Medical Marketing Becomes an Origami Crane.

Authors: Kathleen Dunn and Peter Gordon

Part 1. A head-on collision.

Over the last several years, marketing the Life Sciences has meant different things to different people, encompassing pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, molecular diagnostics, molecular imaging, medical devices, bioinformatics, genomics and proteomics, to name the major players.

Ironically, as the disciplines named above have become more defined, they have started occupying the same space. As developments in many of these fields begin to integrate, they also begin to collide. These disciplines are now affecting each other — and affecting each other’s developments.

Marketers of these products are now faced with having to think outside their own discipline — outside their own box. It means they have to start thinking inside someone else’s box (maybe a lot of them at once).

In Part II we’ll see where these collisions are happening.

Don't mix texting and driving!

Of all the new media, texting has exploded in the last year and, together with its sibling, twittering, it may now come with a caution label attached. While many of us are accustomed to listening to the radio in the car, very few of us watch television in the driver’s seat. The logic is obvious, and yet many of us engage in texting behavior that defies that same logic.

According to The New York Times (7-18-09; 7-28-09), two studies have shown that this new media and driving don’t mix. A study conducted by Virginia Tech showed texting truckers (on actual runs) were 23 times more likely to have a crash, and a University of Utah study showed that college students (in simulators) were eight times more likely to crash.Read full post...

Where is today's face-to-face communcation?

Much of what you read here in AB&C Blogland relates to technology. We offer our thoughts on the latest developments, trends and leaps forward in the rapidly advancing world of web connectivity. Things have reached the point where you can’t go too many places without spotting someone staring down at some sort of handheld device. Even my travel plans have been affected! It used to be that long car trips to client meetings meant there’d be time to catch up on the latest office gossip.Read full post...

Alice.com can help with your household shopping.

Would you like a website that would guarantee you never run out of toilet paper? If so, then Alice.com is for you. It’s a new website that sells consumer packaged good (batteries, soap, shampoo, coffee, toilet paper and other common household items) directly to consumers. The site also has planning and budgeting features, smart reminders and coupons (which should give grocery stores a run for their money).

Alice even provides recommendations based on who lives in your household. For example, if you live in a household with all girls, you clearly won’t have to buy men’s essentials. And you can set a time for a reorder reminder. This way, you never accidentally run out.

There is a ton of selection, with thousands of options and brands to choose from, and prices that are close to Walmart’s or Costco’s (without having to pay for gas to get to and from the store). And the best part — shipping is completely free.

Alice.com also has benefits to the consumer good manufacturers. They can access consumer information about who is buying their products (thanks to selling through Alice versus a traditional store). The site also offers a variety of programs including coupons, loyalty programs, product trials and sampling, customer surveys, and category sponsorship opportunities. But is it enticing enough for you to make the switch to online shopping for your household needs? Check it out for yourself.

Boys' Life Magazine

The following paragraph may be lost on you — unless you are a former (or somehow current!) Boy Scout of America. Let me explain. I was in the dentist’s office this morning and spied a copy of Boys’ Life magazine in the rack. Seeing as this was a doctor’s waiting room, I fully expected this particular issue to be at least 30 years old. Imagine my surprise when I saw “June 2009” emblazoned on the cover!

With so many long-standing print publications meeting their demise these days, it gave me great comfort to unearth a current issue of a magazine that had such a profound effect on my boyhood years. I quickly thumbed through this latest issue to get a sense of how much scouting must have changed in America since yours truly roamed the woods. Amazingly, I found a number of Boys’ Life columns and comic strips that have somehow survived the past several generations. (Here comes the inside stuff for “scouts only.”)

Do you remember “The Wacky Adventures of Pedro?” What about “Pee Wee Harris,” the bumbling boy scout? And who can forget the always-dramatic “Scouts in Action” or the classified section called “Tradin’ Post?” Yep, they’re all still kickin.’ And it appears the very same cartoonists are still cranking out the ideas on a monthly basis. I may have long-since forgotten how to tie a square knot, whittle a Pinewood Derby® race car and successfully treat snakebite, but it’s nice to know some new kids are picking up the slack, thanks to Boys’ Life. Go get ’em, boys.

New app from Dunkin Donuts

Dunkin Donuts has just launched a new app called DunkinRun for computers and mobile devices (including an iPhone application). Using DunkinRun.com, you can make a run to Dunkin for your friends and yourself, using the site.

