The big blog

As an agency that’s done its fair share of healthcare marketing (for Owens & Minor and VCU Massey Cancer Center, among others), Big has kept its metaphorical eye on the healthcare ball for a while. And we can tell you, regardless of how the current imbroglio turns out, one aspect of healthcare is in for some big changes: How you market it.

Back in January of this year, well before political townhalls became cacophonous intimidation-fests and ersatz gun shows, The Washington Post reported on how the pharmaceutical industry had been preparing for the healthcare changes it expected to come with the Obama administration, including how those changes would affect their marketing. The industry, once recognized as Republican-dominated, had shifted its attention to the Democrats as part of an effort “to burnish its image and align itself rhetorically with the health reform goals.” That effort included plans to launch a new million-dollar advertising campaign to promote “Obama-style health coverage,” to impose new marketing restrictions on itself through its trade organization, and to follow stricter advertising policies. Of course, the intensity and polarity of the healthcare debate is constantly pulling on the compass that Big Pharma follows as they shift direction. Their ultimate destination is unknown (like that of all healthcare organizations), but rest assured, in terms of marketing, it’ll be someplace new.

Meanwhile, in the technological as opposed to the political arena, change is likewise afoot. Internet experts are asking how Web 2.0 might change and improve communication patterns in healthcare, especially in regard to bringing providers together. Social media experts are insisting that healthcare communications must take the Facebook and Twitter route, because in a category where trust is paramount, traditional “dubious” media like advertising is dead.

All of this makes it perfectly clear that things are more confusing than ever. Not that it’s ever been easy, this business of predicting changes in healthcare and how best to market it. But in an era when phrases like “death panels” are tossed around almost blithely, maybe we need to consider how much longer our current marketing methods can be kept on life support. Given the divisions in our country, no matter what policies are enacted, the new status quo will be a bitter pill for many to swallow. Making it go down easier is going to require some brand-new thinking.