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Pharma’s Ad Tax Deduction in Crosshairs Again

March 29, 2018 0

Earlier this month, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) introduced a bill to end the advertising cost tax deduction; this is separate from the larger tax cut bill from last December which failed to remove the practice. This latest attempt, Senate Bill 2478 a.k.a. The End Taxpayers Subsidies for Drug Ads Act, is co-sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).

Much like previous bills similar in nature, industry pushback from both pharma and media companies alike is expected to be significant – largely citing the arguments that removing such an ad deduction for pharma would be discriminatory; it is a threat to the First Amendment; and it would prevent or limit important, valued health information from reaching consumers.

Jim Davidson, Executive Director of The Advertising Coalition, spoke with DTC Perspectives on this matter: “Section 162(a) of the U.S. Tax Code allows any U.S. business to deduct the ‘ordinary and necessary costs’ of conducting their business. Those costs include salaries of employees, office rent, business supplies – and yes, the cost of advertising. Rather than ending a taxpayer subsidy for advertising, S. 2478 would impose a tax on advertising for prescription medicines that does not apply to any other business advertising. Previous efforts to tax DTC advertising have been defeated because they threaten the First Amendment protection for commercial speech. The proposed legislation overlooks the information that this advertising provides to consumers who may be unaware of a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, depression, or Hepatitis C, among other diseases. Even more important, watching an ad may be the motivating factor that prompts someone with a medical condition to see a doctor for treatment.” (Jim will discuss this, as well as other Threats to Pharmaceutical Advertising, in his presentation at the DTC National Conference in Boston, April 18-20.)

“The Coalition [for Healthcare Communication], the 4A’s and our advertising allies will be taking this bill seriously, but it is unlikely that it will be enacted in this session of Congress,” said Coalition for Healthcare Communication Executive Director John Kamp in a news release in response to the bill. “While the provision is likely to garner some Democratic and even a bit of bipartisan support, the Republican-controlled Senate is not expected to hold hearings or set the provision for a vote.” He added: “The Coalition has long opposed such a change in the tax law. Proposing a ban or tax penalty on prescription drug advertising suggests that consumer ignorance should be preferred to consumer information and involvement in healthcare decision making.”

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DTC in FocusDTC NewsUncategorized

Healthcare Tops Concerns for Americans in Latest Gallup Poll

March 29, 2018 0

In the latest Gallup poll, 55% of Americans “worry a great deal” about the availability and affordability of healthcare. The concerns around healthcare top the list, beating out other major concerns such as Crime and violence, Federal spending and the budget deficit, and Availability of guns. A further 23% ranked their concern level at “a fair amount” and another 23% classified themselves under “only a little or not at all.”*

According to Gallup, this is the fifth consecutive year that healthcare availability and affordability tops the list. (The first year that healthcare was asked about was in 2001.)  Senior Editor Jeffrey M. Jones, PhD, noted in the article highlighting the results that, “It is the only issue of the 11 Gallup has measured consistently to maintain this level of worry.”

Jones added that after being nearly “equally likely to worry about [healthcare] in between 2014 and 2016, after major provisions of the Affordable Care Act went into effect,” currently “Democrats have typically worried more than Republicans about the issue, including a 72% to 39% difference this year.”

With President Trump and Congress “taking steps to undo key provisions of the law,” Jones predicts that “Americans’ anxiety about the healthcare situation should persist. … Democrats’ especially high concern about healthcare could make it a mobilizing issue for the party as it seeks to win control of Congress this fall.”

For more information and poll results, click here.

 

 

* Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted March 1-8, 2018, with a random sample of 1,041 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. 

 

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DTC in FocusDTC News

Mesmerize Marketing Acquired by Brite Media Group

March 29, 2018 0

Out-of-home advertising company, Brite Media Group, has acquired Mesmerize Marketing, a leader in patient education at the point-of-care. “Gregory Leibert, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mesmerize, and Craig Mait, Chief Operating Officer, will join Brite Media in leadership roles and will continue to operate the Mesmerize business along with their existing team,” outlined the news release.

