Tess Okura, VP, Account Director, Palio

Like many children of the 70’s, I could rattle off the phone number of every person I knew and other random facts. Learning and memorizing things came easily, but it was a necessity – it was a time when there was no smart phone or Internet to look things up.

Today, however, technology has provided with so much information at our fingertips that our critical thinking skills are often less exercised or, perhaps, are over-stimulated, and that can be dangerous if you want to lead with thoughtful strategic thinking in the pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing space.

Though we’re now incredibly aided by technology, we’re also bombarded with more information than ever before. Everything we do from work to play to interacting with families and friends stimulates our brains, helping us learn and acquire new information each day. Add in the amount of digital information being created through emails, instant messages, blog posts, Web sites, Facebook updates, digital phone calls, podcasts and more, our brains are constantly in overdrive.

Technology has certainly made information more available and accessible, and it offers unprecedented convenience. Many technologies are sold on the promise that it will free up time to help us be more thoughtful and creative thinkers. While Google and ubiquitous access to a variety of media has put a world of knowledge at our fingertips, it may not necessarily be making us any smarter.

The decline of critical thinking skills is one area of concern. Education reporter Trip Gabriel recently discussed the quality of learning in online curriculum, where advocates cite its convenience and critics say that it’s all about saving money.

Jack London was the subject in Daterrius Hamilton’s online English 3 course. In a high school classroom packed with computers, he read a brief biography of London with single-paragraph excerpts from the author’s works. But the curriculum did not require him, as it had generations of English students, to wade through a tattered copy of “Call of the Wild” or “To Build a Fire.”

Hamilton, who had failed English 3 in a conventional classroom and was hoping to earn credit online to graduate, was asked a question about the meaning of social Darwinism. He pasted the question into Google and read a summary of a Wikipedia entry. He copied the language, spell-checked it and emailed it to his teacher.

Google may help speed the time to answer, but changing the depth and breadth of instruction can be detrimental to developing problem solving skills and memory recall. These proficiencies are important for intellectual development and fostering innovation.

Search efficiency is also changing how we interact. Whereas people might have deliberated at length over a given topic, being able to readily access information lessens the need for debate and argumentation. What’s the point when you can just Google for an answer? This can be potentially limiting because new ideas are born from looking at old concepts in a new light.

Gary Small, professor of Psychiatry and Aging at UCLA School of Medicine has looked at how search is affecting our brains and notes that it’s not making us smart or stupid, but it is changing how we think.  What search does, he says, is change how we use our memory.

Unlike children of the 70’s who had to memorize phone numbers, people today can simply look them up in their handheld device or press a button for speed dial. There is no need for active thinking. However, we still have to pick and choose what we need to remember. Individuals attending an industry trade show need to be able to remember people’s names, what company they work for and if and when they’ve interacted. It would be awkward to need to look up that information on a handheld device.

Our prior experiences, education and ability to activate short-term memory help us search online, but for interacting in the real world, technology can be used to encourage brain fitness. Small suggests activities such as Sudoku puzzles, games and other memory techniques in addition to physical training and healthy living to improve brain efficiency and brain health as we age.

Search and other technologies are indeed changing how we think. The way we use memory is being altered as we move to a society of searchers and gathers. Technology has created a world where information changes quickly, and ideas can be distributed almost instantaneously. Individuals need to develop and nurture critical thinking skills so they can continue to innovate, evaluate information and arrive at thoughtful conclusions.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

Todd LaRoche, EVP, Managing Director of Creative, Palio

There’s no denying it: Video games are addictive. The question for us to answer as an advertising agency that’s revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing, is “How can we leverage the high engagement potential of gaming to help (and healthfully) promote our clients’ brands?”

Parenting articles are rife with information on how to wean kids off games and fanzines are chock full of cheat codes, Easter eggs and behind the scenes stories. Nielsen reports that 10% of U.S. Internet time is spent playing games, which has now overtaken email as the second most popular online activity. Last year on Pixels and Pills, I wrote about how video games have changed our culture and influence the way we live and play, learn and communicate, and how we are entertained.

The Pew Research Center reports that more than half of American adults age 18 and older (53%) play video games, with the computer being the most popular gaming device. Games are not passively consumed like television; they require interaction and proactive thinking. And, they can be used to improve health and health care. Here’s how:

Extend messages to the offline world – Getting people to move more, think about what they’re eating and make smart choices has received prominent focus even from the White House. Washington-based Cascadian Farm provided a branded crop – blueberries – for Farmville players. More than fun, organizations striving to combat obesity can use games to deliver education and positively influence health whether on the farm or on the field.

