Managed
Do you have a KRM looking after you?
I recently met a new employee of one of the Pharma companies. She was employed as a KRM.
KRM = Key Relationship Manager
Her role was to look after her company’s relationships with key opinion leaders (KoLs) in the field of MS. She wanted to know if I was happy with the relationship I had with her new company and was there anything she could do to improve it. I was gobsmacked. Do I need a KRM to look after me?
Surely there are better ways to spend Pharma money than on relationship managers? Research and development maybe? My wife who used to work in marketing and advertising tells me relationships are what make brands valuable and she means brand in the generic sense here, which not only refers to physical goods but services, companies and people.
Should I be flattered that I am on this particular company’s list of KoLs? I am aware that many contrarians would be horrified to be labelled as being a KoL by a pharmaceutical company. I suspect, actually I know, that pharmaceutical companies have databases of most MS HCPs who may be involved in prescribing their products. In their databases, they profile you as a prescriber, potential prescriber or non-prescriber of their products. They will no doubt have data on how to potentially influence your behaviour. This may horrify you, but this is what marketers do; it is their job.
For those of you new to the field key opinion leaders or KoLs are people identified by industry, or other interested parties, who have influence. In academic medicine, KoLs are people who can influence the behaviour of their peers. I am not sure where the term KoLs originated, but in medicine, the term KoL is almost exclusively used by the pharmaceutical industry in the context of drug marketing. To be blunt Pharma needs the influence of KoLs to help them market and sell their therapies. Pharma takes this one step further and often help create KoLs, by providing them with the necessary platforms to have influence. This could be as consultants, principal investigators in clinical trials, recipients of pharma-funded grants, presenters of their research findings, authors on papers or as chairs or presenters of their satellite symposia or standalone meetings. All these roles are part of the tools pharma use to interact with academics, to influence them and to then use them to target their audience. This is not rocket science and is probably taught on all pharmaceutical marketing courses.
KoLs have to have visibility and credibility amongst their peers. How KoLs become visible is interesting. Most KoLs develop their reputations over time by working hard doing research to produce influential results, which they then present at meetings, write-up and publish in journals. The more prestigious the journal the more kudos they get for the work they have done.
Other factors that make KoLs are analytical and communication skills. KoLs are often very good at starting or spotting trends and tend to be ahead of the curve as inventors, innovators, early adopters or entrepreneurs. However, this is not always the case. Some KoLs may be political and have positions of influence, for example, they may be the head of some learned body, chief of a University or Hospital department, editor of a peer-review journal or sit on important regional or national decision-making committees. This latter group of KoLs are in general more conservative as they have to represent a broader constituency.
Being a good communicator and having, or controlling, channels of communication are important. Communication skills are typically good oratory, presentation or writing skills. Being able to tell a story entertainingly and coherently, often with humour, is what makes some KoLs standout.
Being connected or having a network is also important in becoming a KoL. Social media refers to these people as influencers, which has now invaded medicine and is becoming important, particularly as digital natives are growing-up and become doctors.
To be a KoL you also need some of the softer skills, in particular, you need to be authentic and consistent. You also need to have principles and take a stand on things you don’t agree with. Your reputation, or as my wife would say personal brand, is something that takes years to develop but can be destroyed in an instant. You need to look after and cherish it.
Conflicts of interest: multiple