With Mesmerize’s “targeted educational materials including wallboards, literature distribution, branded medical essentials, and mobile integration to patients and care givers in waiting rooms, exam rooms, and other high traffic areas of doctors’ offices, dental offices, community-based organizations, AIDS service organizations, and independent pharmacies,” Brite Media now has strong access to the point-of-care space. In return, “[t]he partnership with Brite Media gives Mesmerize Marketing the resources necessary to scale our rapidly growing point-of-care networks,” said Leibert. “Mesmerize will also look to expand our patient education and deliver significant results to our customers, by supplementing our industry-leading static media presence with new static and digital media platforms.”

Michael Ellis, Brite Media’s President and Chief Operating Officer, added that “Mesmerize will perfectly complement Brite’s current media platforms.  The combined companies will leverage the strengths, creativity, and human capital of both businesses to continue delivering outstanding results to our customers.” Brite Media had been acquired by The Beekman Group in 2014. Since then, Brite Media “has more than doubled in size through organic growth and acquisitions led by Beekman and management.”

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Andrew Schirmer Named CEO of Ogilvy CommonHealth

March 29, 2018 0

Andrew Schirmer has taken on the role of Chief Executive Officer with Ogilvy CommonHealth North America, a WPP Health & Wellness company. He returns to his roots, having started his career with the company in 1987. Schirmer was most recently President with McCann Global Health, overseeing the firm’s global and public health unit. According to the news release, he was “responsible for leading the work the agency did for UNICEF, the US government, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and private sector organizations, and the groundbreaking ‘Immunity Charm’ campaign, which tracks vaccinations on behalf of the Afghanistan Health Ministry, and for which the agency won a Grand Prix at Cannes Lions in 2017.”

Mike Hudnall, CEO of WPP Health & Wellness, stated in the news release: “Andrew exemplifies the values we hold dear: excellence in client partnership, support for our incredible people, and an unbridled passion for making the world a better and healthier place. His professionally diverse background in healthcare marketing, consumer wellness, and public health and policy positions him well to help accelerate OCH’s diversification and growth strategy moving forward. Andrew is a champion of great work and true visionary who will bring a human-centered leadership to OCH’s culture. I have complete confidence that Andrew is the right person to unlock the potential of our people and our business as we move forward.”

Schirmer will report directly to Hudnall and work closely with Marc Weiner, Ogilvy CommonHealth’s COO; Darlene Dobry, managing partner; and Terry Cully, managing director in Canada. Schirmer fills the vacant CEO position after Matt Giegerich’s departure in spring 2017. Giegerich founded his own company, Lucky 7 Consulting, before becoming CEO with Inception Companies, a leading provider of video production, interactive visual solutions, broadcast and webcast platforms for virtual meetings, and audio/visual support.

 

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New Rule Proposed to Expand Short-Term, Limited-Duration Health Insurance

February 28, 2018 0

Last week the Departments of Health Human Services (HHS), Labor, and Treasury proposed a rule that would “expand the availability of short-term, limited-duration health insurance by allowing consumers to buy plans providing coverage for any period of less than 12 months, rather than the current maximum period of less than three months.” This will not only provide affordable coverage to Americans who may not have been able to afford current premiums and options, or lacked access to choices that properly matched their needs, but it will “increase competition, choice, and access to lower-cost healthcare options for Americans.”

While the purpose of these health plans was for temporary coverage, but due to their affordability, access to such plans “has become increasingly important as premiums have more than doubled between 2013 and 2017 in health plans on the Federal Health Insurance Exchange,” the news release stated. The short-term, limited-duration insurance does not have to comply with federal requirements for individual health insurance coverage.

Health and Human Services Secretary and former Lilly USA president Alex Azar stated: “Americans need more choices in health insurance so they can find coverage that meets their needs. The status quo is failing too many Americans who face skyrocketing costs and fewer and fewer choices. The Trump Administration is taking action so individuals and families have access to quality, affordable healthcare that works for them.”

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DTC in FocusDTC NewsUncategorized

Apple Continues to Expand Reach in Healthcare, Launches AC Wellness

February 28, 2018 0

In the spring of 2018, Apple plans to premiere AC Wellness, independent medical centers for its employees and dependents offering concierge-like healthcare. As first reported by CNBC yesterday, Apple “quietly published a website, acwellness.com, with more details about its initiative and a careers page listing jobs.” While little information is currently available, AC Wellness’ website boasts that their Network will combine technology, high-quality care, and a unique patient experience to drive engagement and achieve exceptional health outcomes. The website also advertises for career opportunities. Positions to be filled include Health Partner, Physicians, Care Navigator, and Nurses, among others.

