Inspiration for health marketers from SXSW

Inspiration for health marketers from SXSW

SXSW takes a pulse on what is hot in technology and popular culture for the coming year, and several trends emerged that pharma can begin working with now. Here’s what we saw at SXSW and what you need to know about it.

By Josh Simon and Andrew Miller

Health equity from trial recruitment to marketing

Health equity from clinical trial recruitment, media, and access of care was front and center this year. Panels discussed how they are meeting patients where they are spending time, like social media, with creative that looks and feels relatable to the audience. Key takeaways included that it’s important to actively reach out to allies within your organization to drive representation and develop plans for deeper organizational integration and pull through. Within media, marketers should pull together profiles to communicate to our audiences in the most represented, intentional manner. That means not just throwing things out there and only using messages with a real purpose and authenticity.

The real metaverse

With one of the most impressive sessions at SXSW, Level Ex CEO Sam Glassenberg showcased how the Metaverse should actually be positioned to the public. It’s not about purchasing digital shoes for your digital self at a digital rave, it’s about providing highly valuable tools for industries like healthcare. By layering video game dynamics to metaverse tech, his team at Level Ex has been able to create immersive video games HCPs can use for training. By creating “digital twins” this tech can help HCPs practice for any patient, gender, skin color, etc.  This can be instrumental in the fight against racial disparity in healthcare giving HCPs the ability to meet with and interact with literally and kind of patient you can create.

Storytelling and a challenge for better content

Several sessions featured recommendations on brand storytelling, specifically in rapidly growing channels like TikTok and Reels. Panelists suggested focusing on purpose, playful experiences and sense of identity. This doesn’t mean videos can’t be serious. They don’t have to feature dancing, but they have to resonate with the audience and feature real people. While TikTok isn’t right for all brand demographics, the mass amount of content shared during the conference proved pharma could be doing more than, in most cases, simple animated social content. It felt like a challenge to the industry, to take the lead of other industries, and create more video content. The social landscape is shifting quickly to more of an entertainment medium and if brands can’t keep up, content will be less relevant. In the long run it will pay off, not just in awareness but conversion as well.

Breaking stigmas through creators

Multiple sessions included actual creators who spoke about breaking stigmas through video content. In some cases they were HCP influencers, podcasters and patient advocates. We heard from creators who are making content to educate and destigmatize around women’s health, including dispelling misinformation and helping women to self-advocate. Some of the content makes light of typically uncomfortable conversations and were often more raw depictions of common situations. The success of these creators is hard to replicate for a brand, but panelists suggested looking closely at what is resonating and culturally relevant. Pharma brands should consider some creative incubation to find a voice that still feels native to platforms like TikTok, despite the additional safety information that is required. Partnering with a creator is a way to create authentic and relevant content.

Continued fragmentation of search

While Google can’t be ignored as they own the lion-share of search traffic, Gen Z-ers are flocking to social platforms like TikTok for their search needs.  Rather than filtering through multiple ad listings, Answer Boxes and web results, platforms like TikTok deliver snackable, highly relevant content. SEO was front and center here as traditional optimizations can take years to get listings to the top of Google but a brand’s content can serve front and center day one with TikTok if done right.

The little things are a big deal

Big time inspiration came through from Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro.  Josh and his team of imagineers know that authenticity is in the details. For example, when building the Star Wars area of the Magic Kingdom, they brought the original R2D2 on site to lay tracks into the ground and have original, alien-like music playing in the Cantina. This creates an authentic and original experience. Even during the SXSW panel, they impressed us by sharing the new, “real lightsaber” and having the Hulk walk out in the audience. Seeing their dedication to the slightest detail in order to create memorable moments for fans is an inspiration to all brands.

“Not being exclusive is NOT being inclusive.”
Speakers:
Egbavwe Pela, SVP, Media, CMI Media Group
Carla Edmunds, VP, Media, CMI Media Group
Ryan Robertson, SVP, Group Black
Dr. Paul Rowe, Sanofi

Recommendations

While we’re not suggesting pharma brands create a lightsaber, it does serve as a good metaphor for turning inspiration from SXSW into innovation for your brand. What is your lightsaber? Whether it’s paying closer attention to the little things that make up a big experience for their customers or changing the way you handle processes, innovation can be found everywhere. Our recommendations are to start with ensuring you are equitable in your marketing and engaging more with inclusive media, as well as to be prepared to experiment with emerging technology, as those are two approaches with growing importance today.

Josh Simon, SVP, Social Center of Excellence, CMI Media Group Josh Simon leads CMI Media Group’s Social Center of Excellence as Senior VP. He oversees holistic social strategy including organic, paid, social intelligence, community management and enterprise guidance. Josh has over 11 years of dedicated social experience with 8+ years focused in pharma, in both agency and in house settings. He is equally energized by solving brands strategies as figuring out the puzzle of new platforms and formats with MLR.

Andrew Miller, EVP, Digital Activation, CMI Media Group Andrew Miller leads a powerhouse of experts helping us redefine how media is activated across high growth areas. His role in Digital Activation is across SEM, programmatic, video, SEO and paid social. Over the past 15years, Andrew has been an innovative change-maker wherever he lends his talent. His experience reaches across both consumer and HCP targeted campaigns and has helped implement new policies and procedures for CMI Media Group. While at CMI Media Group, Andrew led his team to grow from 33 Search & Emerging Media and Programmatic employees to 96 employees across the 3 teams.

digital twins
healthcare