Time to tear down the wallpaper?

Jeff diligently entered his customer, channel and behavioural data into the marketing communication machine and pressed ‘go’.

He stood back and waited, satisfied that his new campaign would be a success. After a few encouraging noises from his campaign printer, out popped a tightly crafted, but frequently repeated and rather generic pattern: the communications wallpaper.

Our ill-fated, but fictional marketeer, Jeff, isn’t just a figure of our imagination. His plight is representative of marketing executives across the pharmaceutical industry. So, where do people like Jeff go wrong and what can be done to help?

Where did it all go wrong?

In short, Jeff hadn’t done anything wrong. He’d understood the audience, targeted a behaviour change, considered the channels and crafted the messaging. The only problem was that everyone else had done the same.

With a limited audience, some restrictive covenants and, crucially, access to the same data and channels as his competitors, it was inevitable that his communications would end up like wallpaper.

But what about unique products, such as those offering distinct outcomes, special benefits or a patient-centred approach? Surely there is an opportunity here to stand out. And yet, how many times have you heard the phrase ‘it’s a bit pharma’ levelled at an advert for a novel treatment or breakthrough drug?