One of the core things our behavioral science approach delivers are the true insights into what makes people do the things they do. What makes them tick?

At what point in time do we consciously decide to change our behavior and actually follow through with it? What really causes that synapse to fire?

I think it’s a powerful visual experience vs. long exposure to information. I believe you can talk to people and expose them to endless words and warnings and facts but when someone sees a concept only then can it has an immediate and profound effect.

Here’s a personal experience.

Started working out over a year ago at the YMCA. Not to “bulk up” or for any reasons driven by vanity. Just to stay in shape and keep healthy since I’m now in my mid-40s. So I start this and for a couple of months I’m diligent. I feel better, sleep better—all of it.

Then the inevitable happens. I start getting tired of it.

Stop finishing the routines. Skipping the tough stations. Finding more and more excuses to not drag my lanky frame out of bed at 6:00 am three times a week.

But I stick to it. And then one morning I see it.

A noticeable difference in my chest and shoulders. (Okay I say noticeable but keep in mind that when you’re 6’ 5” and 165 lbs. even a tiny Slim Jim of a muscle is reason for champagne.)

It.

Was.

Working.

Instantly my mojo changed. Getting up was no longer a struggle. I pushed the routines instead of drifting through them.

I knew that exercise was good for me. I knew it was good for the heart and lungs. I knew that at my age I needed to be doing this to live longer.

I knew all of that but was rapidly ignoring it. It was only when I had the experience of visually witnessing something personal that my mindset and attitude did a 180˚

I’m sure you’ve had similar experiences in your lives.

Now my point is not to enamor you with tales of my Adonis-like physique (um, not) but to illustrate how impelling and powerful it is to see change instead of knowing it.

This is especially true of patients. When they can see their actions making a difference focus and perseverance leap.

Our challenge as health care marketers will be to discover fresh and succinct ways to show very complex subjects using little, if any, language. With personal health care rapidly moving online and on to smart devices the need to clearly communicate in a purely visual language only grows.

As pharma marketers I think right now we sometimes fall back on using language as a substitute for a solid idea. It can become an out if we’re not careful.

Now before all the copywriters out there provide feedback let me be clear: words are just as important as images.

Please read that again.

A superbly crafted copy advertisement can be just as elegant and powerful as a visual one.

But the truth is in a short email or banner ad we won’t have the luxury of being able to Cover That In The Body Copy.

It won’t be easy.

Especially in the realm of pharmaceutical marketing. It’ll be tough, frustrating and difficult work but our clients need it. They deserve it and certainly the physicians and patients deserve it. And personally I love the emerging challenge of it.

Just don’t ask me to do it at 6:00 in the morning.

For many people living with chronic conditions, new research in medicine is opening up possibilities to advance treatment at an amazing pace. With a better understanding of the cause and contributing factors for many conditions, the idea of a “cure” is not a far-fetched possibility.

This could really change the way certain conditions are viewed. For many physicians (and patients) disease management is often focused on addressing symptoms of the condition – the downstream effects. Think about the flu – the vaccine is pretty good at preventing it, but once you have it there’s not much to be done except minimize the symptoms.

But now, there might be a way to stop the virus before it can spread in the body. Research has uncovered a “master key” of sorts that could act like a universal “off switch” for flu viruses. This approach of looking upstream and focusing on the root cause might lessen the overall burden and perceived severity of many conditions.

Marketing for many drugs has mirrored this treatment approach for years. The focus is almost always trying to affect the prescribing decision of the doctor. When you consider that this decision is the culmination of a lengthy and involved process that includes not only the time spent with a particular patient, but also the doctor’s past experience treating similar patients, the way they were trained in medical school, and even their personal beliefs and prejudices, you see that there is a lot more going on upstream that has potential to shape prescribing behavior.

These factors that guide prescribing decisions are often overlooked in pharmaceutical marketing because the drug doesn’t always have a role.  But if, like in the flu example, you can effect a change early in the process, the downstream results can be favorable.

It’s no surprise that women are often the target when it comes to healthcare and pharmaceutical marketing. They are often the gatekeepers to medical care and information for their families. They are more likely than men to search for online health information, search on someone else’s behalf, and seek online support.  

Being a part of communities is the fabric of women. Perfect example – in today’s “wired” world women are drawn towards online applications that allow them to connect with others and share information vs. men whose online activities tend to be more transactional in nature.

