Are You Open to Change?

Modern marketing guru Seth Godin waxed poetic today on his blog on the topic of change. In a nutshell, Seth says in a down economy, the only way things are going to change is, well ... if you change things. "This is hard for a lot of marketers who are used to defending the status quo, but it’s truly the best option," he says. He's right. A smart woman I used to work for used to say "leaders embrace change." She was right, too.

Change can be really tough on some people. Change invokes cognitive dissonance and discomfort. Some examples of resistance to change I've witnessed in my ePharma marketing world:

• Traditional-to-Digital. Traditional marketers can be resistent to change over to digital. These days, they have no choice. But that doesn't mean they're happy about the switch. Certainly, some of our clients make the transition much more easily than others. I think it's a comfort zone thing. My advice? Pick the brains of your digital agency -- let them educate you on the channel. Join Facebook and test Twitter. Carve some time out of each day to look at patient community sites and experience the channel as a consumer.
• Website-Centric. Even digital marketers can be tied to the age-old "build a single Web site and they will come" mentality. Nevermind driving traffic, capturing leads, then communicating with customers in a dialogue. And nevermind the opportunities social and emerging media now provide to speak with customers well outside the confines of your Web site. Again, talk to your agency about the options outside the standard Web site approach.
• The Big Wheels of Pharma. Pharma as an industry has been notoriously resistant to change. Where are all those promised future blockbuster drugs? When will pharma become comfortable with social media? When will pharma marketers be held accountable for ROI? Big wheels turn slowly, and pharma has some of the biggest wheels around.
• Agency Approach. Big companies use big agencies. But those tides, too, are turning. I've blogged in the past about how many of our pharma clients are now recognizing smaller digital agencies like us as lead agencies ... as a partner at the strategic and creative table ... not just that "other" agency that executes online what the offline agency developed. The editor of MM&M magazine agrees. MedAdNews' Chris Truelove also concurred this is a trend seen across the industry in her blog roundup: "Personally, I’ve observed the number of smaller agencies clamoring to participate in Med Ad News‘ April issue keeps going up, with new boutique agencies forming every year. These agencies wouldn’t keep multiplying if their services weren’t wanted."

Certainly the idea of "change" was a theme seen throughout the recent presidential campaign, and it was obviously met with acceptance. So maybe we as a nation - and we as an industry - are finally ready for change, too. The next time you find yourself resistant to change, I ask you to challenge yourself: "Am I being resistant because I don't think it's a good idea, or am I just plain uncomfortable with change?"