Megan Hillen
 |
Megan
Hillen is a planning supervisor at Intouch Solutions.
|
In
1898, Elias St. Elmo Lewis developed a sales framework known as the AIDA model.
The revolutionary tool was the first visualization of the multistaged consumer
pathway to a brand, from awareness to consideration to purchase. Since then,
nearly a century has passed and the “consumer funnel” remains a go-to framework
for marketers.
In
the world of pharma marketing, we use a similar model. We call it the patient
journey.
The
traditional patient journey follows a patient through a funnel to a certain
prescription through an AIDA-like approach. The stages most often consist of
diagnosis, drug cycling and consideration, drug initiation, adherence and
retention.
However,
in an attempt to simplify the experience we lose out on incredibly rich
emotional, behavioral and cultural factors that are inherent to a person
battling a disease. Such factors are most often the keys to innovative
solutions that could improve their lives. Perhaps the fault is in that we think
of patients as consumers before we think of them as humans. Facing a
debilitating battle against your body is a far cry from deciding which
toothpaste to buy and it shouldn't be treated as such.
How exactly does our traditional journey model fall short?
It assumes every patient's journey is linear. No two fingerprints are the same.
And no two patients have the same experience with their condition. We need to
be mindful of the many nuances—such as severity level, health literacy and
access to care—that impact the path and speed at which the journey progresses
per individual.
