What the pharma marketers can learn from Bollywood?

For a long time, Bollywood has been a topic of interest for management educators. Movies like Sholay, Satta pe Satta, Bahubali, 3 Idiots, etc have taught us leadership lessons, team management, the importance of the right strategy, time management, the importance of learning attitude, and more. But there is more we in the pharma industry can learn from BOLLYWOOD; we can learn the art of STORYTELLING.

We all grew up watching Bollywood movies, they have been a staple diet for us Indians. Bollywood story writers and directors have mastered their art of perfect storytelling. This has resulted in a lot of discussions both at home, at the office, or at any party. Whether a movie has been inspired by a Hollywood movie, a family drama, thriller, comedy, or biopic they understand the demographic of audiences. Even though the Indian continent is a mix of cultures divided by different geographical demographics, the movies are able to connect, which explains their popularity.

In the Pharma industry, for a long time, the art of detailing hasn’t evolved, it is still backed on age-old techniques of using visual aids, sharing research papers and product samples. The only technological development we have experienced is a shift of visuals to animation or a short TVC. But the role of medical representatives has almost remained the same.

We all know how the post-pandemic era has impacted face–to–face meetings between medical representatives and physicians. Earlier a medical representative was able to have four to five meetings a month with the physician, but now these have been reduced to just one or at max two. Further social distancing in the clinic has resulted in a widening of the distance between the visual aid / iPad and the eyes of the physician. Now the medical representatives have to explain from a distance of 8 or 10 feet, earlier they used to sit across the table in the clinic. In this scenario, the visual aid becomes a useless tool, since the physician is unable to understand or participate in the discussion, due to the distance of presentation of visuals.

To generate better interest in the brand or the molecule, now pharma marketers need to get inspired by Bollywood and focus on storytelling. This will help to break the monotonous and shift detaining to storytelling or role-play between the medical representatives. The pharma marketers need to learn from Montessori teachers how to better use those visual aids and incorporate Bollywood instances. Nowadays even educational platforms are partnering with production houses to create better learning content, which will engage with learners.

Storytelling can help pharma marketers:

• Craft better engaging stories or emotional stories which can connect with the listener.
• To focus on one aspect at a time, instead of delivering multiple content pieces, which might lead to confusion.
• To make the detailing more memorable, it is easy to recollect a story, than an informational flipbook. To make the discussion more interesting, role play with visuals helps the physician to recollect easily.
• To learn, as they become participants in the whole story of product detailing.
• To leave their comfort zone, so can try new strategies for engagement.

For more discussions on how the pharma industry can better engage with the medical community, enroll for the upcoming GAPSULE discussion - https://gapsule.docmode.org/