This initiative comes shortly after Tim Cook commented about Apple’s ability to make “significant contributions” to health care earlier this month during a shareholders meeting. Cook shared that the tech innovator is in a “great position”, being able to leverage its consumer-friendly approach, as reported by CNBC.

Apple has already been collaborating with the FDA to improve regulations on digital health products. Other coordinators announced last summer as a part of the FDA’s Pre-cert pilot program were Fitbit, Johnson & Johnson, Pear Therapeutics, Phosphorus, Roche, Samsung, Tidepool, and Verily. The work is a part of the Digital Health Innovation Action Plan.

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DTC in FocusDTC News

The Reward of Branding? Human Insights to Power Teva’s Next Chapter

February 21, 2018 1

As a company whose products impact the lives of millions of people, many of them managing serious health conditions, we are aware of how societal trends have transformed the way people relate to their health and have evolved their expectations of companies like ours.

So when we decided to launch a new brand positioning, we not only wanted to build an identity that spanned specialty and generics and unified our businesses around the world after decades of acquisitions, but also one that positioned us as a trustworthy partner to the patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals we serve.

To look within and beyond our medicine cabinet with a fresh perspective, we got out of our laboratories and into the real world, asking questions and listening carefully to the answers. From 2015 to 2017, we talked to more than 21,000 patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals in 20 countries. The simplest insights gained from this research have proved to be the most profound:

  • Few things matter more to people than their health, and they want to feel in control of their journey at every stage of life, both in terms of prevention and in the challenges of managing a disease. They use digital resources to seek out information they can understand from sources they can trust.
  • Consumers’ experience of service in other categories has created high expectations. They are looking for personalization, value, convenience, and relationships. Half of people want pharmaceutical companies to connect with them—online and on mobile—to provide on-demand resources and services.
  • Health means much more than diseases. We learned that people want a holistic experience that addresses their whole person: body, mind, and spirit. This includes health inputs like nutrition and medicine, health outputs like confidence and vitality, and long-term health outcomes like resilience and happiness.

These insights have proved vital as Teva has gone through an important transformation, unifying the company while also becoming simpler, leaner, and more agile. It’s not easy to form a new understanding of a company that’s been around since 1901, and launching a new brand during a restructuring isn’t necessarily intuitive. But our research helped us to understand that consumers expect us to support their health journeys, leveraging our experience to go beyond medicines to the effects of their conditions on their whole lives. And they also want to know about the company itself—insights about the character of our people, what we care about, and how we give back.

Teva’s new branded advertising, website, exhibition booth, and packaging.

Our new brand identity emphasizes that Teva is warm, approachable, accessible, and modern—a company that not only makes high-quality products but also one that listens to the people it serves. Ever mindful of our financial situation, we used existing resources in new ways, focusing on evolving the most impactful touch points to people—packaging and digital—while taking advantage of portfolio optimization, regulatory requirements such as serialization, product launches, office moves, and planned events where possible. Through it all, we’ve focused on evolving our value proposition, incorporating storytelling into our digital content offering, and making our new brand a vehicle for unification and simplification.

We’re implementing the new global brand from the bottom up, through a hyperlocal implementation approach that goes market by market with a meticulous test-and-learn rollout grounded in data and insights. To build local relevance into a global framework, we are evolving our value proposition to reflect the nuances of each market, including our business model and portfolio; the local healthcare system; and the specific needs of that market’s consumers, patients, and healthcare professionals. We started with our own employees, soft-launching the brand internally in 2016 to assess the resonance and relevance of the new positioning in different cultures and healthcare systems. Since then we’ve launched in France, Russia, and Argentina, and are rolling out the new brand in Canada and the U.S. this month, with additional launches planned throughout 2018.

