5 marketing learnings from other industries – January

Sitting within the pharma and biotech industry, marketing can be pretty specific and usually very focused around building new relationships and performance marketing (aimed at generating new business leads).

Often we make the mistake of looking at marketing in a one dimensional way, but we can learn a lot from other industries. At ramarketing, we follow trends, new developments and ideas from other sectors on a daily basis.

So, we’ve summarised our top learnings from the past two weeks; initiatives that we have seen and taken learnings from.

Customer experience

Now, we’re writing an entire blog all about this so I won’t spoil the surprise, but customer experience is something that other industries have been nailing for years. With Netflix reaching over 200 million subscribers this week and EasyJet launching ‘therapeutic’ travel films to engage buyers in lockdown, it’s clear that despite the effects of COVID-19, brands are continuing to engage with their customers in new ways. 

Why do these brands continue to soar against high levels of competition and a saturated market place? From brand awareness tactics, to thinking about every detail that goes into a customer’s experience, they know their target audience and they engage with them in meaningful ways. 

Travel bans and lack of events have hit the supply chain over the past twelve months when it comes to building new relationships – it’s time to focus on the customer experience, from prospect to advocate. 

The role of advertising

With the Super Bowl around the corner, there’s been weekly speculations about which brand will continue to invest in advertising space during the 52 minutes of time available. 

An average 30 seconds of advertisement space during the biggest sporting event in the US costs around five million dollars on average. This year, things will be different. Yet brands like Doritos and Cheetos continue to plan their big finale. 

Since lockdown, we’ve seen our clients jump to digital advertising in efforts to raise awareness with the lack of huge industry conferences like CPhI. Advertising has its place in the marketing mix, but we recommend erring on the side of caution. Being meaningfully specific and focusing on your website is much more powerful in our experience. 

Engaging with thought leaders

This week, we saw Burbery partner with Marcus Rashford, (Premier League footballer) on their latest winter collection. Influencers are definitely something that’s historically more important to business to consumer (B2C) markets. You’ll no doubt have seen TikTok influencers and Instagram models promoting the latest fragrance or skin care regime. But it’s not something that’s really used in the pharma and biotech word. 

We’ve always been of the opinion that industry consultants aren’t used to their fullest capacity in the pharma and biotech space and they can be very influential. In addition, through Raman Sehgal’s Molecule to Market podcast, we’ve seen the success that thought leaders can have when positioned appropriately.

What’s the takeaway? Start thinking about either profiling a leader within your business, or take a look around and sniff out opportunities to engage with thought leaders in our own industry – they have a big network and are useful allies. 

Diversification

From Kia dropping ‘motors’ from their name this week to move away from just manufacturing and UNO launching global tournaments to stay relevant, brands across the globe are looking for new ways to mitigate risk and diversify their business and the markets in which they serve. 

In pharma and biotech, the need to diversify is less pressing. But, as we discovered in the latest 2021 trends from Molecule to Market, cell and gene therapy is going to grow significantly in the next few years and investment is predicted to soar in pharmaceuticals and biotech.

What has this taught us? If there’s a need in the market or certain shifts are expected to happen, it’s time to consider diversifying. 

Maybe it’s time for a refresh

We know this sounds a little biased. We’ve just rebranded our agency to better reflect the business we are today. From Burger king refreshing it’s look this year and focusing more on digital, to GM updating its brand identity and feel to make way for the electric era, brands everywhere are pressing the restart button on their business.

The world has changed (and will continue to change). Although the pharma and biotech industry can sometimes be slow to adapt, we encourage companies within the supply chain to take a step and really think about their brand.

Have the needs of your customers changed? Does your brand clearly articulate the breadth of your technology or services? If the answer is sometimes or no, it’s time to take the leap and refresh in 2021. 

So there you have it. Five initiatives we’ve liked this week that have made us stop and think about how we can apply them to our own sector. We’ll keep you posted next month as the marketing landscape continues to evolve.