My (pharma) marketing philosophy - what this blog is about

For the rest of my posts to make sense, it's important to understand where I'm coming from. So, here's my philosophy on marketing and pharmaceutical marketing.

I 'grew up' as a pharma marketer wishing I was a consumer marketer. Those guys work on brand names people have heard of, they can actually use their own product, and plenty of them get to do the ultimate in marketing glamour - TV. Try telling someone at a party that you're in pharmaceutical marketing. The eyes glaze over (or maybe even squint a little if hostile to the industry).

Not only that (or maybe because of it) as a pharma marketer you're constantly being told just how clever the consumer guys are, and being shown the latest clever ad or piece of viral marketing.

When I first moved over to healthcare advertising, these prejudices were reinforced. The consumer advertising guys have interesting trade magazines and prestigious award ceremonies in places like Cannes. There also seemed to be a lot of money going around, and you actually read about successful admen in proper newspapers.

But then, after working with the consumer guys on a few projects, I got to realise that consumer marketing was definitely no more intellectually challenging or fulfilling than pharma. In fact, selling toilet paper doesn't exactly require mental gymnastics. We'd always been led to believe that Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) was where the buzz was at. For 'FMCG' read detergent or fish-fingers; not nearly so glamorous, or interesting.

So that made me think about what sort of stuff I would like to work on; something mentally stimulating, but important - something that might even help change the world we live in a meaningful way. First up, I thought of computer and information technology, and the way that it's revolutionising everything we do. And promptly admitted that I knew nothing about it, and a lot of it looked pretty dry.

But then another form of evolving technology that is shaping our world came to mind - healthcare. This made me realise that it's not the pharma subject matter that's the problem, it's the staid, myopic view of marketing that we've always applied to it. Why should we ape the tired old ways of classic consumer marketing (becoming rapidly outdated itself) when what we have is a far more complex and interesting marketplace that requires its own approach?

"And hence", to be dramatic, "my quest was born".

Together with my business partners I've set about ripping up all the pre-conceived notions of how we should approach pharma marketing. In their place, seeking out and developing the theories, tools and techniques that work in a marketplace where the customer is rarely the end-user, and colleague recommendation (word of mouth) is the most powerful influence; not advertising or sales reps.

The result is a marketing approach that is not only unique for pharma, but I that believe in places is cutting edge across all marketing sectors. In this blog you'll find all related viewpoints to this - some from pharma, some from other industries. I'd be fascinated to know what you think of them.

Matt