Marketing with Meaning in Pharma Pecha Kucha

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This is widely recognized as the world’s first advertisement. I’ll carved into the street in Ephesus, Greece and dates to around the year 0. Is said to be an advertisement for a brothel with the footprint pointing the way. And I always thought banking was the oldest profession.

Things haven’t changed much...we’ll put an ad on anything including an ad for car insurance on a subway turnstyle. Think about that for a minute.

We’ll even put ads in places where you can’t escape, like your airplane traytable. And when you do try to escape by looking out the window, we buy up all the empty space around airports and puts ads there too.

66% of DVR owners skip all or almost all commercials150 million phone numbers were signed up in less than 3 months (76% of Americans), with no advertising required.8.8 million Firefox users use AdBlock plus to eliminate all banner adververtising.So, perhaps our customers can escape.

But why do they want to get away? You know the answer. We don’t even like our advertising, so why should our customers. If we can’t stand it and they can’t stand it, maybe it’s time for something different.

We’ve evolved our advertising approach before. We used to just put our ads out there and hoped people saw them. Mongomery Ward was one of the first to figure out that they could bring their marketing directly to you...and direct marketing (and mail) was born.

But it’s time for another evolution because what we’re doing isn’t working. Marketing isn’t the only thing that doomed these companies, but it played a major role. If they can fail, how do you feel about your company’s chances?

Here’s how the evolution of marking has progressed. We’ve gone from direct marketing (like Montgomery Ward) where we bring our advertising right to you. Don’t get up, we’ll come to you. Relationship marketing was a progression where we customize our ads or even ask permission before bringing our ads to you...over and over again. Marketing with Meaning is the next evolution.

What is Marketing with Meaning? It’s two things: marketing that people choose to engage with and marketing that itself improves people’s lives. Meaning here means “personal value.” It isn’t cause marketing (though it could be). Instead, it’s a completely different approach where people actually seek out your marketing and benefit not just from your products, but also the marketing that surrounds it.

There are three tiers of Marketing with Meaning. At the bottom, and simplest to do, is Solution. It’s providing incentives and services to your customers. Southwest created the Ding! desktop widget so its customers could always know when they lowest fairs were available. There were 10 million site visits from tool in 3q08 alone and it generated $150MM in revenue by year 2.

The next tier is Connection, which is all about creating meaningful or engaging experiences that I can share with others. For example, Sam Adams partners with Riedel to create the perfect beer glass. These flew off the shelves even at $30 for a four-pack of glasses. M&Ms created personalized M&Ms, which allow you to put anything you want on them. These cost $13 for a 7oz pack (minimum 3) and M&Ms gives this project credit for revitalizing the brand.

The highest tier is Achievement where you’re helping people improve their lives, their families’ or their communities’. Nike+ is a great example. It helps me become a better runner and stay in shape by providing some additional motivation. 30% of users come back to the site more than once a week (for a Nike marketing message of course). This program grew profit 8% in its first full quarter, which also happened to be the same quarter Reebok and Adidas merged and supported this with hundreds of millions in paid media...apparently, with no effect.

When you look at pharma’s advertising history it goes back to the innocent days when Bayer had simple ads if not interesting products, up to today’s more infamous Viagra “horns” campaign...and, of course, a bunch of interesting things in between.

But this marketing hasn’t done much for public trust. A Harris poll in October 2008 asked Americans which industries are generally honest and trustworthy. Pharma fell in between banks and oil. Keep in mind, this poll was done after the banking system started to collapse and they still did better than pharma. (http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=979)

But some companies are doing it already. This is from Baxter who makes a treatment for a rare disease called Alpha-1 deficiency. It’s highly underdiagnosed, but also very rare. Rather than spend tens of millions of dollars on direct to consumer advertising in hopes that a few would go and get the test to see if they have this condition, Baxter gives away the tests (and processing cost) to any physician or patient who wants it. This avoids taxing the healthcare system with unnecessary tests and, hopefully, finds the few people who will benefit from treatment. Everyone benefits.

For another rare disease, PKU, Biomarin created PKU.com. This has emerged as the single best source of PKU information anywhere online. But, it’s sponsored by a pharma company and yet no one seems to mind because the marketing (though lightly branded) is so meaningful to them, as this site helps PKU patients connect with others and get the latest information about the disease and it’s treatment.

The products that pharma companies make are highly meaningful to all of us. They prevent, treat, and cure diseases. What’s more meaningful than that? So, why shouldn’t our marketing be equally as meaningful?

Here’s the take home test you can do with your own marketing. Will people choose to engage with my marketing?Does this marketing add value to people’s lives? The final question is a personal one. I, for one, didn’t get into this business to make 30-second commercials that people can’t wait to skip over. Neither did you. So, ask yourself: Is this work meaningful...to me?

If you’d like to hear more, you can go to our website or pick up a copy of the book that’s all about this concept: “The Next Evolution of Marketing” http://www.amazon.com/Next-Evolution-Marketing-Connect-Customers/dp/0071625364

Marketing with Meaning in Pharma Pecha Kucha

Jonathan Richman

Marketing with Meaning in Pharma Pecha Kucha