Let's begin this one with a parable about marketing...and then we'll come back to my topic, which is "marketing the allergist".  And this is a good time to discuss the topic of marketing, given the impending marketing campaign the ACAAI is going to launch.  Admittedly, I'm no marketing Guru, but over the years I haven't had problems "marketing my practice".  I use common sense.  You might call it common horse-sense.  And speaking of horses, I haven't had problems like Jake, the Horse Trader....

"You know, time was when people would come in her and buy 2 or 3 horses at a time" muttered Jake, as he scratched his 3 month old stubble on his face.  "Now, it seems we can't get ANYBODY to buy a horse.  Nobody wants my business".  Indeed.  The business inside of Jake's Northern Horse Trading Post was meager, to say the least. People just didn't seem to want horses anymore...

So Jake hired a fancy city-slicker named Duane, to do an "image makeover" and help him out.  Looking around at Jake's Northern Horse Trading Post, Duane said "You know, Jake, I think your lack of business is because of a deficit in public awareness and perception of what you can provide.  You know all about the problems you face--the competition for transportation, and other people providing substandard  horses, and peoples reliance on catching and taming their own horses, instead of going to see you".You need me to help the public find out exactly who you are.  And the valuable services in transportation you can provide. After all, 'Nobody does it better than Jake', the horse trading specialist."  

Jake agreed.  But there was a problem.  A big problem. 

It turned out that the problem wasn't a deficit in the public's awareness of what Jake could provide.  It was the public awareness of what Earl's Northern Transportation (a business across the street) COULD provide. 

Earl's Northern Transportation (ENT) didn't sell horses at all.  They sold horseless carriages...yep, the 'ol automobile.  That new unproven mode of transportation which wasn't shown to be as reliable as the horse.  After all, too many questions remained.  But Earl could see the possibilities...and he sold them.  And Jake didn't see the possibilities.  And he stuck with that old reliable...the horse. 

Years later, people would laugh in their jalopies as they drove over the old sign of "Jake's Northern Horse Trading Post" which had fallen from the once proud but now dilapidated building.  Old Jake?  He was still trying to sell horses.  

But nobody paid him much attention.  He was, in a word, simply "irrelevant". 

Well, I can almost hear you saying..."what's the point?"  It's rather simple:  As I see it, we can market ourselves as allergy specialists from two different perspectives:

1.  A marketing campaign based upon the "we're right and the public is wrong" philosophy--i.e., we allergy specialists have a valuable commodity that the public isn't "buying into" because of their lack of perception and education in what the allergy specialist can really offer.  In short, a "we're right and the public is wrong" philosophy to marketing. 

2.  A marketing campaign based upon the viewpoint that  the public ALREADY knows what we offer, and isn't BUYING IT.  

The only successful campaign will be item number 2. Period. 

You see, the public isn't dumb.  They hear stories.  You know, like Mabel at the Bridge Club being referred to an allergist for "assessment" by her primary care doctor.  She has a few prick tests.  Told she had no allergies.  She's given the same inhaler her primary care doctor gave her before (plus a big bill her primary care doctor DIDN'T give her before) and promptly dismissed.  But Mabel also goes to the Chiropracter for her bad back, who suggested she get off the milk she was drinking alot of for her bones.  "It might help your breathing" the Chiropracter says.  And you know what?  It does.  And Mabel's going to refer people to...guess who? 

The public hears other stories...about the use of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT).  I recently read an article in a popular magazine, entitled "Having allergy problems, then try this..." and it went on to talk about SLIT.  And you know what?  Guess who they referred the readers to, in order to get SLIT?  I'll give you a hint--it wasn't the ACAAI, the AAAAI, or the AAOA.  And the public will then be referred to ....guess who? 

People don't give a damn that SLIT hasn't been  "validated" to the American Allergist's "satisfaction, despite the numerous positive European studies on SLIT.  They don't give a damn on how SLIT works.  All they care about is that they have a convenient, safe, effective way to take care of their allergies.  And you know what?  When they ask their allergist about it, they're told it isn't being provided because "the studies aren't in".  But  there are options.  Forward thinking allergists are beginning to use it...and the public will go to ....guess who? 

No, the problem isn't with the public.  The problem is with us. We're not marketing what the public wants.  And we better start marketing soon, or we'll end up like Old Jake's sign.  In the middle of the road, run over by newer, faster, more convenient immunotherapy options, and deemed simply "irrelevant".  A quaint reminder of times past... 

Later, Dude