care items now.  But they don't carry bed linens or button down shirts or any number of items that touch the skin and can become irritated.  Which brand of laundry detergent would they recommend?  And so on.  Marketers who think more broadly and get the healthcare bump will have the preferred brand on the tips of physicians every time.

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