United Break Guitars

Steve Thomson – Ipsos Consumer Division

&

Sarah Phillips – Ipsos Health

‘United Break Guitars’

United could no longer ignore Dave’s complaints

Viewed by 8.5M people on You Tube

One of the most successful viral videos in 2009

The digital age has changed the way consumers communicate with each other

• Information shared instantly across the globe

• Communication has been revolutionized

• And savvy consumers know where to get ‘the lowdown’

In this revolution of the masses, a new individual appears…

… THE PRO-SUMER

•Learn about the category•Compare products / services•Compare prices•Learn from others•Talk to others

What is a Pro-sumer?

Consumers who gain expertise beforemaking a decision

And provide their opinion after they have used the product / service

2 dimensions to the Pro-sumer

• Knowledge and passion for the subject– Know their stuff– Want to know more– Values knowledge

• Networked– Shares knowledge– Not shy in coming forward– Wide social network– Generally tech-savvy

Involved

Influential

What has been the impact of the pro-sumer in the consumer world?

• Although in the minority…• …highly influential group• Ability to access the mass market

at the touch of a button resulting in immense consumer power

The consumer world has had to adapt significantly

Take the 2009 UK Christmas Number 1 …• Following a Facebook campaign ‘Rage Against the

Machine’ outsold X Factor’s winner by 50,000 copies

• An example of how passion for a subject combined with Web 2.0 can result in mass consumer power

“It says more about the spontaneous action taken by

younger people throughout the UK to topple this very sterile pop monotony.” Zack de la Rocha, Rage Against the

Machine

Or campaigns designed specifically to harness the power of Web 2.0…

• 3-step Facebook campaign to determine consumers tastes prior to product launch

• With almost 1.4m fans to-date…

Market research subjects?

E.g. Cola-Cola’s Vitamin Water

… or engaged customers?

Harnessing the power of Web 2.0

Lauren is a perfect example of the power that can be harnessed from web 2.0 when in the hands of the pro-sumer

Over 50 million YouTube views

350,000 subscribers is 75 countries

“I want to be able to make a huge change to the beauty industry and with all your help through YouTube I

hopefully will be able to do so.” Lauren Luke

And products in 135 stores across the US

To what extent does the phenomenon of ‘Lauren Luke’ exist in the

healthcare world?

Patients have always talked about healthcare….

So presumably the phenomenon exists?

Involved Influential+

Passionate about health

A desire to share their experience

More people worry about their Health than Education, Tax, Moral decline and Terrorism (Ipsos MORI Global advisor study

March 2009)

What evidence is there of a pro-patient within the healthcare industry?

• 7 UK women diagnosed with HER2 breast cancer

• Lobbying for prescribing of Herceptin

• Story told by T.V documentary Panorama

All 7 women got the drug before the program ended

Herceptin

Patients typically fall into 1 of 3 information categories

Passive patients- Do little information seeking, rely on HCP

for information

Information seekers

- Read magazines / internet about their

condition

Pro-patients- Give their opinion

about their condition

Involvement

Influ

ence

To fully understand this phenomenon we conducted some research of our own

How easy is it to find a pro-patient?

Who are they?

What are they doing?

And why?

Keller & Berry’s ‘Influentials’ categorisation

E.g.- Attended a public meeting -

- Wrote an article for a newspaper/website -- Wrote a blog/tweet -

- Attended a support group -- Participated in an on-line chat room -

- Made a public speech -- Wrote a letter to a politician -

3 to qualify

They aren’t that easy to define demographically

• Broad range of chronic conditions• Varying social classes and non-age specific• However they are doing similar things to one

another… in order of mentions:

•Participating in on-line chat rooms/ writing blogs•Attending public meetings•Members of patient support groups•Writing letters/articles for magazines, newsletters etc

Not all necessarily ‘tweeting 24-7’

•Learn about the disease•Compare therapies/services•Validate information•Learn from others•Talk to others

As with the Pro-sumer, networking can be verbal…

Using the web as a platform to share experiences with other patients

Nature vs nurture …

• As with the pro-sumer, to some degree pro-patients are ‘born’ and ‘not made’

• Instead of writing letters to politicians about local community issues … or tweeting about new technology …

… Transfer of interest to their health

Although pro-patient numbers are low …

• Numbers likely to increase

1.

