Marketing ‘improvements needed to better connect people to pharma brands’

Improvements are needed in the marketing of certain pharmaceutical brands to help people to feel more connected to them, according to a new report.

Wego Health conducted a survey involving 31 patient advocates last month, which discovered that 25 percent of patients do not feel connected to the businesses that manufacture their medication, due to the fact that they are not specifically targeted by them in their marketing campaigns.

Speaking to Medical Marketing & Media, senior vice-president of strategy and insight at Wego Health Todd Kolm stated that this finding needed to act as "a wake-up call" to pharma marketers to make sure people feel connected to and build trust in their brands.

He presented the data at last week's annual DTC National Conference in Washington DC, advising brands to view patients as stakeholders in their business when devising their marketing campaigns.

In addition, Mr Kolm suggested that companies should feature 'real people' in their adverts, rather than "healthy-looking actors or models who do not look like they actually use their product" in a bid to encourage more people to connect with their brands.