![\"cheesasaurus\"](\"http:\/\/www.rx-edge.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/cheesasaurus.jpg\")
<\/a>Being part of the marketing team for some of those brands gave me the opportunity to play a role in some noteworthy campaigns.\u00a0 As proof of that, a shelf of a storage closet at my home is like a trip down memory lane.\u00a0 A jovial-looking Cap\u2019n Crunch doll sits there, perhaps expecting me to come up with his next back-of-the-cereal-box promotion.\u00a0 Standing tall next to him is a ceramic cookie jar in the shape of the venerable circular Quaker Oats box.\u00a0 And then there\u2019s the \u201cCheeseasaurus Rex\u201d bowl and utensil set left over from a Kraft Mac & Cheese mail-in promotion\u2026.yes, kids actually MAILED IN their proofs-of-purchase and waited for their reward!\u00a0 There were no codes to scan on the boxes and no instantly-downloadable games.<\/p>\nBut I collected more than a few pieces of memorabilia from those days in other industries.\u00a0 I also accumulated quite a lot of knowledge and experience. Tactics have definitely changed over the years; there is no doubt about that.\u00a0 But the basic tenets of consumer marketing remain fairly unchanged \u2013Know your audience, understand their needs, and deliver information and incentives based on those needs.\u00a0 And that goes for pharma direct-to-consumer marketing, too, even though the DTC world, with its restrictions and limitations, is admittedly much more challenging.\u00a0 Nevertheless, there is significant inspiration to be found in other sectors.<\/p>\n
PM360<\/em> recently took a novel approach to this topic with a special feature answering the question \u201cCould This Work for Pharma?\u201d\u00a0 Marketers with outside-the-industry experience commented on their marketing success stories and the potential applications to pharma.\u00a0 Healthcare marketers were also invited to get in on the action by addressing some of their favorite non-pharma campaigns and what pharma could learn from them.\u00a0 The result was a wonderful compilation of diverse insights from CPG, retail, beauty, and other industries.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 One person commented on the Procter & Gamble Summer Olympics \u201cThank you, Mom\u201d initiative, noting that a campaign with a similar theme, with some strategic tweaks, could be very successful for pharma companies.\u00a0 Another contributor, an ad agency account director, talked about the fast and engaging cooking videos that abound on Facebook.\u00a0 She suggested that pharma could leverage a similar type of video format to more effectively catch the attention of patients and healthcare providers.<\/p>\n