As marketers, that means that women are an easy target, right? After all, it’s not difficult to find where to connect with women, especially online.  But the key is figuring out how to engage them. 

The mistake that many marketers make is speaking broadly to women, assuming that based on a few demographic variables that they are targeting key interests and pain points in women.

 Yes, as women, we do often have a lot in common.  As a thirty something woman, I can easily find another thirty something woman who struggles with making time for herself, consistently disciplining children and figuring out what to fix for dinner.

But when it comes to health and illness, as a marketer, there is much more I need to understand about my audience in order to change their behavior – it’s the “why” that is so important. It’s those behavioral buttons that we can leverage to have greater relevance and impact.

We recently conducted some research in women diagnosed with cancer.  What we found is that even women experiencing the same type of treatment, in the same stage of cancer – their experience of living with cancer and psychologically, how they cope, is dynamic and individual.  Some women are very active in how they cope. They are forward looking, optimistic, wanting to know pragmatically what’s next. They want to reach out and help others. On the other hand, other women are passive. They follow physician advice, want to be cared for and they are constantly looking back – asking “why me?” No doubt that different marketing strategies and messages would be required to have a powerful connection to these different mindsets.

We can’t address every variation in our audience. But with an insightful approach, we can prioritize and focus on those core behavioral drivers that lead us to more meaningful, authentic conversations and greater trust.

A few weeks ago I posed the question “Why is no one wondering WHY we use social media?”

We now know why!  A new MicroMass study of social media behavior offers insights for healthcare marketers into where and how to effectively engage consumers.

No matter how many roadblocks to social media pharma envisions, the reality is patients and physicians are already having conversations with or without the participation of pharma companies.  The real question is how do pharma brands participate in these conversation and provide value?

To truly engage patients or physicians you need to know what motivates them to use social media.  By knowing why a person uses social media, and what sort of internal or external drivers motivate that behavior, we have a much clearer picture of where to find people and what kinds of messages they are most likely to find relevant and useful.

Check out our study and let me know what you think?

In pharma marketing and in healthcare in general, we expect a lot of patients – sometimes too much. We get so focused on what we are trying to get them to do, that we sometimes lose sight of what patients want and are trying to do.

To be effective, we need to understand the context of patients’ lives  – those important little nuances that can get in the way of, or propel, behavior change.

A recent New York Times editorial discussed the complexity of health behavior and the assumptions that we (Americans) place on others who are sick and don’t take care of themselves. It’s easy  to cast a stone.  We do it every day. We put ourselves at arms’ distance, we cast judgments and make assumptions about other people and their health.

Doctors do the same. Patients come in their office and they quickly make assumptions based on a way a patient looks, or the way that they interact with them. Not to blame doctors – they are humans too. Plus the demands and structure of our healthcare system have forced them to run their businesses like an assembly line at times.

As marketers, we make assumptions too. We try to grasp the patient experience.  We do our due diligence but mostly we just scratch the surface.

We fail to go to a deeper level – because maybe we are afraid of getting messy. Maybe we are afraid of being exposed to the holistic picture – of learning about the messy lifestyle “stuff” that we believe we cannot do anything about.

It’s true – there IS a lot that we cannot change but if we actively listen, opportunities arise that allow us to connect with our customers in more meaningful and relevant ways.

How do you listen?

At MicroMass, we’ve been exploring some ethnographic approaches utilizing social media to gain a richer and more accurate picture of patients’ mindsets and attitudes.  So, we are looking at conversations.  And it’s not just about what patients are saying. It’s the way they say it and even more importantly, what they are not saying. 

Our collaborative work with Verilogue enables us to examine patient and healthcare professional conversations as well, adding another layer to our understanding of the patient experience.

As a recent MedAd News blog so eloquently stated “social media may help the pharma industry figure out the complex psychology and needs of each patient” and help them “focus less on the brand and more on the patient.”

So, don’t be afraid to get a little messy. It’s worth it.

It’s been three months since Steve Jobs told us that our world was about to change. And despite the 150,000 apps  and staggering sales figures, we’re still scratching our heads, wondering what the world was actually given.

I believe Apple has quite possibly designed the perfect empty vessel.

Don’t get me wrong. Judging by everything I’ve read, and from the brief contact I’ve had with the iPad in stores, there’s a lot of functionality inside. By that’s just the device. That’s hardware. Apple has left plenty of room for us to fill in the rest.

