Any time I get frustrated with the pace of pharma, someone will call me with good news, good ideas, good contacts or all of the above. I got a call like that yesterday from an industry pal and it made me realize (again!) how lucky I am to have great relationships with so many people in our industry. He asked what he could do to help ME and proceeded to connect me to some business contacts – and he had the patience to listen to my “airing of the grievances”. We had a few laughs, I gave him some contacts and I hung up, grateful as heck. Then, my best friend called – I’ve known her since our early 20’s when we were both in marketing research at Parke-Davis – she has saved my bacon more times than I can count and has been an absolute lifeline for me.

I’ve been fortunate to continue meeting great people over the last 22 years, who do care and are trying to help and want to do good programs. Patience has never been a virtue of mine, so my thanks to the people who keep me off the ledge (that includes the amazing, talented, hilarious and insightful team of folks, right here at One Eleven!) and motivate me to keep reaching for the stars.

Unfrozen Caveman Pharmaceutical E-Marketer

Vendor:  Janet Carlson
Cirroc:  Any of a number Pharmaceutical E-Marketing People

Announcer: “One hundred thousand years ago, a caveman was out hunting on the frozen wastes when he slipped and fell into a crevasse. In 1988, he was discovered by some scientists and thawed out. He then went to get an MBA in pharmaceutical marketing and became…Unfrozen Caveman E-Marketer.
Jingle: “He used to be a caveman,
but now he’s an e-Pharma guy.
Unfrozen Caveman e-Marketer!”

Announcer: Brought to you by.. Gas Plus – actually gives you gas, for those times when you feel like being the joker; and and by Happy Fun Ball – still legal in 16 states – it’s legal, it’s fun, it’s Happy Fun Ball! And now, tonight’s episode of “Unfrozen Caveman E-Marketer”.

[ open on interior, some un-named pharma company]

Vendor: Mr. Cirroc, are you ready to talk about your e-marketing strategy and proposed tactics for 2009?

Cirroc:  It’s just “Cirroc”, Janet… and, yes, I’m ready. People of this pharma company, I’m just a caveman. I fell on some ice and later got thawed out by some of your scientists. Your world frightens and confuses me! Sometimes the beeping of these things called emails drives me crazy… and I run to the on-site Starbucks, or wherever…Sometimes when I get a message on my Blackberry, I wonder: “Did little demons get inside and type it? I don’t know! My primitive mind can’t grasp these concepts. But there is one thing I do know – when a brand team comes to me and asks me for the strategy and tactics for 2009, I’m going to reach back into my bag from 2003, see what worked then and employ those tactics. Trying something that has not been done by every other pharma company and has 5 years of ROI data frightens and confuses me.”

Sound familiar? This is our experience with every other meeting.  Who are these people thrown into e-marketing? And why are they so frightened and confused?

Maybe it is Olympic fever (or the full moon) but we have one of the wildest weeks ahead and I am absolutely beyond excited about it!  It started today with two solo events – tomorrow is full of team events, as is the rest of the week.  I think I probably would have gotten gold today, if these meetings were medal events – I was so excited to talk mobile, that even a little tired, I really felt like I was on fire.  People are listening…things are happening…By early September, One Eleven will be a company people are talking about – and we deserve it.  We are going for the gold – and I’m pretty damn sure we’ll get it.

And here I thought we were talking to ourselves…people in pharma have actually been listening!  It was an exciting week – we have corporations (yep, the whole shootin’ match) that are looking to mobile optimize, brand/franchise sites that are seeing the light and even a cutting edge (not to mention world leading) marketing research company that has realized mobile marketing provides another DIRECT channel to their customers and will catapult them over their competition.  We’ve been discussing really interesting and helpful mobile apps – that speed up the paperwork physicians must complete in order to prescribe some products.

It’s been a good week – thanks for listening.

During a job interview, about 10 years ago a future boss of mine told me, “You have to love this stuff”. Lucky for me, I ended up getting the job and following my (then) boss’s directive. I “do love this stuff.”  I may suffer from a mild form of ADHD but I love coming to work every day and coming up (or at least trying to) with elegant solutions to technical and marketing problems. Do you love what you do?