2.

3.

Opportunity to interact increases

Passion to be in control of own health increases

More people diagnosed with a chronic disorder

•Strong desire for control•Information (and lots of it!)•Intelligent two-way conversation •Non-paternal relationship with their doctor

So what separates them from a passive patient?

And above all … a desire to share their experiences with others

Iris- 65 years old -

- Diagnosed with diabetes -- Researches on the internet for new products / news to go into

her newsletter -- Regularly writes website article/ newsletters/ blogs-

- Has made a public speech on diabetes -

- Own on-line cake business -

How do physicians deal with this?

We showed video footage of our patients to some physicians

How did physicians respond?

• Well controlled and generally compliant• Interested in their disease• Pro-active in their search for more information

“These are the patients who want to be free of disease

and/or who want their disease to be fully controlled. These

pro-patients tend to do betterthan passive patients” (UK Rheumatologist)

At ease PleasedInterested Cool and

calm ConfidenceUnworried

Enthusiastic

In the UK, quite positively

However at the same time somewhat intimidated…

“My age group of doctorshave always come across

these passive group of patients, not much

information, and we have always taken this

paternalistic approach, do this…this and this. So we

do get intimidated. Sometimes it can be

refreshing, but too many informed patients with

information that is not right could be intimidating”

And concerned about not being able to meet their needs

• Knowledgeable patient group• High expectations• Greater awareness of what is available to them

“They have higher expectations, they have more awareness of the

medications available, they like to have therapies which

they are not entitled to”(UK Rheumatologist)

“When it comes to empowering other patients these patients have

a positive influence but at the same time this group can make

life difficult for clinicians, making people demand treatments that they don’t qualify for or there is

not enough money to fund”(UK Diabetologist)

Italian physicians, although not entirely negative towards this group…

• Intelligent discussions with intelligent responses• Understand their disease• Have a mature and active attitude to it

“It makes me happy to deal with a patient who is interested and allows me to talk about

more complicated/technical things, to exchange opinions …it makes the

consultation more interesting…and also saves me time because they are informed

already” (Italy Rheumatologist’)

Content

InterestedStimulated

ConfidenceUnworried

Showed much more frustration compared to the UK physicians

• Challenge their authority• Are less compliant – “think they know best"• Can increase workload - “re-educating”

“It’s a pain/a problem, especially when the patient is proactive but has the

wrong information …it is easier to give information to someone who doesn’t

have any, rather than having to re-educate those who have the wrong

information…it makes the consultation complicated and makes my life harder”

(Italy Diabetologist)

What does this mean for pharma?

We need to lessons from the consumer world…

Through messaging…e.g. Microsoft’s ‘I am a PC’ campaign

Through harnessing pro-sumer power in product development e.g.

Facebook, Vitamin Water and Green My Apple

Rule number one: You can’t fight the prosumer…..

• Empower the consumer and they will empower others

• Treat them with respect and intelligence

You have to work with them

1.

Rule number two: Don’t under estimate them

• Provide them with the information required to stay in control of their condition and their life

• Treat them as a ‘partner’ rather than a ‘patient’

Treat them as an equal

2.

Rule number three: Provide doctors with the tools to be able to direct patients in the right direction

Towards credible, useful and relevant information

3.‘Safe internet guide’

Patient support group contact details e.g.

medication packaging

•Patient support groups•Government programs•Support websites•‘Experienced patient’ forums

Rule number four: Provide physicians with the confidence to manage this patient group

•Positive empowerment

•Channelling enthusiasm

•Working with patient support groups

•Greater awareness of information channels

E.g. Partnering with national associations such as the ABPI

4.Knowledge and communication skills

In the words of the physicians…

Greater awareness of information channels would put my mind at ease that the right kind of

information is being passed on from one patient to the next (UK)

We need to work together to ensure that we give patients the correct, carefully selected

information. There is nothing worse than having a patient with the wrong information (Italy)

And finally…..So What?

• There is a changing patient-physician dynamic as a result of Web 2.0 – It is in its early stages at the moment…but will

progress• Don’t fight it….

– Don’t think you have to have to control the mass of information on the internet

• Work with it….– When supporting physicians in other ways, think

how you can also support them in the information requirements their patients need

– …they are likely to thank you for this….