Comments on ePharma Rx: What if Every Marketer Had the Disease?

Great and relevant post Wendy. Until you "wa...

2011-09-20T23:09:22.343-05:00

Great and relevant post Wendy. Until you "walk in someone's shoes", it can be hard to really understand living with an illness, or the effort required to help a family member manage their healthcare. A little empathy can surely go a long way.

Thanks for all your comments, and so glad I struck...

2011-09-20T10:35:41.089-05:00

Thanks for all your comments, and so glad I struck a chord and that I'm not the only one that's considered this. Ellen - you are right - empathy is key. TechieBiotech - clinicians with the condition is a whole other avenue to think about. There, too, it seems empathy is key. And Nalts - thank you for weighing in. I agree its not easy to put ourselves in the patients' shoes - and admitting that is important. Makes me laugh to think I worked on an erectile dysfunction drug years ago! I'm hardly the typical ED patient.

Thanks for your provocative post Wendy! Recently I...

2011-09-20T06:56:41.296-05:00

Thanks for your provocative post Wendy! Recently I worked on a new business pitch with someone that had the condition. It really did make everyone involved listen with a a more empathetic ear and as a team I believe we worked harder to make a difference with our recommendations. We should be in the mindset regardless.

Timely post... I've been thinking about this a...

2011-09-20T06:01:45.361-05:00

Timely post... I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I think it happens more often than it doesn't. And I've found it 10x harder to market to patients where I am not even remotely in the segment. We default to market research as much as we can, but it's so much easier when I can empathize.

very insightful article. I was a practicing clini...

2011-09-19T20:05:20.924-05:00

very insightful article. I was a practicing clinician before I turned to the dark side of biotech/pharma marketing. Certainly, understanding the patient's perspective makes you more aware of what they are going thru. What better way then to know it first hand.

Wendy, Great post! While I think direct experience...

2011-09-19T16:31:17.400-05:00

Wendy,
Great post! While I think direct experience is helpful for any marketer, the more important criteria- as you point out- may be the willingness to want to listen and learn from real patients. BUT in my own experience, most important, is for marketers to have empathy for the very patients they are trying to 'market' to! -Ellen