While the scrutiny of the healthcare industry is high, the expectations of HCPs and consumers alike require core marketing principles, including campaign development. Solid campaign development is first based on brand strategy and having a strong understanding of the target audience. When these have been established, you can then begin thinking about tactics to support your strategy.
I think any person in the pharma industry would quickly cite the regulations as something that sets it apart in the way product messaging is developed. What you might not realize is every tactic created is submitted to the Office of Prescription Drug Promotion for review, however not every piece is reviewed. It is up to the organization to self-regulate, ensuring the material is on-label.
Collaboration is key for any tactic in a marketing initiative to ensure it is presented in a fair and balanced way. Developing relationships with a cross-functional team is critically important. Standard members are your market research, finance, and legal partners. Important members to include are also your medical and regulatory teams. Best practices are inclusion of these partners in brainstorming, strategy sessions and concept reviews. Early buy-in and frequent communication are key fundamental practices of my colleagues and I.
More specifically, when it comes to fleshing out your campaign, your regulatory partner may have parameters to consider when building marketing materials, and the smallest details are sometimes the most important. The font size is a detail I’ve consistently discussed when related to promotional materials. For example, the FDA regulates the Important Safety Information on a piece must take up a certain portion of the page, and the positioning in relation to the claims is critical. Understanding these details in advance can lead to a more efficient development and review process.
But your work is not complete when you finish the tactic. Implementing controls and processes to regulate how your sales team and customers are using marketing materials is just as important as the development of the piece. A control many healthcare companies are moving toward is purchasing a technology platform that can automate these processes. These systems control access as well as prohibit changes from being made to approved materials.
