Optimizing narrative to drive brand choice with oncologists

How can we help oncologists reveal their emotional drivers?

The Challenge

A global pharmaceutical company had a pivotal new indication and the opportunity to become the brand of choice among oncologists. The client needed to understand the emotional drivers in oncologists’ orientations to develop the most effective narrative to create an emotional connection to the brand.

Our Perspective

We know from experience that getting beneath the surface with oncologists can be challenging. As a self-protecting mechanism, given the nature of treating patients with cancer, oncologists often do not easily open up about their emotions. We leveraged anthropological techniques to understand the roles oncologists see themselves playing in their patients’ journey, with differential impacts on decision-making and thus on emotional drivers.

Our Approach

We conducted in-depth physician ethnographic interviews (market research) to explore physicians’ orientations to care, patients, and treatment within the therapeutic area. Ethnographic interviews allow for deeper intimacy, uncovering the person behind the professional.

Using ethnographic techniques to uncover needs and motivations, we identified emotional drivers that shape how physicians orient themselves to their patients and to treatment.

Our Impact

In exploring oncologists’ orientations to care, it became clear that the way in which they imagine their role with patients shaped their treatment practices and decisions.

Uncovering what they valued in their professional and day-to-day lives, therefore, was key to developing messaging that resonated with the specific physician’s emotional landscape. These drivers were leveraged to develop an emotionally compelling sales narrative that effectively communicated the new viable option.