For me, the iPad is like a great logo design. When we first see it, it’s really just a promise. Something that has inherent meaning – especially for those of us who know Apple. But something that symbolizes so much more. Paul Rand has a great quote somewhere in which he says that a good logo has “the pleasure of recognition and the promise of meaning.”

Okay, here’s the catch. We’re all going to have to wait to understand what iPad means to each of us.

But not long. Just long enough for the rest of us to understand that this is no longer the future. The iPad is in the present with us. And this time, the beneficiary of Apple’s genius is information. Content. And all the peddlers and practitioners that work to deliver it.

See that seemingly endless stream of publishers, software developers, bankers, entertainers, gamers, advertisers, teachers, scientists, and couch potatoes? They’re all ready to show us what Apple intended this empty vessel to hold.

Some say the iPad will resurrect the publishing industry. (Wasn’t that Kindle or Nook?)Why stop there. What about other industries that need a little help? Healthcare. Finance. Education. Marketing.
Why would the iPad be a significant change for marketers? It creates a significant new channel for sharing content with consumers. It also starts to shape a new creative medium that can become part of a communications strategy. A multimedia tool like this may encourage more reading – appeal to a variety of learning styles – and ultimately have a measurable impact in health education and literacy.

But we’ve had digital readers for a few years now. And journalists are becoming better storytellers again, using multimedia to deliver a more adaptive and engaging experience. So what makes this transformation different?

For agencies like ours, the iPad is more than an empty vessel. It’s a blank canvas to create custom campaigns tailored for the platform or designed to extend any existing digital marketing efforts. Today, the iPad is so new that nobody really understands what marketing opportunities really look like. In a way, we’re learning along with our clients. But that’s not keeping many major brands  from signing up to be inaugural sponsors of breakout iPad downloads and prototype advertising campaigns.

The iPad has many champions. And a skeptic here and there. Some even doubt its originality, citing Tom Hanks as having the idea in the 1988 movie, Big. Here’s how the 13-year-old Hanks as Josh Baskin described it.

“There’s this flat screen inside with pictures on it and you read it. And when you get down to the bottom you have to make a choice of what the character’s going to do… Like if  he is going to go in and fight the dragon then you have to push one of the buttons. … See, there’s a computer chip inside which stores the choices, so when you reach the end of the page, you decide where the story goes. That’s the point.”

If you remember the movie, the comment immediately following Hanks’ presentation from a rival executive in the toy company was simple. “I don’t get it.”

And maybe that’s all the world is saying right now about the iPad.

We don’t get it–at least not yet.

It seems like lately we are all becoming affected by a short attention span epidemic. Everywhere you look, information is being conveniently packaged in compact, swiftly digested chunks, often delivered in under 140 characters and designed to be viewed on a 3.5” screen.

In some ways, this has led to a remarkable expansion of the collective intelligence, but some of us have seen the potential for negative repercussions.

It seems like this trend is pervasive, encompassing topics of all sorts and all forms of media. But should we be getting our healthcare education in this manner?

Don’t you think it would be great if doctors could learn how to practice medicine by reading article callouts, Twitter feeds and watching YouTube videos? Didn’t think so.

But we often take that approach to our own healthcare.

These emerging information channels are a great resource for sharing information and opinion, but when it comes to our health let’s make sure that the medium is appropriate for the importance of the messages.

Well, the iPad is here.  And with it came all the excitement of a Taylor Swift book signing. People waiting in long lines, singing songs and getting all giddy when they finally get to see the celebrity.  Based on the numbers from the first day of sales, the iPad looks to have been worth the hype:

• 300,000 sold
• Over 1 million apps and 250,000 ebooks downloaded
• Over 4000 stories
• 360,000 tweets

While there was wasn’t really any question about the iPad being a hit, people are questioning how best they can capitalize on it.    Many print publishers have come up with iPad editions of their publications, and are trying to determine how best to address the buying and selling of advertisements.  Is an iPad edition part of a print buy or is it something separate?  Should they charge a premium because of the medium?  Those are just a couple of the questions that publishers, media companies and advertisers will have to ask themselves as they look at if, how and when they start.

As I look at how the iPad can impact the pharmaceutical industry, I see plenty of applications for it.  Imagine an office visit  where a patient’s information is available at the touch of a button and where videos about their condition are shared to help answer any questions they might have.  Imagine an 80 year old grandmother viewing  pictures of her great grandson’s first  birthday party and sending her granddaughter an e-mail about how cute he is.  And of course there are the countless ways a sales rep could use it as part of a sales call.

