Making The Complex Accessible Through Brand Narrative Marketing
“How do you tell a story about complex products?” is a crucial question for life science and biotech marketers trying to include narrative marketing into their branding strategy.
In today’s fast paced world, powerful brand storytelling is a superpower. When implemented right, stories can make us slow down and listen, connect individuals better and drive emotional engagement. Narratives also appeal much more to customers, because a good story tends to be more personal than marketing content that is strictly factual.
One of the biggest lessons that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us as a society, is when it comes to science and medicine, we need to change the narrative. More than ever, the general public is curious and wants to understand why it takes so long to get a drug to market and how clinical trials work.
If you want to develop a marketing narrative which helps answer people’s questions, you must realize that up until recently, the process of science and medicine has been a discipline only available to the privileged few who speak the language. Our entire health care system had relied on the assumption that people understand complex written and spoken information, which couldn’t be further from the truth. And unfortunately, as we’ve seen countless times before, communication barriers often go undetected in medical care settings, and can have serious effects on the health and safety of the public.
So when your customer doesn’t understand your product or service, how can they be expected to take the necessary actions for their own health or make appropriate buying decisions? Before we dive into that, let’s discuss what narrative marketing is, and why you should explore it in your business.
What Is An Example Of a Narrative Story?
When it comes to marketing for life sciences, the narrative needs to move beyond just talking about the end result, and should tell the story through the lens of people. As marketers in the life science field, it’s important to demystify the processes of science and medicine, and educate the healthcare consumer on how clinical trials are run, or how vaccines and drugs are made. We also need to start thinking of unconventional advertising ways which can reach and inspire our patient population, and allow them to become active participants in their patient journey.
For those not knowing where to start, here are 3 non-traditional inventive ideas for public education narrative marketing for your life science brand.
1. Disease Awareness Campaigns
Storytelling is an essential part of any disease awareness campaign. But as a marketer in the medical space, if you wish to make your marketing strategy effective and your narrative compelling, you need to move beyond signs and symptoms.
When looking to raise awareness, you should have many different voices involved. Try to bring in public health officials, executives, but also real life patients who can testify about their experience. A personal story may help shed light on a condition’s symptoms and prognosis for those still searching for the correct diagnosis, but will also connect and inspire people to take control of the self-management of their disease.
2. Therapy/Drug/Vaccine Development Process Campaigns
Any good narrative marketing campaign for life sciences should be built around the main idea that people care about their health a lot. With science impacting all of our lives in so many different ways, if we are able to bring the science process down from the ivory tower and make it relevant, accessible and relatable, our mission will be halfway complete.
But how can you make sure that your product or services are accessible to all, and not just the privileged few?
The magic happens the moment your campaign is not about your company anymore, but more about the journey and scientific process. To allow this transformation to happen, you must pull back the curtain and bring people along to show what it takes to bring a drug to market. The easiest way to do that is by interviewing the scientists within your company, including the Chief Scientific Officer. This process enables your audience to discover who the people are behind the science, and what their life is like.
3. Patient Empowerment & Self Advocacy Narrative Marketing Campaigns
Non-branded public education campaigns are a great way to reinvent how your life science company communicates with both its stakeholders and to the public. It also showcases that you are an innovative company that brings forth healthcare and medical solutions, who wishes to promote self-care, not just selling products.
More so, for an efficient narrative marketing strategy, non-branded campaigns and content can be particularly helpful when we’re trying to step aside from talking merely about symptoms, and give patients what they want most. Help them understand what’s going on, so that when they go to the doctors they can have an educated conversation, and contribute to what makes the most sense for their particular circumstance. Also, by using scientific animated videos and life science e-books, you can teach them how to manage other aspects of their lives that are affected by disease – financial hurdles, managing personal relationships, workplace problems, etc – in an easy to digest format.
All these are important components of creating a psychologically safe environment and fostering an atmosphere in which questions are welcomed. People are empowered when they understand what is happening to them, and when they are encouraged that their physicians want them to understand their own health care.
Conclusion
Narrative marketing differentiates your company among others, offering a new dimension to your business in a way that doesn’t feel forced or artificial. By using appropriate storytelling methods, you can express to patients that as a brand, you truly care about their health and wellbeing, and that you are committed to address their issue and implement communication changes in the healthcare environment. If you feel you might need any help with implementing an impactful digital marketing strategy for life sciences, don’t hesitate to contact us. We would be more than happy to share with you our expertise on life science strategy consulting and biotech branding.
