WorldHealth

Business as unusual

Anything striking about the title? Did you read it as ‘Business as usual?’ If you did then don’t worry, at least half of readers probably did so too. It is all about perspective.

Life science marketing is all about perspective. In a world where knowledge about healthcare networks is key to optimizing sales efforts, knowing the perspective of the customer is essential to reach a common understanding of the benefits and prospects of using a specific life science technology over another. While it sounds simple, it is not; even internally it is difficult, just try to take a closer look at a life science company - it might be yours.

Why do medical and marketing departments often have difficulties in understanding each other? Even within life science companies it is all about perspective, the medical department does not understand the sales process; the marketing department does not understand science!

At a Workshop at INSEAD I presented the scientific paper ‘Drugs - from product to service’(1). In this paper and at the Workshop I proposed services, like compliance and monitoring programs, as an ‘add on’ to the product itself, and hereby producing a new product. After my presentation and later during dinner, the marketing people stated that this is old news or ‘business as usual’. The medical people on the other hand stated that this was ‘business as unusual’. Of course services like the one mentioned above have been setup and used as marketing tools for some time, that is this is not a new perspective to the marketing people. But ’services’ combined with a product have never been tested against the product on its own in a controlled scientific trial, and as such could create a scientifically proven innovative product. And this was actually the point I was trying to make. Owing to the scientific perspective, this was adapted by the medical people.

In my mind there is no doubt that the future of sustainable and responsible medical marketing is combining sales and marketing theories with medical science, not only by translating science into a few headings and a nice picture, but by creating marketing schemes that support the product by giving ‘added value’ to the customer. Hereby medical marketing itself contribute to better outcomes and might even be a revenue generator (more about this in another blog) . In other words, medical marketing is all about perspective.

Claus Møldrup, PhD (pharm.) Associate Professor Director TBWA\WorldHealth Denmark

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1. Møldrup, C. & Kruse, P. R. (2006). Drugs - Product or service. Journal of Medical Marketing 6 (4), 282-286.