DURHAM, N.C., Dec. 3 S+R Medical Communications and sister agency Friday Morning have revealed that they're the minds behind a fully integrated campaign called Pharmageddon 2012, which was conceived to raise awareness about the eroding trust between physicians and pharmaceutical companies that has mostly been a result of aggressive marketing efforts.
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The campaign was seeded anonymously for the past 3 months through a microsite (pharmageddon2012.com), Twitter (twitter.com/phrmageddon2012), YouTube (youtube.com/user/pharmageddon2012), blog (pharmageddon2012.wordpress.com), Facebook (facebook.com/pages/Pharmageddon-2012/106214827892?ref=s), and direct mail. It was designed to illuminate the complaints that physicians express about sales reps and the pharmaceutical industry.
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"Pharmageddon is an attempt to explore the implications of both what we've found and what we thought might be a solution and see what the industry as a whole thinks of that," said Bruce Nicoll, Chief Creative Officer of Friday Morning. "We needed to do it in an unbranded way because when something like this appears to be coming from an agency with an agenda, it skews the response."
Since its inception in August, Pharmageddon 2012 has helped spark discussions across pharmaceutical boards like Cafe Pharma about the importance of trust and transparency in the pharmaceutical community, culminating in an editorial and feature story in the November issue of Med Ad News.
"One of the most interesting things we learned from this exercise is that, while there is a degree of anxiety about the eroding trust between physicians and drug marketers, most companies are in denial about its impact on their promotional effectiveness," said Nicoll. "They believe that physicians are still making a distinction between 'good' information and 'bad' information, and that, because their company is not specifically associated with any bad press, their customers' receptivity to their messages remains unchanged, but this is not the case. What they are failing to understand is that physicians are not making any such distinction; all information from the pharmaceutical industry is deemed to be untrustworthy. The industry has not yet wrapped its head around the fact that continuing to create 'business as usual' promotional messaging is perpetuating the problem and is increasingly counterproductive. Our best efforts are failing to persuade physicians. We have to change our approach."
About S+R Medical Communications
S+R Medical Communications is a full-service communications company relentlessly pursuing breakthrough creative strategies and programs for its clients. As S&R Communications Group, the company received numerous awards and other recognition for its work and earned the respect of its clients by helping them achieve their most ambitious business goals. For more information, please visit srmedcom.com.
About Friday Morning
As promotional consultants to the pharmaceutical industry, Friday Morning collaborates with like-minded individuals who appreciate the necessity of communicating with physicians in a more profound way. With a philosophy and process fostering fundamental reexamination of its customers' external and internal communication practices, Friday Morning is dedicated to the idea that patient outcomes, physician confidence, and client success are inextricably interconnected. For more information, please visit fridaymorning.com.
SOURCE S+R Medical Communications
