Give Doctor a Break (Hint: It’s Not What You Think)

No, I am neither referring to a doctor’s trip to Greece nor sponsoring him a holiday in Goa along with his family. Neither am I referring to an evening get together.

What I am referring to is just a five minutes refreshing break.

The five minutes break that a doctor will really enjoy when he is presented with well crafted and equally well detailed creative communication.

“Enjoy? Doctors hate it”. Perhaps this is how you may want to respond.

Yes, in its present form, they really hate it. We all know, there is hardly any doctor who loves to listen to any representative’s detailing talk. But we also know that we rarely come across creative campaigns that are well designed and equally well executed, something for which doctors would wait every month.

And this is possible only when an organization resolves to be the best at it.

Yes, the best at it!

There is a huge difference between being good at many things and being the best at one.

In Indian pharmaceutical industry, almost every player plays the same game. Everyone tries to be good at several things. But have a look at those who have stormed their way into the top league from seemingly nowhere. At many instances you will find that they have managed to be the best at one thing. Some of the examples that I can quote are Serdia in science, Lupin in CRM. As far as exploiting the fortune from bottom of the pyramid is concerned, in recent past Mankind has proved that they are the master of it.

Why should any organization choose creative communication as the area to be the best at?

Doctors are overworked, they are tired. Day in and day out they only see diseased patients and at time even deaths.  I don’ think any doctor feels excited about it. After all he is also a human being. What does majority of pharma promotional material comprise of? It comprises of loads of images, references and data pertaining to morbidity and mortality.

This is where I believe that most neglected area i.e. creative communication can be a real differentiator for your organization provided…

…every person from sales and marketing team is convinced on role of communication in brand building.

…every piece of communication that you create is nothing short of a masterpiece.

… it is delivered in world class manner inside the clinic.

…you stop trying out too many things and choose to be the best at just one.

Everyone is aware of the changes that are happening in the environment. But pharma industry is still in denial mode.

In days to come we will see IT department flexing its muscles. The practice of “CRM” and gifting may not continue forever. But very few are willing to think about the future.

Writing on the wall is clear. Future is not going to be an extension of the past.

 Instead of considering it as a threat and trying to find out loopholes to beat the system, won’t it be wiser to look at it as an opportunity and start getting ready for it?

Is it not the time to go back to marketing basics?

Is it not the time to relearn the forgotten but time tested art of brand building through power of communication?

Perhaps you are feeling that the whole proposition of making doctors love the brand communication is somewhat farfetched. But then creating a differentiation for the organization is never an easy thing to achieve. Good news is that almost everyone is thinking the same. Be the first one to show the rare conviction, get committed to it and create huge differentiation for your organization.