As healthcare marketers, we attempt to gain insight into the minds of our biggest customer—the physician. Unlike consumers, the professional audience chooses to participate actively in healthcare issues and will continue to provide key insights into a successful brand. Knowing this, we tend to invest much of our campaigns in market research. But I’m curious: do we really utilize what they say? Do we challenge ourselves to challenge our clients to listen to our audience?
Let’s say I’m a dermatologist in an urban city. Due to my long schooling, I have an insane amount of student loans. I work twice as hard, seeing dozens of patients a day, and my income is half of what it was 10 to 15 years ago. Pharmacists and insurance companies exhaust my office staff’s time advising us to switch to generics. And for the most part, I don’t blame them; although I still think a branded version is different from a generic.
With little insight into the business underpinnings of my profession, I need help building my practice, especially given the current economic climate. At the same time, I look to the laundry list of pharma reps who all tell me the same story: their product is better than the competition. At the end of the day, I write for one versus the other for various reasons. One, I’ve developed a relationship with a particular rep and the company she or he represents; and two, I’m more familiar with a certain brand so it’s easier to remember dosing, contraindications, etc.
So, when doctors aren’t in the mood and don’t respond well to another chart, spreadsheet, or a sell on data versus data, how do we as marketers react? How do we get their attention? We gather market research and show our clients. Then, after long chats and analyses, we’re directed to tweak a sales aid, update a flashcard, or revise an in-service. Yes, we’re attempting to hit the messaging, but are we really addressing the audience in the way they want to be addressed? Are we listening? Are we reaching out in a creative fashion? I say, we can do better—much better.
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Ken is a great deal more than just the president of a medical communications company. He is something of a hybrid. He’s part marketing manager, part creative director, and part copywriter. To the chagrin of his peers—but to the delight of his clients—Ken is a consummate perfectionist. As a former creative director for a high-end consumer agency, he challenged his creative teams to go beyond the mundane to produce work with real creative impact, something he’s just as fervent about today. From producing and directing TV commercials, to launching DTC and Rx-to-OTC switches, Ken brings his clients a world of experience in OTC pharmaceuticals as well as business, lifestyle, and high-end consumer products and services. Whether huddled with clients behind a mirror in a market research center in Houston, facilitating a strategic workshop in Madrid, or developing a global campaign either in the New Jersey or California office, Ken is always fully engaged, bringing “bestness” to all areas of his hectic but full life.