Create new modes for learning – For medical students, poor test results can be more than just personal failure – they can mean life or death for patients down the road. Learning via simulation provides the opportunity for nurses, doctors and other medical professionals to develop and refine skills without compromising the safety of real patients. Games can also be fun, educational and helpful for patients, enabling them to test and deepen their understanding of health issues or contribute to better health outcomes. For example, video games can be effective therapy for stroke survivors. Using a Wii can improve patient motor functions, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference last year. Research projects at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation include alternate reality games that teach substance abusers tactics to prevent real-world relapses and computer-based programs that use Wii technology to help Parkinson’s patients with balance.

Foster a sense of community – Social networks provide group support for difficult tasks or emotional situations. While some individuals are comfortable attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings or caregiver support groups, others miss out on these valuable connections due to fear being exposed or unsuccessful. Social interaction in health care games may be useful in encouraging healthy behaviors like healthy eating or reinforcing the importance of following a prescription regime or in connecting people in similar situations.

The world of health-focused games is growing, covering a wide range of activities from rehab and physical therapy, disease management, health and behavior change, bio-feedback, epidemiology, cognitive exercise and nutrition and health education. Patient-centric health games can go far in advancing many health care goals: reversing the epidemic of obesity, driving down tobacco and alcohol use, improving the quality of health care delivery or enhancing the performance of public health system.

While achieving good health is serious business, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be fun.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

Todd LaRoche, EVP, Managing Director of Creative, Palio

I’ve just gone through our archives and realized that here at Palio, we mention listening quite often in our posts. I was very pleased to confirm this with my little bit of research. It means we’re doing something right, especially as an advertising agency in the field of pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing.

But I also noticed that when we talk about listening, we’re usually mentioning it in passing, as part of a larger goal, as a step in a process.

Listening can, and should, and needs to be, more than that, particularly in social media work. All too often, we relegate it to a baby step on the way to doing “real” things. When clients are nervous about entering the digital social media sphere, we tell them first to start out by listening, and then eventually they’ll work up the courage to really jump in to interactive social media work.

This is, of course, true, but it can lead people to think that listening is just that first baby step, and no more. This couldn’t be further from the truth, and this is the myth I want to dispel.

If you’ve let the listening aspect of your social media work slip to the back burner, now is the time to rectify that. Convene a “listening camp” and spend a few days really focusing on it. Start off by bringing your interns in to teach the first class. We know that’s who you’ve had doing the work of monitoring and listening. Listen hard to what they have to say about what the conversation about your brand is. Not the conversation that YOU have been trying to have. That’s different. You need to know the conversation that’s actually happening apart from you.

1. Are people still complaining about that little product glitch that you wrote off as “handled” three months ago when the official work to address it ended?
2. Is the most specific praise you’re getting from people coming about a product feature that you never really thought much about, and never highlighted very much?
3. And what about your competition? What specific praise and specific complaints are they getting?

Our Hyper Island training experience in June (read more about it here) really helped us think long and hard and critically about what we do – what we should do differently, what we should do more of, and what we should change. We’re all doing our best to make sure that new mindset sticks with us.

One way we can get that started is by looking at listening in a brand new light.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

Carl Turner, VP, Research Analytics Director, Palio

They say everything you need to know is learned in kindergarten. A common mantra heard in my childhood was “sharing is caring.” Whether that’s information or a prized possession, sharing demonstrates passion, caring or empathy for others. Sharing is deeply embedded in human nature and is evident in the digital information age.

Understanding why people share can help advertising agencies who are revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing design content that is most likely to be passed among as many of the appropriate people as possible.

While the desire to share hasn’t changed much over time, how information is imparted certainly has – especially with the explosion of social media. Today there is more content, a plethora of sources, a greater number of people communicating with more frequency and exchanging information more quickly than ever before.

The New York Times Customer Insight Group surveyed 2,500 medium/heavy online sharers to understand why people share and the motivational forces behind letting someone in on what you know. What they found: Sharing helps people do their jobs, process information more deeply, increases memory retention and creates a bond – a deeper connection – to the information. It also helps them feel valuable. According to the study, 94 percent of respondents carefully consider how the information they share will be useful to the recipient.

Sharing is also a way of defining yourself to others. Whether you’re updating your Facebook status with political rants or posting success baking meatloaf cupcakes, you’re giving the world details for your personal dossier. More than half the people in the survey (68 percent) said they share to give people a better sense of who they are and what they care about. They also share because it is a way to support causes or issues they care about.