I agree with the experts that the iPad will be a game changer.  But with more questions than answers right now, only time will tell how big of one it will become.

“So, we want you to make a video for [INSERT YOUR BRAND HERE]. You can do that, right?” You’ve heard it—either because someone who’s in a position too high for you to say “no” to told you to do it. Or (go ahead and admit it), you’ve been the one doing the asking. Either way, let’s hit the pause button and take a moment to agree that creating a video that goes viral takes more than saying “make it so.” And, I’d venture to say that this is particularly the case for the pharma industry.

Last week, I attended a session at the SXSW Interactive conference that addressed this very subject. The panel included Margaret Stewart from YouTube, Jason Wishnow of TEDTalks, Jonathan Wells of Flux.net and Damian Kulash from OK Go (the rock band, in case you’re wondering). So, these folks definitely know viral video. And what they said made a lot of sense—even for those of us who spend our days trying to figure out how to be creative in a highly-regulated, bad metaphor-dependant, don’t-forget-the-fair-balance industry.  Here are some of the highlights:

• Viral videos basically fall into two categories: Viral–by-Accident (i.e., catching something on video just because you happen to be at the right place at the right time) and Viral-on-Purpose.  The latter is definitely where we in the pharma industry should focus our attention. No brainer.
• You have to create viral content with your audience in mind. And that includes thinking about production values. Sometimes, it’s really okay to have a lower-quality “home video” look. And sometimes, a higher production value is required—like with TEDTalks.
• Videos that go viral are usually positive. Believe it or not, people don’t get as big a kick out of spreading negativity.

All were extremely good points. And there were a lot of others that I won’t go into here. But, this next one is THE ONE to remember and perhaps the hardest one for our industry to achieve:

You can’t make crappy content spread. It has to be good, has to tap into human emotions AND it must create a sense of wonder and surprise.

OK Go, the band that panel member Damian Kulash is with, has built a reputation for producing viral videos again and again. Their “This Too Shall Pass” music video was posted on YouTube on March 1 and has already been viewed more than 9 million times. Why? Well, there are a lot of reasons. But, mainly, it’s because it adheres to the principle of creating a sense of wonder. Watch and you’ll understand why.

Yes—that was one camera shot. No edits. And it took more than 60 takes to get it right. Worth it? You bet.

The panel also showed another video that has created a YouTube following worth noting. It’s called Surprised Kitty. Here it is.

Certainly not as intricate as OK Go’s masterpiece. But, it went viral nonetheless. Posted last October, it’s racked up more than 21 million views. It makes us laugh. It connects with us on a human level. It’s most certainly positive. And, apparently, that’s more than enough for a whole lot of people.

So, what can pharma learn from rock bands and surprised kittens when it comes to making viral videos? That, despite the regulatory environment in which we dwell, we still have to connect with our audience’s emotions. We have to be positive. We have to deliver meaningful content. And, yes, we have to create a sense of wonder. And we can do that.  We just have to work a little harder at it than those in the “easy” industries.

Oh…and by the way…yours truly is in what might just become the next YouTube sensation. The panel at SXSW somehow persuaded us—as in the entire audience—to become “surprised kittens.” Check us out.

Hey—we’re up to more than 42,000 views in about a week. Not bad.

As I write this, we are supposedly on the cusp of healthcare reform reaching a final vote.  Since it started, the pharmaceutical industry has found itself smack dab in the middle of the debate, and has had to address claims that the cost of prescription medication is high due to advertising and that they are trying to get as much money as they can, while they can.

This just in: Pharmaceutical companies are in business to make money.

Yes, we develop materials that help them make money and meet their business objectives.  But those same materials, at the end of the day, provide information and support that help address the physical, mental and emotional challenges people face when living with a disease.

What we do isn’t like trying to sell one more car or trying to get someone to book a trip to Alaska. It’s about helping people.

But sometimes, in the course of doing our work, we are inspired by the people we are trying to help.  Recently a couple of my co-workers were working on a project for an oncology product that treats breast cancer.   They spent a week interviewing a group of women getting their stories of living with breast cancer.

When they returned, they shared how much they had learned from those women. How the experience made them re-examine their outlook on life, and what’s truly important to them.  Those women inspired change – in those men.