Digital Pharm Wed. Morning 3

This will be a stream-of-bullet-points (with some related commentary) on this conference on the use of digital technologies in pharma marketing. Session #3-

Louis Sanquini, Director, Allergy Francise, Meda Pharmaceuticals. Making on-line programming “more clear”

(Ahhh…some passion in this speaker. Yay!)

– Are our budgets aligned with the new reality of on-line consumer behavior? Not even close. Way more for TV and print.

– eMarketers may not have a seat at the table. How to get larger marketing budgets? Display confidence rather than hope. 5 steps to establish confidence

1. Establish the “big bat” – 132 million on-line for health, 82 million for product-specific info. High-percentage year-over-year growth. Establish success with Search. Huge usage by consumers. SEO. Medical directories. Organic and paid search.

:: Educate the brand team. (Yes, but – there is so much turnover in these positions, and I think a great on-line strategy requires long-term, immersed dedication. A problem in pharma brand marketing.)

2. Remove the fog – getting to the “money pages” on the site – the ones that lead to conversion.

:: Integrate in non-search advertising. Awareness on say, Yahoo home page. High favorability data for those who have been exposed to awareness. Also adherence significantly higher than control. Interesting ROI calculation data – (but is it based on tangible, repeatable, transferrable campaigns?)

3. Apply what has been learned – re-targeting the most valuable consumers. Behavioral targeting.

900,000 YouTube visits for Astelin (allergy) video in 5 months.

4. Be the Blender – use lots of stuff. Bid-based program (Google Radio/Newspaper/TV) – paying only for impressions realized. Compare reach and CPM with traditional media!

“Integrated Elevator Story” – the numbers from all the channels, in one report or dashboard. Marketing nirvana!

5. Know where to go. What are the potential channels?

:: Great stuff. Gotta be able to show tangible impact.