Invest in Unbranded
Fierce competition within indications means heavy budget allocations for branded SOV wherever target audiences are present, but audience needs are changing. Apps like ChatGPT and Claude are compounding “information seeking” behavior while supporting desires for more autonomous decision-making throughout the healthcare journey. For HCPs that are already pressed for time, this means relying on trusted platforms to provide clinically relevant and accurate information in a consolidated format. For patients, this means searching for clinically-relevant information with non-clinical language. In some pockets, patients have even been mirroring clinical language used by HCPs. For example, “GLP-1” is broadly used by patient audiences, and “Ozempic” represents a category like the brand “Band-Aid.”
Audiences are also using LLMs as emotional caregivers, helping make sense of their own experiences. This indicates that the language LLMs reach users with resonates deeply, and though HCPs and patients may have varying degrees of trust in them, they continue to engage in pursuit of knowledge. This is why branding isn’t as important as helping audiences ask the right questions. Branded ads that once felt exciting now feel intrusive; they shout “we’re trying to sell this product” instead of “we understand what you’re going through and here’s how we can help.” There are a few things we can do differently, and it starts with asking ourselves some new questions too:
“What might indicate there’s an opportunity to pivot our advertising strategy?”
Brands that are second or later to market
Post launch, once “now approved” announcements expire
Rare disease where audiences are looking for more information and may be coming up short
Heavily crowded Rx indications, such as hypertension, oncology, and rheumatoid arthritis
“What can we do differently to meet our audiences where they are in their thinking?”
Smart copywriting, clinical language experts that can translate to non-clinical language compliantly
Unbranded Paid Search, Social, and SEO/GEO/AEO strategists
Exploring unbranded in-feed placements to reach audiences in context of the content they’re already consuming
Mapping Rx lift back to effective impact on audience information seeking behaviors
“What could this mean for our marketing ecosystem?”
Cohesive messaging strategy to help HCP and patient audiences speak the same language at the point of care
Branded websites and resources intentionally updated for content consistency and authority
Written by Dr. Nadia Khatri, unassisted by generative AI
Published September 29, 2026