Morgan + Company

Researching Conversations on Dementia for Pamlab

The following case study is unique in that not one dollar of media was purchased, no flowchart was created, nor was a single insertion order generated.

PamLab is a pharmaceutical company that specializes in natural personalized medicine. Although the Pharmaceutical industry has a reputation as a vexing and complicated place, at its core it’s filled with compassion and hope. PamLab presented Morgan + Company with a simple yet delicate task: help them discuss the very sensitive topic of dementia with caregivers and family members of those who suffer from this horrible disease. To do this, we had to ask: Where are those places, online and off, that caregivers turn to for information and assistance? What role, if any, do primary physicians play in these conversations? How do you engage with this audience in a genuine way that isn’t just marketing to them?

Our work included rigorous study of four critical audience segments:

• Have or had Age Related Memory Loss (ARML) in the last 12 months
• Feel at risk for Age Related Memory Loss
• Receiving any treatment for Age Related Memory Loss
• Caregiver for someone with Age Related Memory Loss

For each of these segments we dug into the personal relevance they found in specific information sources. The scores at right reflect the percentage that answered “Very Much” or “Somewhat” in regard to relevance for the medium.

• Ads/brochures in doctor offices: 42%-52%
• Recommendation from Doctors: 73%-80%
• 46%-63% Friends/spouse/other relatives
• Magazine articles: 36%-43% (targets index 121-124)
• Magazines in doctors’ offices: 36%-46% (targets index 110-131)
• Medical journals: 37%-48% (index 103-134)
• Movie theater on screen advertisements: 38%-40% (index 112-120)
• All under index for online video blogs
• TV ads: 25%-29%
• Websites-other health: 27%-33% (only caregiver index at 110)

We married an understanding of these audience groups with the applicable stages of the decision making journey. In doing so, the communication avenues they were using during each stage began to be revealed.

This led to an intimate understanding of how and when those dealing with or concerned about dementia or Alzheimer’s communicated with one another, sought out information and advice, and vetted solutions and support.

In the end, our work combined the knowledge and insight of large-scale online publishers and more niche, personalized websites, as well as blogs created by influencers within this community. These discoveries created a strong foundation for a balanced communication effort of rich media ad units along with more natural involvement in discussions about dementia, Alzheimer’s and those affected by the disease.