Even specialty brands are facing the challenge of launching a product into a cluttered, heavily genericized, “me too” market. It’s simply an increasing reality. There are some key strategic misconceptions compounding the market threats for these brands, and at the top of the list: Campaign focus should be on share of voice and samples—strategy and branding have little impact on performance.
The runner up: Cost-effective, targeted campaigns can’t work in highly cluttered markets (ie, you need to spend a lot to get a return on investment).
In fact, nothing can facilitate success in these markets more effectively than high-impact, strategically targeted creative. Research has shown that even the most skeptical of physicians is influenced by memorable campaigns, and often changes prescribing habits based on campaign recall.
Here are a few things we do at Purohit Navigation to ensure that the campaigns we develop always stand out:
- Dig deep for a unique position. There is always one to unearth, and all campaigns—particularly those launching into an already cluttered market—need to begin here. Moreover, the tone and method of communicating the position should be anchored in the psychographics of the audience and the disease itself. For example, a playful tone may work well in dermatology, while a more clinical serious tone will be more appropriate for oncology.
- When performing research, ask about the competition. Ensure that you know—unaided—how your target audience views the competition. Find out what they value, where their loyalties are and why. Learning this helps identify the key needs of our target audience as well as the needs we want to create for them. These are the ones we’ll use to highlight our product’s unique position, but those that our audience doesn’t care about—yet!
- When research reveals it’s all about cost, push harder. It usually isn’t. These objections can almost always be overcome by the right strategic and tactical approach.
- Don’t go abstract. The campaign should reveal the product position quickly and easily. If the audience has to think too hard to be engaged, they will likely move on.
Check out the campaign transformation that occurred when we applied these rules (combined with a great client partnership), to the Cloderm Campaign.
