On the campaign trail- Part I

i applaud Pfizer's latest campaign for its painkillers as evident from today's issue of MYB. the entire OBC was of a striking cartoon of an old man in pain and invertedly, one of a smiley face. it is an ad calling for contributions of testimonials from the public on their battles with pain. contestants can stand to win up to $2000.

in this highly and increasingly regulated industry, DTC is a strict no-no. and under normal circumstances, Pfizer's competitors will be questioning if there has been any breach of compliance. Does the offering of prize money equate to inducement to prefer a certain brand of painkiller to another?

but what makes it legit is that this contest is held under the auspices of two organizations- with strong medical links and relevance. the corporate involvement is reduced to purely one of a financial sponser, unbeknownst to the consumer that this whole campaign was probably drawn up in the boardroom of the drug manufacturer.

further inside the same issue of MYB, there is another ad for a public forum that costs $10 including light refreshments. having been a sufferer of chronic pain (not just in the neck from too much corporate wrangling) i too, was interested in registering to attend until i realised that it is a pharma sponsored talk (similarly endorsed by the same organizations) i decided not to attend as i can already anticipate the pitch and flow of the talk in my mind. but i have no doubt it will be a successful event even without my humble participation.

i am not criticizing Pfizer for its efforts. instead, i think its brilliant. its about time the pharma industry try to push the boundaries wrt its marketing. it has been too conservative for too long. i love the simple and understated approach that Pfizer have taken to steer a human interest angle towards as uninspiring a condition as pain. i have no doubt the company will launch into a full scale PR campaign hereafter to highlight the plight of chronic pain sufferers (and how only a particular brand of painkiller will have the perfect blend of feature and benefits to alleviate their suffering.)

this is not the first of its kind in pharma marketing, nor the most creative, but it is by far, one of the most succint. too many brands try to encapsulate too many objectives into their campaigns and this often leads to consumer confusion.

Pharmaceuticals are unlike FMCG. the consumer doesn't have to make informed, conscious decisions when it comes to buying shampoo. for drugs, without the possibility of DTC in this country anytime in the next century, pharma companies have to educate the public on the medical conditions which warrants a specific type of treatment. this will undoubtedly elongate the already complex consumer decision process. and when a pharma campaigns tries to educate the public on a highly specialized subject such as disease and treatment, it has to make it easy to relate a certain treatment to a particular disease. this is more complicated than it seems, and even the best executions will fail to sustain an overloaded campaign.