• by Helene Ellison , Op-Ed Contributor, October 23, 2015

If the pharmaceutical industry doesn’t “Get out the Vote” for innovation this election cycle, the consequences will be stormy waters, not business as usual, with a concerted attack on industry that threatens to spook the markets, lower valuations, and distract senior management.   

Here’s a glance at the environment followed by some tips to deliver effective healthcare marketing that can break through the clutter.

High-profile prescription brands are already prey to politicians looking to cash in on voter discontent with high healthcare costs. More than one year before the elections, controversial earned and paid media feature candidates calling for regulation of pharmaceutical pricing, direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising, and other drug policy changes in an effort to curry favor with voters — as paying less for healthcare has bipartisan appeal. 

For the past year, all eyes have been on the price of new treatments for chronic hepatitis C and cancer, without acknowledging that these treatments are simultaneously lowering the cost of invasive medical procedures for some patients and radically changing the outlook for many with fatal diseases. Pharma’s interests weren’t helped by what critics call price gorging from companies like Turning Pharmaceuticals, who increased the price of a generic AIDs drug by more than 5,000%, or Valeant who hiked the price of two cardiovascular drugs — without having a true research and development leg to stand on.

Next we’ll be hearing more from groups who want to focus attention on the relative cost-benefit of one treatment over another. Somehow there’s a lower bar for acceptance of data from special interests than there is for the clinically validated data coming from industry.

Several popular brands are already being teed up as examples of pharmaceutical “overpricing” for candidates to profile. Drugs advertised for erectile dysfunction, arthritis, depression, fibromyalgia, diabetes, insomnia, COPD and toenail fungus are making their way onto the political stage as proof points that industry spends more on marketing than R&D. This also feeds the interests of those who want to challenge the value of more convenient dosing schedules, fewer side effects, greater tolerability, better management of comorbidities and improved long-term safety profiles.

This is the environment we’ll have to get used to over the coming months, but there are some political campaign strategies we can borrow from to be more effective marketers in this political climate:   

1. Know what your constituencies are thinking. Poll patients and physicians the same way politicians do and collect data to challenge those who downplay the significance of incremental improvements. The opinions of patients can play key a role in helping to express the magnitude of new options that improve their quality of life and compliance.

2. Act local. Last year Genentech launched an EFFIE-award winning campaign called Act  F.A.S.T. with the National Stroke Association and American College of Emergency Physicians. The goal was to educate the public on the signs of stroke — Face, Arms, Speech and Time — the need to get to the hospital quickly. The act of simply giving hospitals and advocacy groups a set of materials with instructions to launch their own in-market campaign was a win-win for Genentech, participating stroke centers and patients. Act F.A.S.T. was credited for increasing the percentage of patients optimally treated for stroke in almost 2 decades. Grassroots campaigns may have political origins but this is a clear example of how pharmaceutical companies can use the strategy to mobilize advocacy support and action at the local level.

3. Be authentic. This year’s buzz word to explain the popularity of unlikely presidential candidates is “authenticity.” There’s a lot to be said about what being authentic means, but for advertisers, maybe it’s time to take a look at some effective healthcare marketing campaigns that definitely qualify. The CDC’s Tips From Former Smokers (Tips) contained hard-hitting graphic, emotional ads featuring people who have experienced real health consequences as a result of smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke. Oncology treatment center ads, like MD Anderson’s “Making Cancer History,” are also doing it well. Imagine if pharma brand ads helped consumers understand what would happen to them if they didn’t have drug therapies to manage their medical conditions. 

2016 is the year to change the status quo in pharma. The critics might keep coming but we can be ready with successful marketing strategies that uphold and champion the value of innovation.

The author was a member of the 2015 Health Effie Awards Final Round Jury.