Other key motivators are to stay connected, feel a sense of community, discuss similar interests and keep in touch with people they might not keep in touch with otherwise. Sixty-nine percent said they share information because it helps them feel involved in the world.

The study identified six sharing personality archetypes:

Altruists – These folks want to be helpful and appreciated for their usefulness. Think of the girlfriend who sends you links to WebMD after you mention going to get your thyroid tested.

Careerists – Do you participate in LinkedIn Groups? Forward interesting business articles to your colleagues? Spend hours researching and reporting on CRM systems? A careerist makes a job of sharing and being “in the know.”

Hipsters – If sharing is part of who you are – too cool/busy/mobile for email, but not too busy to frequently update your status, send out tweets and are already drinking the Google+ kool-aid, you’re probably a hipster.

Boomerangs – This type knows that you are what you post and invests in sharing edgy, provocative content. When their content doesn’t get re-shared, they know they missed their mark.

Connectors – Need a plumber or an engineer fluent in Japanese? Every network has someone who can connect you to the information or resources you require.

Selectives – They know their audience and only share information they deem relevant. If you want to engage a selective, help them understand the WIIFM.

It’s important to keep in mind that people want to share with other individuals – not just your brand. Being a facilitator that drives online conversations requires understanding the motivations of why people share, especially as consumer touch points have increased and taken advocacy to the next level.

People who share want to be relevant, helpful, considerate, informative, creative, cutting edge and popular. To help them, keep your messages simple, appeal to their sense of humor, and embrace a sense of urgency.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

Jeremy Lichtenberger, Senior Brand Planner, Palio

Everything old is new again: Reaching influencers – long the Holy Grail for advertising agencies and pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing organizations like Palio  – has gotten some 2.0 polish in the online world.

Today, there a host of products and services that let marketers track and measure influence online. But that begs the question: Is it really all that different from offline influence? And, if so, why does it matter?

Although real-world and social influence can often be different things, the driving idea is the same:  A small number of individuals can often have an important effect on the opinions, beliefs and consumption habits of others. It’s something most marketers are trying to understand better – word-of-mouth and social media marketing.

So what is social influence? Carol Leaman: CEO of PostRank Inc., a company that monitors social engagement across the Web, defines an influencer as someone whose opinion or information has an impact on someone else’s thought process or action.

That influence can be rooted in many things, from topic-area expertise to age, long-term relationships or simply being “loud” and getting attention – good or bad – online.

Why does social influence matter? Although the easy answer is the right one – knowing who influencers are and how they can be motivated helps health care marketing efforts – there are subtleties to consider as well:

Those 50,000 followers on Twitter? That might not be influence. Network size alone doesn’t tell the story. The key to determining influence lies in the actions people take such as retweets, likes or sign-ups.

It’s a new metric for marketing spend. How much a person spends during their lifetime as a customer is a common marketing metric for determining marketing levels. Since influence can be measured, network value can also be factored in to see how much business a customer might be able to refer to you through their network.

Social influence and real-world influence are different animals. Marketers who want to track their brands’ influencers would do well to track both online and offline metrics. Online, social media has democratized influence – there are more people shaping groups with their opinions. However, online influencers, while capable of driving low-intensity actions such as a retweet, or pressing a like button, cannot always drive high-intensity activities. Offline influencers, on the other hand, tend to be smaller in number but capable of driving higher-intensity activities.

“Masspersonal” is a new mode of communication, and it matters to marketers. Social media creates a new category of contact between the traditional categories of personal and mass communication. Traditionally, a brand needed an intermediary – a media channel – to communicate with fans and customers. Now? Everyone’s a broadcaster. Tools like Twitter allow for mass individual communication via the same channel, and create a more personal experience, even if the message isn’t personalized.

In the new model of marketing customers have a voice. Because of the viral nature of social networks, businesses need to harness that power, listen to feedback and empower customer evangelists. By using the Web effectively, marketers can foster a greater presence in online conversations and give rise to social influence.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

Catlin Renaud, Research Analyst, Palio

Marketers have long used consumer insight to guide decisions and strategy. Today, getting information about consumer attitudes, buying habits, preferences, trends and opinions is as easy as following a Tweet stream or collection of Facebook postings, right?

Not so fast. With the abundance of information available today it’s hard to distinguish critical data from noise. Before using social data to redefine your brand or offering, you need to take a step back and “look under the hood.”

Not everything that gets posted is accurate. Because of its immediacy, social media can become a platform for fleeting thoughts rather than well-thought out ideas. Someone writing that your new applicator is difficult to use may not follow up later with a positive post after they complete the learning curve. This makes this kind of data unreliable.