In the U.S., for example, where people are more likely to suffer from chronic issues (65% versus 60% globally), we’ve partnered with Mount Sinai Hospital to meet the needs of those with multiple chronic conditions. And in Canada, where 37% of people are caregivers—supporting loved ones who could not cope without them—we’ve teamed up with caregiver advocacy groups to better support that underserved population.

And to deliver the credible online health information that patients around the world are seeking, we’ve piloted a series of articles, videos, and podcasts with the help of Healthline and the Slate Media Group. In the coming months, we’ll introduce a branded portal—first to the U.S. and then to the rest of the world—as well as a documentary film demonstrating what it’s like to be a patient with chronic conditions.

Our research has shown that digital is a cost-effective, convenient, and preferred way for us to bring value to patients and caregivers through information and resources that go beyond medicine, looking at health conditions from the point of view of patients in the context of their lives—not in the context of symptoms and side effects—which is critical to delivering on our brand promise of helping them to live better days.

Beyond gathering valuable insights and information—and meeting a lot of interesting people—our research is helping us become a simpler and more patient-centered organization, aiming to increase the trust people have in us to support their health needs.

Click here to read Teva’s news release about their new brand positioning and visual identity.

 

Iris Beck-Codner

DTC in FocusGuest Columnist

The Seven Deadly Sins of Content Marketing

November 30, 2017 0

“Content” has replaced “digital” as the biggest buzzword in marketing today—and is now at the core of all communications plans. According to a report by Accenture published late last year, 78% of pharmaceutical and biotech marketers now produce a “moderate to enormous” amount of digital content—from patient testimonials, social posts and news articles to shareable videos.

The truth is that content marketing can be one of the most effective ways to change audience behavior and move the needle on business objectives—but it can also easily fall flat. That’s why it’s more important than ever for marketers to develop clear objectives and strategies for their campaigns and avoid what I call the Seven Deadly Sins of Content Marketing.

SIN #1: You assume people care about your brand story

Let’s be honest; people don’t wake up saying “I’d like to sign a pledge today” or “I’d like to watch a patient video called Sam’s Story.”  When developing content, you have to put yourself in the mindset of everyday people (yes: patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals are people, too) and ask yourself a critical question: Why should they care? People are exposed to up to 10,000 brand messages a day, so for a brand to make an impact, its content has to be rooted in what people are already interested in, searching for and sharing.

Simply put, to work well, content must be as on trend as it is on message. Through social listening research, you can determine the conversations patients and healthcare professionals are already having about their condition and everything that surrounds it so you can enter those conversations authentically. For example, consider structuring your patient stories as listicles, hacks, and memes to build a library of valuable and snackable content that breaks through the clutter.

SIN #2: Your content is socially embarrassing

Every time we ask a person to engage on social platforms, we are asking them to do it publicly. While we work hard to remove the stigma from conditions like inflammatory bowel disease and vaginal atrophy, we have to recognize that there are just some aspects of people’s lives they don’t want to share in a public forum. Does that make social content off limits for conditions like these? No. But brands have to find ways to produce content that people would feel proud—or obligated—to share with other patients, caregivers and everyday friends.

For example, I helped develop a campaign for injectable dermal fillers. While millions of women use fillers, it remains a behind-closed-doors conversation because of the cultural bias associated with facial aging treatments, so we knew women would be hesitant to share social content. To overcome this, we tapped in to the pop-culture trend of mother-daughter “generation” photo shoots and asked daughters to re-create photographs of their mothers at the same age they are now to show how looks change as we age. The program sparked widespread engagement with consumers and media and authentically included discussion about treatment options to help women fight their genes and maintain natural-looking beauty as they age.

SIN #3: You are too focused on the subtleties of your execution

Pharma marketers already have enough hurdles to jump through to get their content out into the world. Obsessing about font type and rounded edges of photos that patients will never notice (or care about) just further delays getting content out while it’s still relevant.

Your attention is better spent on evaluating whether or not your content is relevant to information and conversations your target is interested in. Is it bringing real value to their life? Will they feel smarter, more hopeful and more connected after engaging with it? If the answer is “no,” then no amount of tweaking the color gradient is going make a difference.

