Len Starnes — Head of Digital Marketing & Sales, General Medicine Bayer Schering Pharma — wrote up a nice, unsolicited recommendation for me on his LinkedIn page:
“John is most probably unique in the healthcare and pharmaceuticals sector as being a pundit who possesses not only a profound knowledge of the industry itself, but the ability to wisely and sincerely reflect on the pulse of its marketing and sales behaviour and the ethics of its conduct. John is indeed an erudite commentator on the true state of pharma marketing today. His monthly newsletter, ‘Pharma Marketing News,’ is a joy to read and one of the few newsletters that I savour and read regularly from cover to virtual cover. Moreover, you can always rely on John to consistently deliver absolutely terrific, highly quotable, one liners! What would the pharma industry do without him?”
Thanks Len! That was one of the best Christmas presents I received last year.
Len’s rhetorical question — ie, what would the industry do without me? — reminds me that many people within the drug industry are receptive to my criticisms and analysis of the current state of pharmaceutical marketing. Others not so much so. While these “others” can do without me very well, receptive marketers can actually learn a thing or two from reading this blog and Pharma Marketing News.
Of course, apart from the “silent majority,” there’s also the minority of marketers who love to see their competitors raked over the coals!
I welcome all of you — whether you are part of the majority and minority — to be regular readers of and contributors to Pharma Marketing Blog.
I’ve learned a lot people like Len who have always applied the highest ethical standards in their marketing endeavors. Hopefully, in the New Year, I will be able to repay them all by giving them a much bigger voice on this blog, in my newsletter, etc.
To that end, I have this to say about Len Starnes:
“I have known Len for many years, primarily through industry conferences we’ve both attended or presented at. The fact that Len has survived the dotcom bust and at least one company merger as an eMarketing evangelist and innovator is one indicator of how valuable and successful he is in this realm of marketing. Len has contributed his insights on eMarketing for publication in my Pharma Marketing News newsletter on many occasions.”
See his LinkedIn profile here.
