Small Talk

January 4, 2012 »

Six-Pack Abs and Get-Rich Quick - It’s The Start of A New Year!

It’s the first week of January, and that means that it’s time for all of our new year’s resolutions to take hold. Most of us focus on getting into shape and losing some of that extra holiday weight.  In fact, gym membership enrollments hit their annual peak over the next three weeks. Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig increase their media buys in the first quarter to tap into this human desire to lose weight and be around to enjoy all that life has to offer.  Marketers add to the weight loss craze with plenty of get-rich-quick schemes as people want to believe that “this will be the year” to achieve their financial independence.

For me, like many others, I’m hoping to stay in shape and feel a bit younger.  In fact, I just bought the highly-acclaimed P90X yesterday as a way to kick-start my new exercise regimen. Rather than sign up for a gym membership, I’ve decided to take the P90X company’s 90-day challenge. The structure their program provides sets me up with realistic goals and mile markers to track my success.  I’m no expert in exercise; instead, I’m looking for a plan and a strategy to help me hit my goals - and sure, who wouldn’t want those six-pack abs!? But it’s no get-fit-quick scheme - in fact, from what I can tell, it’s quite the opposite, requiring a lot of hard work with regimented activity to achieve results.

Pharma marketers trying to accomplish their brand objectives for 2012 are likely in the same boat, and are searching for the magic bullet to help them do it.  For some, it may be TV advertisements; for others, it may be a mix of social media and digital marketing; and for others still, they may focus on engaging a small tribe and empowering them to make a difference.

No matter what your end game is, it will be important not to lose sight of the value of trusted experts who can share their expertise and experience to help you reach your goals.  And much like me with the P90X DVDs, it’s going to take discipline, patience and perseverance to succeed within our highly-regulated pharma environment.  Brands need to be willing to put in the work and make the sacrifice to get the results they want. 

Remember, Eric Clapton didn’t become the world’s greatest guitar player overnight; Seth Godin didn’t get one million subscribers to his blog with a few posts; and Ina Garten cooked thousands of meals before making it big with cookbooks, TV shows and endorsements.

Overnight success never really happens overnight.

We’re getting close to celebrating our 5-year anniversary here at HealthTalker, and are still looking to get even better at what we do.  And we have a lot of things planned in 2012, and hope you remain engaged with our us and our updates.  Just enter your email address to get this blog through our RSS feed, or choose to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.  And that’s no scheme!

Here’s to much shared success and growth in the year ahead.

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