SIN #4: Your content requires too much time and money

Authentic content that resonates isn’t always highly produced. In fact, very little sharable content is. Successful content strategies include a variety of production levels, so strike a balance between a well-produced “hero brand video” and a less expensive Instagram story. This will allow you to quickly enter conversations in real time and effectively use your budget to produce more content that keeps your brand top of mind (and top of feed).

I also believe it’s important to lean on agencies beyond your traditional ad agency for content. Your other partner agencies, including digital, social and PR, may have a stronger and more authentic way to understand what your patients are looking for and talking about and therefore can craft content that authentically engages, changes behaviors and moves your business.

SIN #5: You think that, if your content is good, it will get seen

Ensuring that your content is seen requires a mix of earned media attention and paid media boosting. For better earned media exposure, consider giving influencers and media a “first look” (before distributing it broadly to consumers), which can enhance its “hot off the press” appeal and incentivize them share it on their channels. Investigate partnerships with popular publishers to co-create content, which will give it even more credibility. Boost your content’s appeal through search optimization and simple but effective tactics like crafting a compelling title and robust description.

From the paid perspective, it’s important to remember that, for marketers, social media platforms are “pay to play.” There are very limited instances when your audience will see your content without paid support. My rule is to allocate at least 15% of the cost of the content for promotional dollars to ensure that even existing fans see it.

SIN #6: You are asking consumers to generate content for you

Let’s be real—how often do you “Share Your Story” on a social channel? Brands that set out to source real consumer stories as the cornerstone of their marketing campaign are destined to be disappointed in the results.

To make user-generated content (UGC) work for you, keep the following in mind:

  • Tap in to moments when consumers are ALREADY sharing photos and videos, and ride that wave of existing conversations and content.
  • Use an existing community of like-minded content creators to spread your story. You can access these through a myriad of vendors.
  • Don’t underestimate the value of offering an incentive. Coupons, gift cards and surprise-and-delights don’t have to be expensive to be meaningful and compelling and can easily fall into pharma guidelines.

SIN #7: You give up on content because of regulatory hurdles

In a highly regulated environment, it’s understandable that pharma marketers throw up their hands in frustration when it comes to developing content and opt for an unbranded campaign that may not provide the same ROI. Good branded healthcare content requires incredible diligence. But it is possible.

Whether your content is branded or unbranded, you can help your program succeed by collaborating with your legal/regulatory team early in the process. To enhance compliance, consider using the latest platform tools like comment turnoff and static Important Safety Information on images and video, and keep up to date on the current cost-effective monitoring capabilities from your agencies and partners.

By keeping business objectives and consumer behavior top of mind, we can ensure that content does more than flood our feeds with more things to scroll past. There are many ways you can produce quality content that your target audience will want to see—and turn every post, every video, every story into an engine of conversation and engagement that drives your business forward.

Edwin Endlich

DTC in FocusGuest Columnist

For Doctors, Better Data Means Earlier Diagnosis and Effective Treatment

October 25, 2017 0

By Aimee Delorey, Ph.D., and Mark Miller of Symphony Health

It comes as no surprise that big data is being used in all aspects of human life, from where we shop, how we listen to music, how we date and more. But in healthcare analytics, it’s more than just collecting data for the sake of marketing, it’s about understanding how we as doctors treat our patients based on their everyday life habits and goals for living a healthy lifestyle.

The problem and the solution

Large scale data systems, like CRMs may not always provide a holistic, 360-degree view of the patient. They provide limited or incomplete databases in which healthcare professionals have to fill in the blanks. Gaps in data provide significant barriers in understanding patient behavior. Thus, patients receive underwhelming care. According to a 2015 study from McKinsey & Company, 95% of patient data resides outside of the care management system.[1]

Doctors need to be merging traditional data with new sources in order to identify behavior, attitudes and life circumstances. Getting to know our patient’s stress levels, job responsibilities, food and exercise routines, hours spent using technology, social lives and more with the data provided to us will help us provide individualized treatment and advice.

A 2016 study by the SAS Institute merged third party consumer data with claims data to predict healthcare utilization risk and costs.[2] As a result, researchers were able to identify TV viewing patterns, mail-order buying habits (including mail-order prescriptions) and investments in stocks and bonds. The culmination of all this information arms doctors with predictive power in helping understand a patient’s risk for particular outcomes and the related cost.

