Internet Marketing

We have heard in recent times from many of the larger pharmaceutical companies, who tell us how they predict pharmaceutical marketing will change as we go forward. The United States Congress is pushing these companies to tell them how much they pay healthcare professionals as part of their marketing initiatives, during the process of selling their wares. In many instances, key doctors have been engaged to act as consultants, to spread the word about particular drugs and their benefits; these levels of engagement are now being revealed.

Congressional health reform will require pharmaceutical companies to declare any payments, fees or gifts made to doctors, practitioners and hospitals, beginning in 2012. This information will be correlated and will be made public from the following year, onwards. In advance of this requirement, many organisations are making the information available to the public right now. Pharmaceutical sales companies defend these payments as important and indeed essential in helping to spread the word about the benefits associated with individual products. Payments are made to benefit patient care ultimately, although it is true to say that there is a certain layer of negative perception on the part of the ultimate consumer. A lot of work needs to be done and the pharmaceutical marketing and sales industry must provide a clearer and more distinct picture for the public.

The healthcare field is changing significantly and company executives and pharmaceutical consultants alike must devote much more time to specific sales and marketing initiatives and their pharma training. Whether direct payments are part of an association or not, key account management training must ensure that both parties to the arrangement are clearly focused and understand the depth and breadth of the association. It may be necessary to reposition the relationship, in the light of changes, legislation or public opinion. At the very least, changes dictate that key account management training must focus on the dynamic and be right on the mark for best efficiency.

Doctors invariably want to assure observers that they are not crossing ethical boundaries and that they concur with the findings of the pharmaceutical companies. When they are in discussion with others, doctors make a point of revealing that they have a relationship with these companies and go out of their way to make sure that they’re not being seen as partisan.

However, it is likely that direct payments will become less important and represent a smaller portion of the overall marketing mix, as new legislation rolls out and as reporting restraints are established. Some perceive any change as a challenge, while pharmaceutical companies that pay constant attention to the marketing mix, to the way that they treat their key account management, will always be ready to apply change for the good.

Pharmaceutical consultants understand how many external forces are in play, in this case due to political initiatives and from changes in public perception. They ensure that pharma training is amended as often as necessary to ensure that their staff are able to proactively engage in the market. In short, the consultants will always ensure that the organisation is adequately prepared for any eventualities that may transpire.

Alan Gillies is the CEO of L2L Consulting, a cutting-edge pharma consultancy firm which specialises in optimising productivity and performance within international companies by applying tailored organisational strategies.