The agency I work for has a tough competitor in town for staff and reputation - a pharma ad giant that seems to sign a $30 million deal for every $3 million win of our own. My boss always kids that we wouldn't like working there anyway - too easy. Here's the value proposition for every product: you hurt. We can make you stop hurting. Bang, you're done.
Every time it makes me laugh. And, reading this article in NYT today really brought it to mind:
An anti-addiction pill. Already have a propensity to solve your problems with a drug? Gotten out of hand? Ok, here's one to counteract it. Bam. Sold. Were it not for the legal nightmares, who wouldn't want an account like that?
Yes, Bob, it is. I don't post often on blogs, and I've been reading your posts over at ernie's blog over the past year or two. Private line me when you get a chance...
Posted by: bheindl | July 06, 2006 at 10:17 AM
Brent, is that you?
Posted by: Bob | July 05, 2006 at 03:51 PM
Love this post's headline ... Hey, wait a minute! I think I work at that place.
Posted by: Tom Leach | June 29, 2006 at 04:06 PM
Oh, I know, I know. Don't be offended - just poking fun at the competition. Trust me, my ad life is far from glamorous or highly challenging most days.
Posted by: Leigh | June 28, 2006 at 11:10 AM
For argument's sake, if your product has the same exact value proposition as hundreds of others (you hurt, we make you stop hurting), AND you have the added hurdles of legal, medical, regulatory and FDA approval over every word you write, could it be that creating stand-out, memorable advertising for a pharma client is actually quite challenging?
Not to single any one agency/client/etc out, but it seems that doing great work for a pharma company is a helluva lot more difficult than slapping an athletic apparel maker's logo onto a photo of the next big NBA rookie sensation and calling it a concept.
(And yes, I'm a pharma writer. Or, more precisely, a writer with consumer background on "normal" clients who is just now working his first pharma job.)
--b
Posted by: bheindl | June 27, 2006 at 10:10 AM