It’s easy to miss information. There’s so much activity on the social networks – in May, Twitter reached more than 4,000 Tweets per second at the beginning and end of President Obama’s speech – that you’re likely to miss critical information, even with rigorous monitoring. This makes your data incomplete.

Recognizing trends can be difficult because of skewed data and missing information. It also can be difficult because social media is still relatively new and companies are unsure of what to measure.

Listening in on customers via social media helps companies identify what people are saying about their products and services, but it’s important to validate the data before acting on it. By separating valid, actionable data from noise, companies can use this real-time feedback as the ultimate weapon in redefining their brand, products or services.

When thinking about social data and brand strategy, consider the following:

Size matters. The bigger your fan base, the more likely you’ll be able to raise awareness of your company or product and increase interactivity among consumers. Be sure to also look beyond size and at volume to identify frequent posters or tweeters. Encouraging either is likely to benefit your brand.

Follow your information. Want to know if your message resonates with your audience? Watch where it goes; is it being retweeted? Are bloggers linking back to your content? By understanding where your information is shared, you can further refine your messages and ensure you’re tapping into the interests of your buyers.

Don’t get hung up on time spent. Does it really matter how much time someone spends on your blog or Website? To a degree, yes, but that metric as a reflection of your popularity is flawed and hard to validate. How many times have you left a browser window open and walked away? Instead, monitor what people do when they interact with your brand. Look at activity and focus on where they came from, what they do when they arrive or why they came in the first place. This kind of feedback will tell you more about your target than your brand, which enables you to craft a strategy that aligns with their interests or requirements.

By listening to what people are saying, and validating what you hear, companies can get a better understanding of their buying audience and create a meaningful strategy that drives results.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

Jeremy Lichtenberger, Senior Brand Planner, Palio

When Sally Field took the stage to accept her second Oscar award she exclaimed, “You like me. You really like me.”

The desire to be liked hasn’t changed over time, but how we express our approval has evolved. Liking is now an active expression of sharing, and we’re doing it through social media, whether that’s actually hitting the “like” icon on Facebook or retweeting a message on Twitter.

There has been a lot of focus on accumulating or generating likes, but social media is growing up. It’s time to move onto the next phase: deepening relationships and increasing engagement.

According to eMarketer:

Research has shown that people who voluntarily click the “like” button are apt to recommend the brand to friends and may also be more willing to purchase the brand. But at the same time, the simplicity of the “like” button means that there may be no actual engagement beyond the fleeting moment of the click.

Getting beyond likes is less about making impressions and more about generating expressions. As author and researcher Brian Solis says, it’s about loyalty, advocacy, and engagement. His advice:  Spend less time on superficial interactions and more time cultivating value.

To do that:

Understand what your customers want. Know their preferences, challenges and what they’re expecting. Then, deliver on it.

Go where they go. Remember that your Website or fan page is just a starting point. You need to interact with consumers outside your own house. That means participating in other communities to extend your reach.

Be responsive. Acknowledge positive feedback but also be proactive when negativity surfaces. Demonstrate that you value customer input in both words and actions.

Be authentic. People expect personality, whether that’s through brand messages or the ambassadors that carry the message. Stay away from scripted copy and humanize interactions as much as possible.

Foster ongoing interactions. Give people a reason to come back to your site, page or tweet stream. Whether that’s sharing content, asking for feedback, providing a coupon or creating an application or game, they need to know there’s something in it for them to continue the relationship.

If you want to keep people engaged, the focus should be on staying connected while serving as a resource to your target audience. Businesses want customer loyalty and customers want brands that deliver on (or exceed) their expectations.

If you want to retain your social media fan base and get customers to stick around longer, stop talking, start listening and focus on building great relationships.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

Michael Smith, Digital Strategist, Palio

Have you ever played Round Robin? Round Robin tale telling is a collaborative creation of a story where individuals each contribute a small part to drive the plot forward. Social media is similar in that plenty of people participate, and at any given moment each participant can affect a story’s outcome.

Businesses have always used words and pictures to tell their story, but – outside of marketing research initiatives like focus groups or surveys – information flowed in one direction, from companies to consumers. Today, stories are told from multiple perspectives using various mediums and reach a wider audience.

Getting people to communicate passionately about your business – whether that’s a new treatment therapy, technique, hospital or physician’s office or pharmaceutical product – can create engagement and interaction among individuals, increase customer or patient loyalty and impact the bottom line. Not taking advantage of the art of storytbuilding and effectively crowdsourcing your message is a missed opportunity because of the sheer volume of people interacting on social networks.