1. Invite friends by providing their email addresses or mobile phone numbers.
2. Order from the online menu.
3. Dunkin will compile the order for you, and you can print it out or have it sent to your mobile device.
4. Pick up the order and enjoy!

This is a great example of a company that is combining useful technology with marketing/branding for Dunkin. And they have infused the tone of voice and messaging that is a major part of their brand throughout the application — e.g., you’ll enjoy hero worship from friends and coworkers once you have made a DunkinRun. Check it out for yourself!

Using sex to sell Hardee's

Sex. Duh.

And it was proven yet again with the latest ad from the fast food chain Hardee’s. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should definitely check it out. It features Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi…umm…enjoying one of Hardee’s new hamburgers.

I’m sure this phenomenon is not news to any of you. If it is, I’m sorry. Either way, Karlene Lukovitz, a writer for MediaPost Publications, wrote a good article about the new commercial and it’s worth a quick read.

Now, how can we make tobacco cessation and highway safety sexy? Think, people!

Peel n' Taste

First Flavor Inc. of Bala Cynwyd and US Ink, a Carlstadt, NJ–based company that provides ink for the newspaper industry, recently launched “Taste-it Notes” – newspaper front-page sticky notes that double as flavor strips. Now you can smell and taste a food or beverage product in your morning newspaper!

So far, flavor strips have been used in national campaigns for Welch Foods, Arm & Hammer, SKYY Vodka and Campbell’s Soup. In addition to newspapers, the ads have appeared in People and Rolling Stone magazines.

The Philadelphia Business Journal reports that Taste-it Notes are being billed as “a new way for struggling newspapers to build up ad revenue. … This delivery leverages the power of print advertising and brings an interactive experience that is not possible with online, television or radio ads.”

Now I’m not sure if Taste-it Notes will revitalize the newspaper industry, but this is an interesting new take on product sampling.

The reality of cruises

Think of any Caribbean cruise TV commercial you’ve ever seen. Most likely you’d envision endless “beautiful people” cavorting in sky-deck swimming pools, working out in floating fitness centers and toasting each other in seagoing gourmet restaurants. After spending a vacation day aboard a well-advertised cruise line ship, I’m here to tell you: Nothing could be further from reality. During the last week of February, I attended a wedding aboard a colossal pleasure craft that sat docked in the Port of Tampa, which gave me a few fleeting hours to drink in the surroundings. The ship was about to set sail and wedding guests were granted temporary access to witness the ceremony.Read full post...

Targeted cable advertising

Ads specifically geared to your household! Yes, cable companies are finally going to be able to do what the direct mail business has been doing since the beginning of time. The New York Times reported that Cablevision Systems is planning to announce the largest project yet using targeted advertising on television.Read full post...

An example of viral marketing.

Ken Block’s spirited gymkhana video finally made AdGabber today. For those of you not familiar with Subaru beyond taking your Labrador and 2.5 kids for an off-road picnic, the company has an amazing history of hooliganism thanks to the spirited Impreza line and the tunability of its turbo four and chuckability of AWD.Read full post...

Next time you have a few free moments, check out Stuff White People Like. It’s a blog where this guy gently mocks, well, the random stuff white people like.

It makes me laugh out loud, but what can I say, I’m that girl with the hummus and gluten free crackers.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com

I suggest heading straight over to the “Full List of Stuff White People Like” at the top to peruse all of his posts. Some of my faves include Self Aware Hip Hop References, Difficult Breakups, Expensive Sandwiches and Not Having a TV.

Ya gotta admit, it’s pretty on target…

Good is the new green.

You remember Gordon Gecko and the whole greed thing? (Or maybe you’d rather forget.)

Then we did a segue into Green. Environmental responsibility was the new Holy Grail. Remember those spots by Subaru about their plant in Ohio? And how recycling was the new “we are the world”? (Apologies to whoever that was who started that because that was really cool.)

Well, here we are staring down a quadtrillion bajillion dollar budget deficit and everyone’s looking around going “Who, me?”Read full post...

Dangling Modifiers

First of all, a modifier is a word or phrase that describes something or someone. So you have to ensure that the modifier is modifying the thing it’s supposed to be modifying. Let’s say you’ve been going to pogo-stick conventions for a number of years. You attend a really cool convention in Wisconsin and you want to tell fellow enthusiasts about it. You start out: “As a 15-year veteran of pogo-stick conventions, the most recent shindig in Sheboygan was a stellar event.”

Read full post...