It’s widely recognized that the marketing of health care products and services is different across national boundaries. This is true, in part, because the products and the media channels available to market them differ, as well. Government regulations on this type of marketing also plays a role, as media agency Zenith noted in its recent Global Intelligence report.  

What the media agency found in reviewing research related to the marketing of health care is that while mass media touchpoints are as important for health care brands as they are for brands in general, other marketing tactics can play an even larger role for health care brands. For example, advice and recommendations are “much more important for health care brands than general brands, as are point-of-sale touchpoints,” the report noted. “For health care decisions, consumers turn first to people they know and trust, whether [they are] friends who have faced similar problems, doctors or pharmacists.”

Using data from its Touchpoints ROI Tracker, Zenith said it found that “specialist and expert recommendations” have the greatest influence on consumers’ relationships with health care brands (with influence scores of 92 and 89, respectively).

In reviewing “paid media” channels, Zenith said the most influential ads are those that appear in stores and waiting rooms. “These have become even more influential over the last few years and are now ahead of TV, though this remains an important channel,” the Zenith report note. “However, the influence of other forms of brand communication of television – advertorials, sponsorship and product placement – has fallen sharply. Brand communication on television works better for health care where it’s direct and straightforward.” In addition, Zenith said that “paid search” has become a lot more influential in recent years and is now almost on par with television. “It is commonplace for consumers to research symptoms and problems online, and if brands can offer them solutions to these problems while they are in the research phase, they can move them along the path to purchase effectively,” the report noted.