Using data to invoke change

The earlier we can detect and give our patients a diagnosis, the better their outcome will be. With more comprehensive data and information which is critical to the patient’s journey, (family history, lifestyle and comorbid conditions like diabetes or anemia) can lead to earlier detection.

For example, a main symptom of congestive heart failure is fatigue, which is not always a telling symptom to the average patient. Most patients aren’t diagnosed with this disease until the later stages, meaning most have been living with the disease for some time before diagnosis and treatment.

However, with the help of data, a physician can triangulate their historical information with current signs and symptoms to identify heart disease at an earlier time. This is significant to a patient suffering from unrecognized heart disease who can have a materially improved quality of life with the help of early detection and appropriate treatment.

Conclusion

It’s critical that the healthcare industry, from practitioners to pharmaceutical companies, to look to new ways to understand patients that go beyond traditional data sources, (i.e. wearable technology and the cloud). A better understanding of patients through data will vastly improve diagnosis, earlier detection, more effective treatment, aftercare, prevention and quality of care.

 

References

[1] McKinsey

[2] Statish Garla, Albert Hopping, Rock Moaco, Sarah Rittman. What Do Your Consumer Habits Say About Your Health Risk? Using Third-Party Data to Predict Individual Health Risk and Costs; SAS Institute, 2016

 

About the Authors

Aimee Delorey, Ph.D., senior director, Strategy & Research at Symphony Health, has spent nearly 20 years in analytics and consulting roles serving biotechnology, pharmaceutical and health plan clients. Her areas of expertise include CRM strategy, marketing effectiveness, predictive modeling, data visualization and customer journeys.

As the leader of Symphony’s Audience and Media practice, Mark Miller’s team is responsible for helping clients design, measure and optimize highly complicated media and marketing initiatives. He does this by leveraging Symphony’s unique data and analytic capabilities with an eye towards effective and nimble marketing execution. Mark is widely regarded as one of the foremost thinkers in customer experience design with a focus on groundbreaking solutions in the areas of brand planning, digital media and CRM execution.

Editor’s Note: Join Mark as he copresents with Britta Cleveland, SVP of Research with Meredith, at our DTC Forum on TV & Print, discussing the impact print ads have on Rx sales conversions and overall Return On Ad Spend (ROAS). The 2017 DTC Forum on TV & Print will be held Oct 26th in NYC.

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DTC in FocusDTC NewsOne-on-One Interview

A One-on-One with Galderma VP & General Manager of the U.S. A&C Business Unit Alisa Lask: How Digital is Transforming their Patient Communications

October 10, 2017 0

In mid-September, DTC Perspectives spoke with Alisa Lask, the VP and General Manager of Aesthetic & Corrective Business Unit from Galderma, about the evolution of their digital marketing. “Digital has had a really powerful impact on the aesthetics brands,” she noted. Galderma’s aesthetics business unit is already seeing a large usage of their various digital assets, from materials at the point of care to their digital-only ASPIRE loyalty program. Another digital victory for the company is their Facebook Restylane® page, which after launching just a few months ago, is already outperforming competitors in the space.

Lask shared that, over the past few years, another evolution they have witnessed is how many Health Care Professionals (HCPs) are now using social media and how much they are using it. Utilizing a variety of platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, HCPs are interacting both with Galderma and with patients. This uncovered a big opportunity for Galderma to invest in digital to create their own assets for their partnering HCPs, many of whom have around 10,000-15,000 patients in their databases on average. These materials not only educated the HCPs, but allowed those HCPs to share them with their staff and consumers in the office or waiting room as well.

Innovations to set a new standard

Galderma wanted to make the most of the opportunities digital affords, making one of their approaches an innovative use of video. Aesthetics products, such as Restylane®, lend themselves quite well to digital media. As the industry transitions away from still Before & After photos, Lask explained they created videos that would showcase the natural results of their treatments. “When we launched our two new products, Restylane® Refyne and Restylane® Defyne, earlier this year, the whole philosophy behind those products was that they were designed to be flexible  in animation and in expression in motion for natural-looking results.”

