The Three Rules Movement

We recently came across a website that is supporting a book by two Deloitte Consultants.  The book is The Three Rules by Micheal Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed and here is a link to the site.  Here is another link to a radio interview on Bloomberg Radio. 

In short, it highlights for us the need to have companies focus on being better before cheaper. Our world today seems to be run by lawyers looking out more for risk mitigation, HR people who are looking for the exact specs on their job postings and finance personnel who are looking more at cost avoidance than revenue generation. Somewhere in all this advancement the last 4 years, industry and corporations focus less and less on the customer.  We believe this is very true in life science companies and to some degree we now see it in healthcare entities as they try to figure out how they are going to manage the US healthcare reform act.  

We are interested in your thoughts. Let us know what you think of the rules and the book.  

Great Article on Content Marketing especially for consultants looking to catch others attention. Read through this slideshare presentation

12 Months of Content Marketing Ideas for SlideShare from Content Marketing Institute

NORD/Lundbeck Raise your hand campaign

This is a great idea!Please click the link below before February 28th.

By raising your hand, you have just shown your support for the 30 million Americans who are affected by rare diseases. Thanks to you, Lundbeck has made a $1.00 donation to support rare disease research (up to a maximum donation of $10,000 for the campaign). The money raised will be contributed to a general research fund managed by the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD).

This is the fourth Raise Your Hand Campaign. Last year’s campaign provided a $10,000 donation that NORD awarded toward a research grant for Primary Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP) in adults, to determine potential additional anti-platelet antibodies that will lead to more accurate diagnosis.

Click this link to learn more

Announcing a new capability-Text analytics

We are pleased to announce our latest capability! Text, Voice and Data Analytics.  We have recently partnered with the Thoughtware Group to offer clients in our life science practice an advanced suite of tools to analyze large amounts of data in a quick and economical manner.  

"Big Data" is a term used by many in the industry today.  However, many in the space have failed to acheive an understanding of who says what and why.  For example, whenever marketers observe online digital communication, it remains unclear to them who the person is (interacting with their brand).  Secondly, these insights often remain largely disconnected from the "offline" understanding gained in consumer research. 

We aim to change this proposition by bridging the gap between what online digital communication promises to deliver and what it actually delivers.  With our unique "Thinking Insight" technology we can build segment specific analyses from any type of data feed (Text/Image/Voice) to evolve insights that connect the online and offline worlds.  This will help companies gain insight to the market faster, understand consumer reactions to their brand messages as well as identify new key opinion leaders for their company.

  
Advances in online and social media marketing are mainly focused today on data gathering, targeted advertising and general sentiment monitoring. This new partnership allows us to not only do these things, but when combined with our industry experts, the final product helps clients understand what they should do next with the information.  

Quick Guide to the New Era of Marketing

A recent webinar by Bill Lee highlighted the end of marketing as we traditionally know it.  Pharma companies specifically must revamp marketing strategies if success is to be found in the future (see Message to Pharma CEOs: Forget Price Increases, retain customers!).  So what does this mean for companies’ market strategies going forward?  What should be the focus in order to retain business and attract new customers?  Most of you will agree that the best product recommendation comes from someone you know.  In sales and marketing, these customers (be a business or consumer) are known as promoters.  These promoters are imperative to expanding a business since they will give an honest opinion about your product and people will listen to people they know and trust. 

In the webinar, Mr. Lee goes on to discuss Net Promoter Score (NPS).  This score is given to customers based on their ability to influence the decisions made by other potential customers.  Business will prefer to enter into contracts where they can hear first hand accounts of the service or product from a trusted referral.  Quality promoters are true gems to companies and should be treated that way.  These customers will essentially make the sale for you.  The million-dollar question is how do you as a brand manager generate and keep quality promoters.  Not every customer will be a quality promoter and some may even detract from your business, so it must be the aim of your marketing team to create strategies that generate sales by way of promoters.  We can help your company utilize social media to monitor the flow of information via promoters (and detractors) so that these clients can add to your business.

So how can we utilize this promoter strategy to increase pharma and healthcare sales?  First, we must generate products and services that induce chatter between customers. And while we live in a heavily regulated industry, think about the simply premise of this measure. Would these patients recommend your product to a friend or colleague?  If the answer is 9 or 10 out of 10, this is really a great measure. That is why we believe it is essential that industry create opportunities for customers to discuss your products online and help facilitate this talk.  Allowing forums that bring together current and potential customers can help companies demonstrate the value their products bring to the market.    

As mentioned before, humans naturally accept recommendations from their trusted close circles and if a trusted member of a community has a positive experience with your product, you may have just convinced the entire community.

Do Startups need Marketing?

YES!  However, a thorough plan must be conceived before implementation.  Otherwise you may end up as "the app for people who like to take pictures of their food".   The first question every startup CEO should ask his/herself before developing a marketing strategy is "What is the purpose of my marketing plan?".  Once this question has been answered, then, and only then, is your company is ready to discuss the responsibilities and the ultimate goals of your marketing department.  A recent post on christine’s brain discussing the importance of marketing strategies by startups highlights a few of the points that we believe in your plan need to be addressed :

1. Positioning the product
2. Defining the target customer
3. Representing the customer voice in the product roadmap
4. Developing the company’s brand
5. Acquiring customers
6. Keeping customers happy

These points seem almost common sense, but when it comes to execution, many startups fail because of time, other priorities and lack of funding.  We think that in the first stages of a startup, technical aspects regarding your product are extremely important.  However, positioning your product in the market for your future launch is imperative for your company’s success. This will also be an iterative approach if you do not have a large budget to invest in primary and secondary market research.  

At BioPharma Advisors, we can guide you in developing a sound marketing strategy that addresses each of these points.  We will put marketing at the forefront of your business plan in effort to enhance the long-term success of your product offering.  

The Rules of Self-promotion

Imagine yourself as a young twenty-something working to get your blog/writing off the ground.  With today’s social media outlets make it easier than ever to start a blog and instantly share it with each and everyone of your followers, friends, and subscribers.  There is, however, a fine line between making yourself known and an air of arrogance.  While arrogance can get you noticed very quickly, it can also turn people off even faster.  So how do you, the hypothetical young twenty-something blog writer, walk the tightrope of effective self-promotion and arrogance?

As discussed by Della on Micro to tele, we are on the same page that most of our self-promotion is obtained by tweeting the blog-link a few times the day of publishing and once on Google+.  But for an up and coming blog with few regular followers, is this enough?  And, is it okay to tag others (friends or influencers) in your tweets/posts in order to gain a following?  Our opinion is that content is the major determinant.  If your content is aligned with that of whom you are tagging, then yes, one or two tags a month of an influencer may be just what you need to boost your credentials.  Important to note though, there is a fine line between a few tags a month and becoming obtrusive.  Do not become the latter.  That is arrogance.

You may be asking yourself, how does this apply to BioPharma Advisors and healthcare?  Well now change that hypothetical situation to a healthcare/life sciences company rather than a blog.  It is essential to promote yourself in the proper communities without seeming arrogant to those well established in those communities.  That is where we come in.  We can help you boost your credentials with a proper marketing strategy that will allow you to gain ground in your field.  Remember, there is a fine-line between self-promotion and arrogance.  Crossing the line can be detrimental to your company, but a proper promotional strategy will lend to a successful future.