PatientPoint recently partnered with CHPA for the webinar: “An Untapped Channel for the ‘#1 Doctor Recommended’ Claim,” featuring an esteemed panel of consumer health marketers and data experts:
- Tom Finn, Retired President, Global Personal Health Care at Procter & Gamble
- Rhonda Hoffman, EVP, Chief Marketing Officer at Pharmavite
- Rick Crangle, Principal at ProVoice
The panel discussed their personal experience utilizing the doctor’s office as a key messaging opportunity for their OTC brands and the related success they have had in gaining the coveted ‘#1 Doctor Recommended’ claim.
Why the Doctor’s Office?
We all agreed that messaging at the doctor’s office is the most proven and effective—yet under-used—strategy to increase brand awareness and drive consumer purchases.
While traditional media advertising offers broad reach, the doctor’s office enables brands to reinforce their message in front of a highly qualified and motivated audience actively thinking about their health.
“The healthcare professional channel gives you an additional channel to integrate your message and do so in a way that adds a lot of credibility. Brands are getting both an explicit [doctor] recommendation, but also an implicit recommendation by being present in an important part of the purchase journey for the consumer.”
–Rhonda Hoffman, EVP, Chief Marketing Officer, Pharmavite
The Value of the #1 Doctor Recommendation
As Rhonda noted, a doctor’s recommendation not only adds credibility to a brand, but also drives consumers to act. Consider this:
- Consumers say their personal physician is the No. 1 most trusted source for health-decision information1
- 3 out of 5 consumers believe their doctor endorses the brands advertised in the office1
- 83% of consumers purchase a product within a week of their doctor’s recommendation2
What better place to gain a doctor’s recommendation than at the doctor’s office!? According to the PatientPoint ProVoice analysis, brands who advertise in the doctor’s office see a 61% lift in recommendations.3
“What I found in our business was the usage among a person who is exposed through a doctor’s office, versus a regular consumer who saw it on television, was almost double and was also extremely durable, so the usage lasted much longer. The doctor’s recommendation to me is the most effective, most durable way.”
–Tom Finn, Retired President, Global Personal Health Care, Procter & Gamble
Beyond the general doctor’s recommendation, our research has found the incredible impact the ‘#1 Doctor Recommended’ claim can also have: 82% of consumers say this claim is highly influential in their purchase decisions.4
“We’ve tested a number of different ways to communicate the doctor recommendation, and by far the ‘#1 Doctor Recommended’ is always the winner because it’s declarative, it’s not confusing and consumers want to pick the product that is the most.”
–Rhonda Hoffman
What Results Can Come from Messaging in the Doctor’s Office?
Throughout 2022, PatientPoint has partnered with Rhonda and Pharmavite to run cohesive Nature Made campaigns across in-office touchpoints, including messaging in the waiting room, exam room and back office. The results speak for themselves: To date, the program has driven an estimated 2.7 million intended purchases of Nature Made vitamins.
“This program is among the top two for the Nature Made brand, and even stronger than a very, very successful TV campaign… Our HCP program has a strong if not stronger ROI than other things we are doing, which reinforces the importance of it being a part of our integrated marketing mix.”
–Rhonda Hoffman
Grow Your Brand
It’s clear from our panel discussion that there are incredible opportunities for OTC marketers to generate significant growth for their brands by tapping into the doctor’s office and the ever-valued #1 Doctor Recommendation.
“In studies that we have done, we have looked at how consumers got introduced to a brand, and then tracked the spending based on the ways patients have been introduced. And honestly, the physician/HCP channel results in far more spending and more durable spending. PatientPoint is one of the best at moving healthcare recommendations.”
–Rick Crangle, Principal, ProVoice
We could not have said it better ourselves.
Learn more about how PatientPoint can help your brand get into the doctor’s office.