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| lillyforbetterhealth.com |
"Lilly for Better Health™, a program of Lilly USA, LLC, (NYSE: LLY) that helps Americans live healthier, more active lives, launches an enhanced multi-channel platform designed to reach patients where they like to receive health information. The platform includes an array of patient education materials, Lilly programs and partnerships that help patients manage their health, a dynamic website – lillyforbetterhealth.com – and, coming soon, the Lilly Health Channel on YouTube."There was speculation on Twitter about what this all meant. Industry blogger and consultant Michele Petersen (@shelleypetersen) expected the initiative to eventually link to electronic health records (which could make sense on some levels). And the editor of Med Ad News, Christiane Truelove (@ChristianeTrue) speculated, “#Lilly-branded health and wellness services? That would be the most logical way to go.”
I hadn’t been aware of this initiative, but it caught my eye, and reminded me of what sanofi-aventis [client] has publicly stated of its vision:
"Our goal is to become a total partner in diabetes care,” said Dennis Urbaniak, “an organization aimed at health, not just treatment. And as a partner, we must truly understand the diabetes community and their needs – and then try to fulfill those."I think these are excellent developments in pharmaceutical DTC marketing and communications. Why? Because the companies are providing something of value “beyond the pill” to its customers. They are looking at the bigger picture. They are approaching things with their customers’ needs first, and their own needs second. They’re practicing what many today are preaching: the need for customer centric marketing.
A new concept? No. Gaining momentum in the pharma world? Definitely.
In December of last year, a representative from EyeForPharma contacted me about a new concept for a pharma marketing conference. Yes – there are many digital and social and mobile marketing conferences and you can debate the differences, similarities, and value – or lack thereof – of these conferences. (Generally, I do see their value.) But I was especially excited to hear is idea for this new conference focus: “customer centric solutions for pharma.”
The conference organizer had seen this past post – Pharma, it’s not about you anymore – and wanted to talk more.
So guess what? EyeForPharma will hold its 1st annual “Customer Centric Marketing for Pharma” conference in Philadelphia in a few weeks – June 27-28. Details here.
Because they're planning 6-9 months or more in advance, conference organizers must stay on top of – if not ahead of – what’s going on in the industry. If the theme of customer centricity wasn’t a hot topic across the industry, they wouldn’t be dedicating two days to it.
Are you interested in attending? I ended up agreeing to speak at the conference and then also decided that – because we really believe in the theme – Intouch Solutions could help sponsor it. The good news for you is that translates to big savings if you’re interested in attending. Register on their website and use code ITS2011 for $400 off or 2 for 1 passes.
So the idea of customer centric marketing really is gaining steam among the pharma marketing world as evidenced in recent “Big Pharma” initiatives as well as a new conference focus.
And that makes this pharma marketer a customer centric happy camper.
3 comments:
This sort of branded health and wellness service certainly seems to be on the rise at the moment.
GlaxoSmithKline launched US health coaching website HealthCoach4Me.com in January and then in Europe, my main focus, I've also covered two different Pfizer initiatives on my Digital Pharma blog.
In the Netherlands the company has a consumer healthcare portal (ilivi.nl) that also offers an online pharmacy service, and in the UK it's currently running an online male health clinic (manmot.co.uk).
@Dominic_Tyer
Excellent additional examples - thank you!
This is of value to whom ? Patients and consumers who don't trust pharma ? Where is the credible health information from 3rd parties like Harvard Medical School or Mayo Clinic ?
The idea of a pharma company health portal is not a bad idea but if you’re going to do it why not do it right. Lilly should have started the development of a health website with some research and asked patients/consumers what they wanted to learn about and what resources would have been great for them in THEIR opinion. Lilly should also have spent some money to purchase health content from credible websites like Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical School and John Hopkins. I also would have taken it one step further and developed an online offline CRM program consisting of a health magazine.
Instead what we have is shallow disease state information probably taken from other Lilly product websites and health website that is a veiled attempt to market Lilly drugs. This is what happens when you have a great idea but don’t have the money or expertise to do it the right way. This health “portal” will not generate a lot of traffic for Lilly and will only be talked about in the closed circle of pharma marketers and agency people who will say “at least they did something”. I’m sorry I have to disagree on this project because what they are going to take away from this project is that doing a health portal for consumers had no ROI and that is going to lead to future cutbacks in digital marketing.
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