Meet the Broker: Teri Bobbitt
Today we meet Teri Bobbitt, vice president of brokerage services at Direct Partner Solutions Inc., a direct marketing agency in Alpharetta, GA. Previously, Bobbitt worked for Paradigm Direct Marketing and Response Media Products Inc.
Bobbitt left the retail industry nine year ago for a fresh start in business-to-business direct marketing. “I wanted a career change,” she said.
Her current focus is on consumer marketing for pharmaceuticals and other health products. Bobbitt handles list brokerage for a healthcare provider and a business-to-business cataloger.
Bobbitt, who is single, enjoys listening to all kinds of music, especially alternative rock, and socializing with friends and family. “I have two nephews who I really love to spoil rotten,” she said.
At home, Bobbitt is the proud caretaker for her pet yorkipoo, a breed of dog that’s a cross between a Yorkshire terrier and poodle.
Which is more challenging, consumer or business-business list brokerage?
Bobbitt finds consumer and business-to-business list brokerage equally challenging, but for different reasons.
Coming up with consumer list recommendations typically involves winnowing down more numerous choices. Consumer databases generally offer more list segmentation and statistical modeling possibilities.
Making business-to-business list recommendations can get “tricky” for very specific targeting in narrow market niches, added Bobbitt. “Sometimes it means just getting as close as you can to what a client is looking for.”
It didn’t faze her when a client requested a list of people whose work involves “thermoanalysis,” before she’d even heard of this scientific process, which involves measuring changes in weight in relation to temperature.
“I like the list brokerage work I do because I can learn something new every day,” said Bobbitt.
What’s new with pharmaceutical marketing lists?
The availability of lists that identify individuals with specific ailments and those who take specific brands of drugs has been increasing steadily in recent years, said Bobbitt.
More self-reported data is being generated from Internet surveys, compared to a few years ago when most of this type of data was gathered through mail surveys. Companies that still do postal surveys typically use the Internet as well, she reports.
“The majority of lists that I deal with provide information down to the household level,” she said.
A few years ago, this market was dominated by business-to-business lists for targeting healthcare providers, but the growth of direct to consumer pharmaceutical marketing has reversed this situation, according to Bobbitt.
Pharmaceutical lists are regulated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. This means brokers must make sure that names are gathered in accordance with HIPAA privacy requirements.
Data cannot be sourced directly from pharmaceutical companies’ databases, which is why data generated from survey responses is critical. Consumers must “raise their hand” to say they have a particular medical condition and take a particular brand drug, she said.
Know someone you’d like to suggest for Meet the Broker? E-mail Jim Emerson at [email protected]
