Richard T. Minoff, Dorland Global Corporation

We continue to see growing interest inperformance-based compensation systems. The bottom line is that clients areseeking a shared risk–reward to make sure agencieshave "skin in the game"-or to put it anotherway-are guaranteed to focus on the engagementgiven the stakes. As an agency, we have beenquite happy to participate in these arrangements provided the "game rules" are fair and equitable, and ensure an appropriatelevel of mutual control.

Richard T. Minoff, Dorland Global Corporation

When you come from the biologics perspective, marketing looks quite different. The level of science knowledge for most of these therapies and their competitors requires a client service and creative staff willing to dive into the details. Secondly, specialty audiences-the most likely prescribers of biologics-are quite different from their primary care counterparts. They think differently, they are motivated differently, and they respond to communications and media differently. So instead of thinking about gaining top-of-mind awareness and saying that your pill is good for virtually any "new start" patient with, let's say, hypertension, we are often tasked with thinking about helping clients exquisitely segment their patients and physicians in an effort to help engineer an effective first trial. In the future, innovations in biologics, targeted therapies, and personalized medicine will make us think about marketing one-on-one versus mass marketing. I doubt most have even begun to think aboutthis prospect.

In the years ahead, it will be increasingly important to have command over the multitude of media and marketing channels. Pharma CRM (relationship marketing) programming has been around for 20 years, and yet, in reality, little has changed. The level of generalization in most of these programs is staggering. So when I talk to someone about the finer points of patient segmentation-driven communications, or the use of psychographics, I am not amazed that most have little idea what the interrelationship is between these two topics. To that end, we need to move past the core, block-and-tackle patient programs to more direct, highly specific patient programming that addresses a specific patient's particular issues; otherwise we have wasted much opportunity,let alone money.

The Skinny

Dorland Global is a full-service, global healthcare communicationscompany with core competencies in brand strategy,advertising and marketing communications, public relations,and medical education to fit every stage of a brand's lifecycle.Telephone: 215-625-0111E-mail:info@dorland.comWeb site:Dorland.com