“I wanna see you be brave”: Leveling-up how we approach pharmaceutical communications research

By Matt Nulty , Director?at Incite US

“Fortune favors the bold.”?

We have heard so many iterations of this saying throughout history that it now feels trite. ?But there is a reason this saying has withstood the test of time (more recently in Sara Bareilles’ hit song, “Brave”, from which I have borrowed my title). ?Examples abound of people and organizations who bucked the status quo to accomplish great things. ?

Bravery is an essential ingredient of great insights. ?This is especially true in pharmaceutical communications research where large financial investments, years of sunk costs, and politics can cloud evidence we hear from healthcare professionals, patients, and consumers about how to make impactful communications. ??

I offer three ways to set your team up for success to create brave, evidence-based insights in qualitative communications research. ?

1 / Reframe your core question?

Pharmaceutical communications materials are often handed off to research agencies to ‘optimize.’? This could mean tweaks to specific elements such as copy and imagery, or broader elements such as the story flow.??

As a result, the obvious core question tends to look something like this:?

• “How can Company A optimize their communications to maximize market share at launch?”?

When we should be thinking more along the lines of this:?

• “How can Company A accept the limitations of its trial outcomes to impact meaningful change among target HCPs at launch?”?

The reframed question stings a bit more, but it also feels a bit more practical and insightful. ?It also launches you into a productive research engagement that goes beyond ‘likes and dislikes’ to one that is strategically-oriented. ?

2 / Go off script?

Discussion guides are there to guide – not to act as a script.?

Oftentimes, the most insightful data points come from questions that are rooted in one’s curiosity versus ones written on the page.???

It is especially important to ask these off-script questions as you progress in fieldwork and begin to hit theoretical saturation, or the point where seemingly no additional themes emerge.?

While the specific questions/probes will be context specific, here are a few ways to grease the wheels to generate an off-script question or probe:?

• “I’m curious about what you just said regarding X.? Could you elaborate on that?”?

• “Your colleagues share a different point of view from you on this topic.? What do you suppose accounts for this?”?
• “I don’t fully believe you will do what you say you will do. Prove me wrong.”?

As you can see, bravery shows up again in the form of pointed, yet informed leaps of faith.? While you don’t know if these probes will lead to anything meaningful, there is no harm in trying.??

3 / Tell it like it is?

This is where the rubber really meets the road.? We can frame the research appropriately and ask the right questions, but we equally need to be willing to tell clients what we see in the data without sugar-coating it.?

Of course there are contextual elements to a situation that need to be considered when building insights and stories. ?However, it is also critical to not let the voice of the critics loom too large in your analytical conversations and, ultimately, your outputs.?

A classic example:?

• “I don’t think Brand Director A is going to want to hear that these communication materials are not moving the needle on prescribing”?

Reframed to:?

• “As Brand Director A’s advocate and trusted advisor, I need to relay that it’s in their favor to know the limited impact their materials will have on prescribing so they can best prepare for the inevitable outcomes.”?

Two tools we use to grapple with these realities are Pyramiding and Storyboarding.? The combined power of both tools challenges us to go from summary to synthesis, and deliver stories that speak to the hearts of our client audience.???

Your call to courage?

One of my favorite authors of late, Ryan Holiday, speaks a lot about the virtue of courage and its ability to foster a fulfilling life. I leave you with a quotation of his that speaks to what I challenge you all to do when executing impactful pharmaceutical communications research:?

“The fear you feel is a sign.?If courage is never required in your life, you're living a boring life.?Put yourself in a position that demands you leap.”?

For additional inspiration, I highly recommend two books:?

• Courage is Calling by Ryan Holiday??
• Daring Greatly by Brené Brown?