Marketing campaigns today need to foster curiosity and wonder with a keen focus on brand authenticity. Authenticity is critical from the brand creation process all the way to media placement, execution and analysis. Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) can maximize the efficiency and impact of the right message at the right time to push that needle forward and drive business impact. AI has the potential to revolutionize the way marketers can engage healthcare providers (HCPs) and patients alike, accelerating access to effective treatments and improving patient outcomes.

At a recent workshop at Digital Pharma East (DPE) 2024, Meaghan Clinton, SVP, media activation, Evolvics; Jamie Cobb, SVP, creative director at Addison Whitney; Justin McGinnis, VP, search and social, Evolvics; Oliver Nelson, managing director of Evolvics; and Wendy Wheeler-Jacobs, senior brand strategist, Addison Whitney, discussed brand strategy in omnichannel campaigns and the evolving use of AI.

The evolution of brand development

Brand marketing today is non-linear with a goal of moving from awareness to purchase. It’s essential that marketers understand how to “build brands from the blank canvas up to engagement,” Cobb said.

Each campaign consists of three narratives: a rational narrative about the brand’s basic foundations; a functional narrative about the brand’s value; and an emotional narrative around the feelings being communicated, Wheeler-Jacobs explained.

The website creation and back-end functionality is another critical factor of brand development. “That site architecture is very important for that blueprint,” McGinnis said. “We’re trying to gain visibility for our population by understanding their needs.”

HCPs and patients are motivated by different wants. “HCPs value evidence but with managed disease, they’re also looking for a good balance of safety, they want to see the effect happen quickly, and they want convenience and support because they’re on the hook for supporting their patients,” Cobb said. “Patients, on the other hand, are looking for rapid relief and few doses.”

Assessing positioning with AI

With access to this data, medical marketers can create AI “personas” of patients and HCPs to help guide brand positioning and target audience research.

For example, Dr. Thompson, an AI persona of a rheumatologist with 25 years experience, is focused on treating the whole person and seeks out information on new therapies through journals, medical conferences and webinars. To cut through the clutter, the brand will need to provide clear evidence, build trust and deliver the right message at the right time, Wheeler-Jacobs said.

The AI patient persona, Sarah, a 34-year-old with psoriatic arthritis who works as a graphic designer, wants brand messaging that’s supportive, reassuring and liberating.

In the brand development process, the verbal and visual design represents the soul of the brand. A brand archetype and descriptor helps create a strong identity. For example, “the resilient explorer embodies a spirit of adventure and self discovery empowers patients to venture beyond,” Cobb said. “Brands need to know who they are so that they can impact and reach out to other people.”

That strong identity will help generate a more effective omnichannel strategy. “As we’re understanding awareness, our goal is to make our audience go from brand naive to brand familiar, and as we look at that, we think about the social targeting considerations,” McGinnis said. For HCPs, that strategy needs to include both white coat and blue jean moments when they are accessing information at work and home.

Trust is paramount in brand consideration for the AI persona of Dr. Thompson. “She sifts through the clutter to find those important information nuggets, and that’s where we can use our proprietary tool, channel affinity, and look at the historical campaigns to see what messages resonate and break through to her while she’s along her journey,” Clinton said.

Driving prescription lift

Ultimately, the goal of the brand is to move HCPs and patients toward a prescription decision. “We need to think more about what it takes to drive action based on their historical performance, on the channels that they consume, on where they raise their hand and say this is where I want this information. This is what produces a personalized conversation,” Nelson explained.

Having those personalized conversations with patients can be more difficult. “There’s really no one-to-one targeting,” McGinnis said. “We have to use the demographics, which don’t give us enough to get down to those individuals. That creative has to give the patient the feels. It’s got to make her feel warm and fuzzy and fill that community around her and understand what that treatment journey can be.”

To build trust and confidence in the brand, it’s important to “bring the messaging to life by utilizing sequential messaging across media channels and have that strong call-to-action to push to the brand site,” Clinton said. “Give a reason to look for that trusted information and ensure all of the tools, such as patient testimonials as well as treatment options and what to expect along the treatment journey, are there so she can make that informed decision.”

Patient targeting starts with core audience assumptions but evolves based on specific interactions to keep pace with an individual patient’s needs. “The brand has to appear as living, breathing and trustworthy and have that authenticity,” Nelson explained. “Everything we’re doing is about real-life interaction. That’s what’s going to get the brand written and improve Sarah’s experience with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, but there’s a lot of synchronization, sequencing and modular content, right message, that brings us to that point when they are together in real life, when the brand succeeds and Sarah is on treatment and Dr Thompson supports it.”