In this Harvard Business Review article, Coca-Cola’s Joe Tripodi advises companies to not fight this wave of expression and accept that consumers can generate more messages than you ever could. With changes to Facebook rules, it’s time to accept that everyone really is empowered to tell part of your story. Rather than fighting to control the message, it’s time to figure out how to influence it or take advantage of it.

People love telling stories – the nutrition major talking about a hands-on learning experience at Lowell General or the patient who blogged about bad hospital food – and they love sharing them. Stories are like puzzles, and there is no puzzle if your pieces aren’t matching.

How do you help your fans and customers put the pieces of the story puzzle together?

Make your best information inherently shareable and granular. That means more than just a row of social media sharing icons on your company blog – it means breaking your information up into smaller pieces that can be repurposed by your fans and customers. Not many people want to share a 10-page white paper, but a tip of the day? A contest that rewards social linking? A build-your-own video microsite that stars users – and your product? Those are going to get more traffic.

Stories can – and should – be told across channels and even across products. Using print ads to drive traffic to your website? Welcome to 1995! Today, savvy marketers are building defined-path stories and messages that still start from a common channel, but increasingly the best ROI is coming from stories that can be joined from a range of channels and followed across whatever media the user happens to feel like jumping to next.

Quit trying to own the whole narrative and be happy with own the Dramatic Opening and the Big Finish. All stories have an arc, and 1.0 marketers – those same folks stuck in 1995 – often try too hard to own the whole arc. Instead, look for opportunities to launch stories with a dramatic opening and let users and fans guide themselves (and their network) to a big finish that drives home your key messages.

Of course, not every twist and turn will be positive. Negative feedback is par for the course with social interaction. There may be times marketing needs to intervene, which is why social media monitoring is so important, but there also may be times when your customers and fans will do that for you. You may choose to wait and see if your network of fans and friends comes to your defense and perpetuates the happy ending of your story. And when they do? Be sure to acknowledge their contribution. They’ll know they’re being heard, respected and valued, enabling you to continue building the loyalty you’ve worked so hard to create.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

Marty Hardin, SVP, Director of Emerging Media and Technology, Palio

Do you buy into the theory that the Internet has altered our brains? Author Nicholas Carr argues that it’s put us in a constant state of disruption and I agree. Rather than devouring books in deep concentration, we’re now prone to mind wandering, checking email, visiting Facebook or Googling symptoms.

Even though it seems most of us are working with shortened attention spans, it doesn’t mean we’re less hungry to learn. Health care companies that tap into the power of video can present compelling content in a way that is engaging while requiring less time for people to absorb information. Video capabilities on smartphones, iPads or other portable devices also provide flexibility in how and when messages are delivered and can change patient, prospect or employee experiences and interactions in many ways:

Motivate action: Getting patients to take their medications as prescribed is a recognized problem. Short videos that demonstrate how to give an insulin shot or communicate the importance of taking medication on time, are easier to absorb than written instructions. Video reminders can provide a personalized, visual prompt to make sure patients are following physician instructions or remember what they learned in the doctor’s office.

Inform buying decisions: Direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical companies could use QR codes on their packaging to launch a video at the store shelf – when a patient is making a buying decision. Consumers can instantly get more information, watch a commercial or view a testimonial from another consumer.

Educate and entertain: An interactive video brochure can be more engaging than an email or printed piece. Messages can be communicated quickly and effectively and hold the viewer’s attention, enabling them to absorb the information. Marketers can also track and report viewing statistics to understand the effectiveness of their communications.

Prepare sales representatives: PowerPoint presentations pack a lot of information, but they typically require access to a computer and can be a time drain for busy representatives. Video presentations, on the other hand, can be accessed anywhere – at home, in the parking lot prior to an appointment, etc. – giving reps a quick way to review relevant information. If appropriate, they can also share the video with a prospect or send it as a link via email at an appointment’s conclusion. With video capabilities on their smartphone, they can create their own personalized video to follow up from a sales call, enabling another interaction with a physician at his or her convenience.

Video allows people to create compelling content that taps into the emotional center of the brain, making it easier for people to recall what they’ve learned. It’s an effective way to break through messaging clutter.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

Often, when we are with clients, or are sitting in meetings discussing apps, people will bandy about technologies to drive the apps. “We’ll make a Flash app that does “x.” Or, “We need to make this in HTML 5.0 to run on the iPad.”

The graphic, by Periscopic, helps explain the market penetration of both, its impact on browser usage and how it will affect mobile penetration.