When sending out their first product samples to HCP offices, a video would play when the box was opened, with four different videos being included in each one. With people clamoring to obtain the sample boxes so they could view and share the videos, Galderma took their marketing to another level: text message video. If an individual, HCP or consumer, texted certain phrases to a designated number, they would receive four to five corresponding videos. Of the videos offering through the sample boxes and text message, Galderma developed real Before & After footage, digital animation of the mechanism in action, and the background and science of the XpresHAn™ technology. (XpresHAn™ is derived from the three components it comprises: X = Crosslinking; pres = Pressing gels through mesh for calibration; and HA = Hyaluronic Acid.)

Another innovative approach the aesthetics teams took was through their ASPIRE loyalty program, which is 100% digital communications. Consumers can receive educational emails, digital coupons towards products, and sweepstake offers electronically. Meanwhile, doctors can log onto a special portal within ASPIRE to obtain Galderma assets, find out which of their patients have redeemed Galderma offers or promotions, or track which of their patients may have lapsed in their treatment so they can provide necessary follow ups. Taking a digital only approach has not had a negative impact – Galderma’s response rates are just as good, if not better, according to Lask.

With an obvious expected increase in spending in digital and social media in the future, she said, “Having a social and digital strategy is status quo. I think the real focus is more on how digital and social are going to change, so we have to evolve our spending and budget.” With the challenge being adjusting investments, Lask added, “we all have to learn how to be a lot more nimble so we’re allowed to pivot quickly as the digital and social channels change.”

Ensuring relevance

Infographic shared with consumers, depicting the ‘Natural Expression in Motion’ theme.

Historically, pharma has often lagged behind other industries when incorporating digital or social media into their marketing due to a lack of clear FDA guidance. “There is no doubt that digital is changing faster than any of these regulations can keep up,” Lask noted, so they make sure to partner closely with their legal and regulatory teams from start and every step along the way. Consumers expect brands today to be “honest and candid, but [also] relevant to them.” Balancing such expectations with “the very important fact that we want safe and effective usage of our products … can be challenging and we’re learning as we go in many instances,” she said. Thus, they make sure their assets center on the important safety information, but present it in a consumerized way that people find engaging.

Lask stressed the importance of relevance when developing their educational and branded efforts: “We make sure first that it is relevant for the consumer. There is just so much noise out there, and if we are creating irrelevant material, you can almost guarantee that it is going to be skipped or not used. Then we put our focus on, what is the brand’s essence of our Galderma aesthetic product? It goes back to being honest, candid, and really being true to what we stand for.”

Galderma’s aesthetics brands employ both educational and branded tactics, depending on what is more appropriate at the time. “It’s a combination between education and branded marketing; we feel like you can’t do one without the other,” she said. With these treatments being elective, getting patients to be inspired by outcomes and addressing their primary concern – looking natural – is step one, she explained. Here, educational marketing leads the way. Branded marketing comes into play next to ensure the patient chooses their products, not a competitor’s.

Looking ahead

When preparing future plans, Lask has spotlighted three strategic areas, each one connected in a different way to improving access to education and information. One of the first things Galderma is keeping an eye on are websites such as Yelp or HCP reviews – anywhere that consumers can get engaged with how they find HCPs. She explained that, in the aesthetics market, those are very important to how consumers can figure out where they go for a treatment. Another area of watch for the team is around platforms such as RealSelf.com, which is a community-driven website providing information and research, reviews, and rankings for aesthetic medicines and cosmetic treatments. Lask likened it to the Trip Advisory of aesthetics.

The last key concentration is around retail pop up clinics, she said. It is empowering for consumers to have such access to information and freedom from scheduling appointments. But as a marketer, it provides other challenges – primarily, how do marketers find these places and then also ensure consumers are receiving their materials and relevant messages? Another barrier Lask found is that many of these retail pop up clinics, which are often owned by large corporations now, don’t usually want company branding or materials. She identifies this as a problem that will need to be solved in the future: “how to make sure that we’re able to touch the consumer in those offices as well?”

“The landscape is always changing, but that’s what is fun and exciting about it,” she stated. With more than two million women using aesthetic products currently and another 15 – 20 million more in the US alone who are interested in them, Lask said it is educating and providing them with information so they “really understand outcomes, what they can look like, and what’s possible.”

 

Jennifer Kovack

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