Blog

Brand and deliver….

Posted on 11. Nov, 2009 by Ze Frollein in Communications, Industry

We live in a branded world. These brands influence our decisions, inform our expectations, and, if they are good brands, add value. A brand that delivers creates advocates; a brand that disappoints can result in lifelong avoidance. So, with this power to be harnessed, the question is, in the pharmaceutical arena, what does branding actually mean, and how important is it?

Unsurprisingly there are many conflicting views out there, not least because there are a multitude of definitions of ‘branding’. So, perhaps the best place to start is by firstly agreeing on ‘what is a brand?’

Most simply put, your brand allows you to differentiate yourself and be recognisable from your competitors. It enables you to represent how you wish to be perceived, and it implies a promise to your customers. It is made up of both tangible and intangible attributes that influence how you are perceived. And crucially, the value of your brand is determined not only by you, but by the customers and stakeholders out there who come into contact with it.

OK, so perhaps that’s still a bit vague. What is true is that a brand is not simply a name or a logo. A strong brand means much more. Think Apple, and you’ll probably think of trendiness and innovation; think Volvo, and you get safety.

So why does any of this matter? Some might argue that debates about branding are best left to the world of consumer products, and have little place in pharmaceutical marketing. The arguments presented against branding suggest that medicines are too complex to be reduced to a tagline; that the prescribing behaviour of physicians is influenced only by rational, tangible factors such as drug efficacy data, and that pharmaceutical products do not possess aspirational attributes such as prestige or trendiness, whereas these are big factors in ‘Consumerland’. In addition, some would argue that branding has no ethical place in pharmaceuticals, and attempting to ascribe emotional attributes to products could be seen to be manipulative and misleading.

For these reasons, pharmaceutical branding has traditionally been fairly one- dimensional and has tended to be product led. The objective of marketeers has been to create strong awareness of the brand and its utility, i.e. making sure that doctors recognise the name of the drug, and what it does.

And this has worked just fine. Until now.

The world is-a-changing. Gone are the days (for now at least) of the blockbuster drug. The model based on first-mover advantage and super innovation is less relevant than ever before, with the situation further compounded by a diminishing product pipeline. And let’s not forget the booming emerging markets which are forecast to far outstrip Western growth.

What this means is that the traditional lines are blurring, and we are looking at an increasingly cluttered, competitive market – on a global basis. Customers (healthcare providers, and indeed end-user patients) will be faced with a growing choice of largely homogenous offerings. In many therapeutic areas, it is now less likely that there will be a clear winner on either effectiveness or price. As a result how can you stand out? How do you make sure that a customer chooses you?

And this is where the pharma industry finds itself – smack bang in the world of Consumerland.  OK, so that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but the facts are these: consumer brands – particularly those in mature, saturated markets – have long understood that they need to have a distinctive position within their competitive environments that enable their target audiences easily and clearly to tell their brand apart from the others.

Successful brands create value and amass equity. They have achieved not only high awareness within their category, but also evoke positive associations and perceptions that go well beyond the utility and price of the product. Yes, these brands have things called ‘brand essence’ and ‘brand personality’ – terms that some might cringe at. But these brands have achieved perceptions of being more desirable than their nearest competitors, by making and delivering on these intangible ‘promises’. And these intangible factors generate trust and customer loyalty, which lead to increased market share.

The automotive industry (notwithstanding the beating it has taken during the recession) presents a good case study for us.  There are a huge number of car companies, with a vast number of individual products. Though individual products are of course promoted, the parent (manufacturer) brand has in most cases got greater or equivalent value. In the mid-range sector in particular, the products i.e. cars, are – let’s be honest – very similar, but their brands mean very different things. Volvo, as mentioned earlier, is synonymous with safety; Toyota has created a strong brand around reliability; Honda has built a strong environmental persona. When asked what you think about Mercedes or BMW, most of us will have a sense of the brand promise on offer.

Of course, we’re not suggesting that people can ever be as emotionally engaged with pharmaceutical companies or a specific branded medicine as they are with their choice of cars. But what we are saying is that within the sector, there is an opportunity to leverage parent brands to a much larger extent.

This is about recognising that decision makers are affected by parent brands. Time is short and they need to organise and prioritise a huge amount of information. So, will they be asking themselves – ‘who makes this, who do I know, who do I trust?’ – of course they will. Consider the sales rep visit. Who is more likely to get an appointment – the rep from the well-known, respected manufacturer, or the rep from the less known one?

Consider also the growing influence of patients in many markets. While patients are unable to evaluate clinical data, they are able to comment on which company they have heard of, and whether they liked what they heard. (Sidebar – the whole subject of reputation management for corporate pharma is for another day.)

That’s just corporate reputation you say? We say, can corporate reputation be marketed? Yes it can – it’s called branding. And this corporate brand can boost product sales by increasing positive perceptions – above and beyond that of the product benefits and price. Likewise a poorly perceived corporate brand can generate powerful, negative perceptions, so lets not forget that your brand needs to be authentic.

Can ROI on a corporate brand be achieved overnight? No. It can take a long time. But consider the fact that in a few years time, famous brands inevitably lose patent protection and won’t exist anymore. But if done well, the manufacturer brand hopefully will. So is it worth investing in the long game? Investing in consistently communicating who you are, what you stand for, what customers can expect from you, from all of your products? Yes, we believe it is.

In writing this piece, I acknowledge that the world is more complex, with many factors and nuances in play. But the key point is in recognising that long term success may no longer be sustainable, if focused on traditional models such as solely product branding.

Instead, competitive advantage may have to be found through new approaches, a more holistic approach to branding, which is authentic, anchored in the company and that delivers on the promise.

Tags: Branding, marketing, pharmaceutical industry