I talk to clients, potential clients and partners a LOT. On the phone, in person, in pitches, speeches and via social media and interviews. In all this talk I spout a lot of statistics and facts (and tell a few good stories) – trying to spread the word about health care professionals and mobile.

And some days I truly wonder, am I talking to myself?? Sure, everyone at One Eleven has drunk the kool-aid, but does pharma buy it? Lately, I’ve been wondering.

Today my friends, a miracle happened! A potential client called about mobile optimizing web sites – and said, “You know, Janet, 65% of physicians are accessing information via smart phones*, so we need to be there.” I’ve repeated that statistic until I was hoarse and my fingers nearly fell off from writing, blogging and emailing – but apparently, the word has gotten around.

When I was a sales rep, my district manager used to say, “it takes at least 10 visits to a doctor to convince her of ONE point you are trying to make” – well, I have come to realize that it takes at least that many exposures to pharma folks to make a point.

Well, stubborn is good for something – so, now that I have made THAT point,  on to the next one…

*My thanks to Mark Bard of Manhattan Research, who kindly provides the latest statistics for HCPs and their use of mobile.

One Eleven’s Founder & CEO, Janet Carlson, was interviewed for an article in PharmaVoice (September, 2009) on the role Twitter should play in pharma marketing.

See Janet’s comments: My take? Pharma should “tweet on” – http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/b1ee9b7d#/b1ee9b7d/20

I’ve been eagerly reading “How We Decide,” written by Jonah Lehrer, a neuroscientist.  Interestingly enough, it seems people fall into two camps:  you can make quick, good decisions on the fly or you can’t.  And being smart doesn’t have much to do with it.  You are probably wondering when I’ll get to the point of this blog posting – here it comes:

How do clients REALLY decide which vendor to go with – is it referrals?  Is it relationships?  Is it comfort level?  Does the pitch matter?  How much?  Price seems to be a factor, but randomly so.  I guess I’m studying this because we have won some really big pitches against some really big players and I want to really know why and how I can have it happen more often.  So, I am asking our clients for feedback, but I am also trying to understand the decision making process itself.  From what I am reading, it is pretty hardwired and a brain that has been “trained” will respond rather predictably in like situations.

I do get that we are not for everyone – we don’t wear suits, drag around lawyers or give PowerPoint presentations – if that’s your gig, I’d be happy to refer you to our competition.  We are looking for a few good people, those who do make their own decisions and are looking for people who can also think on the fly and are ready to really innovate – we’ll share the risks with you…and the benefits.

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?

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.

I just got a really big wake up call. We have been talking to most of the pharma companies out there about mobile marketing and for the most part, they are really excited about it – contrast this with the meetings at most of the major agencies. We had a meeting today where I thought we might need to bust out the defibrillator – I wasn’t sure these people were alive. And they sure as hell were not “getting” mobile – from the looks on their faces, I had to make sure I hadn’t accidentally started speaking in tongues. Of course, they pointed out that they had lots to think about regarding the print campaigns they were dreaming about.

Maybe the moral of the story is that I should be selling stuff that they know and “get” – like an eDetail…or maybe a podcast…yeah, that’s the ticket. We always say, “No one got fired for hiring IBM” but where is IBM now? Selling what you know is easy, selling the future is hard.

Some days it is really hard to have the right idea, at the right time, with the right team. When I talk to clients, they spend a lot of time in the devil’s advocate chair – and I know why they do it, but do they ALL have to play that role? I’m looking for a hero – someone who is willing to ask the smart questions and then take ACTION. We are not talking about jumping over buildings here or outracing freight trains – just a little willingness to explore opportunities we all know make sense. NO, I don’t have all the stats (yet) – NO, I don’t have ROI (yet), NO, no one else has done it (YET!)…but I’m working on it. By the time you trade in your red costume with the tail and horns, one of your competitor’s will have eaten your lunch and I can’t wait!

Seth Godin has done it again. I love his blog – it truly inspires me (sign up at www.sethgodin.com) – every day brings another gem. Today, he blogged about mediocrity and how truly brutal it is to be a visionary – not only in pharma, but in life. Remarkable thinking and ideas are always met with resistance by those who want to keep things status quo. I do get it. I’ve been a pain in the ass rabble-rousing demander of change my whole life – and believe me, it is NOT always the path to popularity! I had a boss early in my career who did everything she could to help guide me back to the path of mediocrity – bless her heart, including sending me to the company psychiatrist to find out how to help me be “more like the others”. Brave soul that he was, he sent me on my own path and I’ve never looked back.

The truly new, innovative ideas will be beaten down – by your own colleagues (unless you surround yourself with like-minded thinkers), by your clients, by the industry – but without the challenge, what fun would it be to actually make it through the muck of mediocrity? Seth’s challenge to the innovators is to persist – stay the course you believe in and maybe you can be the one to bring about a change.

My mother tried really hard to understand why it was I had to take the path with the most resistance, but I think she appreciates the need to rise above mediocrity, no matter how hard it is or how long it takes. Look around – overnight sensations take years – ask Steve Case about his 7 year overnight success -and I read somewhere that it took the Beatles 8 years to become a sensation in the U.S. – I have hope for One Eleven Interactive – my mom does too.

Wow, I just had a very enlightening conversation about how pharma companies and agencies are so NOT on the same page regarding proposals. As an agency, we write a lot of proposals, a certain percentage get signed, a certain percentage get turned down and a certain percentage go into a big black hole. I just found out what happens to the black hole proposals (and I suspect a good number of them) – the product manager/e-business manager throws your proposal out because it’s too expensive and chooses a different path (or company) – and NEVER calls the agency to discuss the proposal.

Here’s a heads up pharma companies – we will HAPPILY talk to you about the price – start a conversation! At the end of the day, we may not decide to move forward and that is cool – but give us a chance to understand what you really need – I bet we can figure out a way to make it happen and fit your budget.