Empowered Patients a Growing Force
The art and science of marketing by the pharmaceutical industry has undergone profound change. While many other industries have re-assessed their marketing strategies in light of the technological revolution that has occurred over the past decade, the business of selling prescription drugs has shifted in a rather distinct way. Patients are becoming health consumers and they are having an increasing amount of influence over the choice of drug treatments they receive.
Historically, the dominant focus of prescription drug marketing has been on the physician. The patient was generally considered a benign participant in a process whereby the doctor made a diagnosis and prescribed medication. The patient, in turn, ambled over to his or her local pharmacist and dutifully purchased the drug.
What was once a one-way relationship - where doctor directs patient - is becoming more of an interaction. More patients now engage their physicians in a substantive discussion about their health, specific conditions, and subsequent treatments. Greater access to health information (fuelled by widespread use of the Internet), the lifting in 1997 of restrictions on DTC (direct-to-consumer) advertising, and a general increase in health consciousness have helped to transform many once-passive patients into inquiring consumers. This, in turn, has put patients at the forefront of drug companies' marketing strategies.
We have conducted extensive research on this phenomenon to better understand the mindset of the patient-as-consumer and the nature of this relatively new doctor-patient relationship.
Of course, there is no typical patient mindset. Patient attitudes and behaviors tend to fall somewhere on a spectrum between two extremes of personal health involvement. At Ipsos, we have created a segmentation algorithm that divides patients into one of four groups, depending on their degree of involvement. At one end of the spectrum is a group of patients who have very little interest in health information and issues. The people in this group leave their health management and care in the hands of their doctors. At the other end is a group of patients who see themselves as genuine consumers of health services and products. They tend to gather their own health information and may ask detailed questions of their doctor. Not surprisingly, people in this latter group feel more empowered and are most open to alternate therapies.
The empowered patient group is growing. It is of particular interest to pharmaceutical companies because these people are most likely to ask their doctors about specific medications and brands. In response, drug makers have begun using marketing strategies that traditionally have been used to sell consumer packaged goods - branding, consumer profiling, targeting and messaging.
Still, it's important to note that the role of the physician remains key when it comes to prescription drug sales. By a considerable margin, the single largest expenditure in most pharmaceutical firms' marketing budgets goes to their sales forces, who specifically target physicians and are equipped with increasingly sophisticated sales materials. Yet, there is no denying that, as time goes on, more and more patients are expected to have a greater say in their drug treatment. Successful pharmaceutical marketers will be those that embrace and act on this new reality.
