The Ghost Customer

After a gap that seemed endless, finally I managed to put pen to paper.

Recently, I came across an interesting article in newsprint. It was about The Ghost Customer. Now that’s one catchy headline for any article on marketing.

It mentioned a new trend in marketing, particularly FMCG marketing. In the age where customer preferences are becoming the driving factors behind brand success, understanding & exceeding them is undoubtedly the priority for any marketer. This surely leaves the marketer on his toes.

But there are only so many places where the marketer can focus. What about the actual point-of-sale? How to monitor brand-consumer interface? Marketers can ensure the best product, the best strategy, the best distribution & availability but ground level implementation makes the sale.

This is the new arena where brands are competing. Marketers are now roping in agencies which hire people to act as customers. They are ‘Ghost’ or ‘False’ customers. Their job is to visit the point-of-sale & take first-hand feedback on product availability, salesperson performance etc. This feedback via the agency, is ultimately passed on to the marketer, who then tightens suitable screws down the line.

That leads me to think... How about ‘Ghost Customers’ in pharma? Imagine someone going to a certain specialty Doctor & getting the information on what is the choice of the Dr in certain ailments? What are the choices for the Doctor in various patient conditions? Wouldn’t that open up new doors to obtain market insights? And surely, those insights can be utilized in a better manner ensure relief to the patients.

However, the only limitation: A Ghost Customer’s role will come into play only when a medical need exists. And this need cannot be created artificially.

But at the end of the day, it only underlines the fact that customer engagement & brand success is all about asking questions & looking for answers in the right place. Thus it also means that the marketer who answers maximum questions by himself (without copying) is the most successful.

Until next time,

Victor.

Proactive versus Reactive

We meet again, this time after a gap of 2 weeks.
The start to the month was good, and end of week one left me satisfied given the fact that my meetings went well & all the meeting objectives were achieved.

One evening during this time, I made a mental revision of the different marketing activities I had undertaken for my assigned brands. I narrowed down to the fact that ensuring campaign effectivity & generating a certain return on investment were the key issues. And I am sure that most of the marketing executives in pharma industry, tend to face the above situation. In most cases the campaigns are rolled out as planned in advance, but it is difficult to garner the exact ROI picture. Herein many factors are involved, for example the ROI also depends on whether the activity is for a select few Dr. or spread over a wide base.

This led me to think that in today's dynamic scenario, the key to advance ahead as a effective marketer is nothing but to think what your brand needs. And who should decide this ? Ofcourse the brand manager is in best position to decide on this, but suitable adjustments in line with company objectives are common.

The thought process can basically be divided into two: Does your brand new information ? or Does your brand need new look & visibility ?
Providing new information on a regular basis is the classic pharma marketing. It can be a new clinical study, a new India-specific trial, a new indication approved by regulatory body etc etc.
Providing renewed visibility is the modern pharma marketing (kind of OOH style, where out-of-clinic activities like CMEs, Conferences play a key role)

In other words, you yourself should take the Brand's Story in forward direction everytime.

That's the essence of Proactive Marketing, a New Story for the Same Brand to New Customers. If systematically practised, largely eliminates the need of Reactive Marketing, wherein you are duplicating competitor-like activities on the same set of customers.

This is the best bet in today's dynamic market - being In Sight & In Mind
(because in marketing, Out of Sight, means Out of Mind).

Until next time,
Victor.

The Week before Cycle Meets

Anyone who's known the Pharma industry will agree that Cycle Meets form a integral part of the industry's functioning. And so should it be, when you are dependent on several human elements for Brand success.

Cycle Meets are easy (of course with a minimum level of preparation), but the week before them is hectic.
I always find myself relating the scenario to the one which is typically seen before house members go on a vacation. The sole focus is - Finish pending jobs, coz there would be no one to tend to them !

To-be-designed print materials become minor jobs in the context of others like finalizing campaigns, finalizing slides, (worse, helping someone else finalize theirs), and not to mention following up for materials already finalized & dispatched. Phew, suddenly you realize 5 days are gone & weekend's coming.

But, invariably I end up having to show up in office on the Saturday coz still "some little bit" is pending.
Its on this day, I stash away in my bag all the things I will need for the meeting - notes, data back-up, handouts, training material, and oh I almost forgot, e-tickets booked for the travel. !

But, it is also equally true that if you are lucky enough (which I seldom am) to churn out a well thought-out copy in this pressure week, which gets approved & selected, no one can take away that joy from your face...!

Until next time,

Yours truly,
Victor

Welcome to my blog

The Start Line

I am new to blogging, but I see it as a phenomenal tool to express & share your concerns, wishes, expectations or anything u wish to.
in my case it was the second one - a wish to connect, to share, to understand, to learn, & to help.

It was my wish to reach out to people we deal with everyday - family, friends, colleagues, employers, employees, anybody.
I wanted to make a micro-sized contribution to develop a platform where I & everybody else would be able to connect, share, understand, learn, & help each other, to make our work & our relationships better.

It's almost 2 years since I started into Pharma Marketing. Add to that 2 years of Healthcare work-ex.
The point here is work-ex may not be significant, what's significant is the different types of challenges one faces in Marketing. That has lead me to several questions...

How do people work?
How do they meet deadlines?
What are the issues they face in daily working?
How do they solve them?
Are there any common issues which can have common solutions?
What new can each one of us learn?

Thus, the DNA of this blog is to build & strengthen a network of Marketers who can be of mutual help to one another.
It may happen that only a few people might make some contribution here, but that's fine with me.

It's all about getting started when you wish to do something.

That's what I call getting on my way.
Until next time...