Brands in Motion—Healthy Reputation: More Than Medicine

The biotech and pharmaceutical industries saw huge reputation gains during the height of the pandemic as they provided essential health information and raced toward lifesaving solutions. However, as the lingering symptoms of the pandemic strain healthcare systems around the world, this sentiment has waned.

WE Communications, in partnership with Sapio Research, surveyed more than 1,000 healthcare professionals in six countries — Australia, China, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and the United States — and found that healthcare professionals’ views of biotech and pharmaceutical companies, as well as their choice in which medications to recommend and prescribe, are deeply influenced by the maker’s overall corporate reputation and brand values.

What Did We Find?

Outside a medication’s functional characteristics such as efficacy and safety profile, corporate reputation is the No. 1 factor that influences a healthcare professional’s decision to prescribe or recommend a therapy. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being most important, corporate reputation ranked at nearly 8 by healthcare professionals.
Two-thirds of healthcare professionals are reluctant to prescribe or recommend a medication from a biotech/pharmaceutical company that does not have a good reputation in their opinion.
Seventy-three percent of healthcare professionals say that biotech and pharmaceutical companies should add value to society beyond providing their goods and services “to a large extent.”
Nine out of 10 say biotech and pharmaceutical companies should support improving patient health outcomes in ways beyond high-quality drug therapies.
Patient centricity is the No. 1 characteristic that healthcare professionals want brands to embody, but only 45% believe biotech and pharmaceutical companies are delivering this to a “great” or a “large” extent. (Being innovative and progressive ranked second and third.)