It’s not uncommon to watch TV and see a pharmaceutical advertisement—even several—that feature a celebrity endorsement.
But to really move the needle and reach consumers, it’s critical that those ad spots come with a clear sense of authenticity and relatability in addition to the glitz and glam of Hollywood fame, experts said during a panel at Fierce Pharma Week on Tuesday.
For instance, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, a star on earlier seasons of "The Real Housewives of New York City," has struggled with psoriasis since she was a child. She said she decided to open up to her audience about that experience after she saw the plaques in her eyebrows reflected on camera.
“It just made me feel so good, that finally, after all this time of hiding and feeling ashamed that I can be vulnerable and open about something that I've been dealing with for a long time,” she said.
Killoren Bensimon said that having an audience as a reality star lets her have frank conversations with people about her condition while staying grounded. For example, she said, if someone asks about her tan, she’ll explain that she spent plenty of time in the sun as a recommended treatment of sorts for her skin.
Being open about managing psoriasis also required a willingness to engage with negativity online, she said.
“It's been really an interesting journey, kind of navigating the negative and supporting the positive,” Killoren Bensimon said.
She was joined on the panel by Peter Dannenfelser, director of omnichannel orchestration and launch at Sanofi, and Manu Singh, chief data and innovation officer for National CineMedia.
Dannenfelser said pharma marketing that embraces influencers and celebrities can make a splash simply by having a famous face, but bringing those individuals on board also creates an opportunity to address misinformation.
The endorser has a level of trust with their audience that may be greater than a drugmaker or a traditional healthcare organization. He said it’s important to sign on with someone who is taking a medication appropriately and can provide a solid entry point for people who may have questions about their treatment plan.
Because, while it’s great to have a marketable person to promote a brand, it’s also critical to ensure the target audience is informed enough to ask the right questions of their doctor, Dannenfelser said.
“So, the story is one thing,” he said. “It's another to be able to do something that's going to help patients that are suffering in the same ways.”
Misinformation in healthcare and beyond is rampant, and a celebrity figure that people admire can potentially cut through the news and present key information to patients who may benefit and who might otherwise never have heard, or been receptive to, that message, Dannenfelser said.
Singh said another component of making facts accessible is meeting patients where they are. National CineMedia places advertisements in movie theaters, where they play on screen before a film.
This approach can help cut through the noise, she said, and make a message resonate more strongly with the audience.
She said that individual consumers are hit with some 10,000 marketing messages each day, but they are savvy enough to filter out most of that messaging. Instead, connecting with people at the movies, like National CineMedia does, carries with it an air of authenticity.
Pair that with an effective celebrity spokesperson who relates to the audience, and that’s a strong recipe for outreach that works, Singh said. Being able to make that connection is especially critical in a world where people often simply go to Google with their medical questions.
“Everyone is sort of out there presenting their version, and all of that then goes back to how you break through that clutter,” Singh said.