Small Talk

For pharma marketers, 2012 needs to be the year when they figure out how to stimulate positive conversation about their brand, both online and offline. The recent FDA Draft Guidelines didn’t provide much to go on, but at least it’s a start - and perhaps can offer some level of ammunition for marketers to educate their MLR teams on where the lines really are.  

I can hear pharma marketers now, ringing their hands in frustration, expressing annoyance about their perceived inability to engage with consumers in a more authentic and compelling fashion. Some might even be wishing they could run an ad this weekend during the Super Bowl and all of their problems would be solved.  

Think again. And take note of two really important findings that came out today.

First, the smart folks at Edelman released their annual Trust Barometer report that compiles feedback from over 30,000 adults from around the globe.  This year’s findings confirm that trust continues to decline across nearly every sector, driven by a weakening global economy, political instability, and the deteriorating ways in which companies maintain transparency.  The pharmaceutical sector took a hit as well, dropping nearly 10%, from 61 to 56%.  Technology retained high marks year-over-year, remaining stable at 80%.  

But what really caught my eye was the fact that ‘a person like yourself’ rose in prominence by over 50% from last year, from a modest level of 43% one year ago to a dominant level of 65% today. This was also the category with the greatest movement year-over-year, making this finding all the more relevant and critical.  The fact remains that so many of us rely on the opinions of others when making purchasing decisions.  And when that other person is a lot like you (attitude, age, socio-economic status, etc.), we tend to be influenced positively by their opinions.  Therein lies the power of word of mouth.

The report concludes by encouraging companies to “recognize that operational factors responsible for current trust won’t build future trust, [but] social and engagement behaviors will.”  You mean, TV ads aren’t enough anymore?  I love it.

Another report from eMarketer appeared today, building on the same theme.  That report, provided by BazaarVoice, analyzed the online behavior of millennials (18-34 year olds) and how they create and digest content which influences purchase behavior.  Not surprisingly, this large consumer segment trusts others like themselves too, yet they tend not to discriminate between what they hear from ‘friends and family’ from what anonymous reviews and perspectives they read online.  This same group prefers to share their experiences online with the masses at a much higher rate of 42% (vs. just 17% for the baby boomer set), likely a leading indicator of behavior for other consumer segments in the years ahead.  Both millennials and boomers alike trust user generated content more than brand messages, news articles and advertisements. Again, it’s that issue of trust.

To quote the article, “Whatever brands do, they need to follow the general path of transparency, understanding there’s a huge group of consumers right now who just don’t trust them.  There’s only upside to opening up and giving people the ability to talk about your brand.  That’s going to become the expected norm.”

I recognize that it’s not an easy path forward for pharma, given the need to control the message, and the steady fear of FDA criticism.  But solutions do exist - and to the victor goes the spoils.