Is There A Polypill For Marketing?

DJ Smith / Mar 31st / Comments

There’s some exciting news on the fight against heart disease coming out of Ahmedabad, India. As Associated Press medical writer Marilynn Marchione reports, Cadila Pharmaceuticals has combined low doses of blood pressure medication, aspirin, and cholesterol medicine into a generic, once-a-day pill. While met with opposition from skeptics who feel that such a pill will risk multiple side effects and the threat of patients receiving medicines they do not need, initial studies have shown the pill is effective and safe. Dr. Robert Harrington, an American College of Cardiology spokesman and chief of Duke University’s heart research institute, is quoted in the article as stating “Widely applied, this could have profound implications.” While the pill has more testing to undergo and has yet to stand up to the approval process of the Food and Drug Administration, many think that such an advancement will aid in preventing “pill burden” many patients feel as the result of having to take a large regimen of related drugs.

The article got me to daydreaming about a polypill for marketing. Is there a one-size-fits-all strategy that will accomplish the goals a healthcare organization may have? My professional opinion says no because each client, each situation, and each market is different. There are no cookie cutters for marketing, although I see a lot of people mimicking what everyone else is doing. For instance, if a corporate provider of healthcare services sees one of their clients, say a hospital, engaging in social marketing with the hospital’s patients then they may feel they should likewise engage in such marketing activities. However, what works for a hospital-to-consumer marketing strategy may not fit a healthcare business-to-business effort. For one, the targets are different. They don’t think the same way. A consumer may be more concerned with quality of care or convenience whereas the healthcare entity might be more concerned with cost reductions or revenue enhancements. Applying the same strategy to both efforts would be a costly mistake and prove to be completely useless in achieving objectives.

In order for marketing efforts to as effective as possible you must:

1. Know your goals – Clearly define the objectives you’re wanting to achieve.

2. Understand your target – If you don’t know who you’re trying to reach, all you’ll grab is nothing.

3. Develop a strategy – Know why you’re doing what you’re doing in each part of the strategy (Note: “Everyone else is doing it” isn’t a reason).

4. Monitor progress – Your plan must be flexible. Market conditions, news or newfound information may mean a change in plans.

5. Measure results – While not always the easiest of tasks, any measure of what you’re doing will aid in knowing what to change or what to do next time to improve results.

As much as I wish there was a polypill for marketing, it simply isn’t going to happen. Marketing requires too many variables to allow for an all-in-one approach to be effective. Even if such a pill existed its effects would soon wear off on you targets. So, if you want your marketing efforts to be effective, take the time to know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.  Otherwise, you’re marketing medicine is nothing more than a placebo.