2026: Making Meaningful Connections in Pharma

2026 is starting with this provocation: Instead of asking, “Is my strategy right?” marketers will ask, “Is my strategy learning fast enough?” An important question, and one that doesn’t just address the impact of AI, but how we understand Strategy overall. The speed with which we learn, adapt and develop the right marketing strategies has accelerated to the point that we are even seeing the advent of a new title within agencies: Connections Strategist.

The truth is that most of what we call “connection” is actually a context problem, not a content one. And nowhere is that more true than in pharma.

Why Pharma Struggles to Connect

A recent article in Fast Company made a point that stuck with me. People are wary of AI-driven advertising not because they love ads, but because the work feels off - it breaks the illusion that a brand actually understands them

That idea hits pharma especially hard. We need to create meaningful connections, but we’re held within strict boundaries around what we can say, how we say it, and who we say it to. Even when we uncover rich insights, our executions often feel strangely disconnected from the reality patients and HCPs are dealing with.

Too often, we’re missing the depth of understanding, the connection that really matters. And once you miss the moment, the message doesn’t land.

Mind the Gap

Take rare disease communities. These spaces are full of real connection – people trading late-breaking updates, personal experiences, clinical trial chatter, emotional support, and practical hacks for daily life. Agencies spend hours mining those conversations. Patients tell us what matters most to them.

But even when we know what people need, we often can’t meet them where they are. Regulations, timelines, and our own processes limit us. So the final output ends up feeling safe, polished, and disconnected. We listen, but we don’t show up how or when people actually need us. That’s the context gap.

HCPs Need Context More Than Emotion

HCP comms have the same issues when it comes to context. We do a lot of “emotional” storytelling for HCPs. But most of them operate on a completely different wavelength when it comes to brand messages. We embraced the idea that “Doctors are people, too!” and forgot that when they’re in clinical mode, they’re not acting like consumers, they’re acting like clinicians

Their real questions sound like:

• “If I do this, will my workflow be smoother?”
• “Do I understand why this brand is better than another for the patient in front of me RIGHT NOW?”
• “Will this help my staff get patients on therapy faster?”
• “Is this one more thing that will complicate my day?”

They aren’t building relationships with brands. Many aren’t even building deep relationships with reps anymore. What they want is practical clarity in the exact moment they’re making decisions or solving problems.

That’s not branding or equity. That’s real connection, in context.

Truth as a Connector

Healthcare culture today is complex, to say the least. We’ve empowered patients to take more control of their health (which is good), but it also means many now trust influencers over clinicians and change treatment paths when they don’t get what they want. HCPs are burnt out and overwhelmed, trying to make sense of an increasingly chaotic information environment.

This shift has created a vacuum where unreliable voices fill the gaps. In this world, pharma has an opportunity – and honestly, a responsibility – to provide clarity and orientation, even when we aren’t explicitly promoting a product.

Think about the Progressive Insurance model for a second. They give people comparison information, not just sales pitches. What would a pharma-friendly, compliance-safe version look like, a model that helps people compare and contrast without pushing them towards a product? Maybe it’s not promotion at all. Maybe it’s simply offering trustworthy, contextualized information people can take into their doctor’s appointments without forcing the “Ask about Brand X” moment.

Radical for pharma, completely normal for actual people.

Pharma Keeps Trying to Solve a Context Problem With More Stuff

This is where the industry keeps tripping. We hear “connection” and immediately jump to more assets, more channels, more everything, as if volume were the problem.

But true connection isn’t about volume – and it never was. It’s about showing up when the audience is actually receptive, with information that fits the problem in front of them. It’s a big reason we struggle to move anyone through a funnel – without context, nothing moves.

Patients and HCPs aren’t living inside brand narratives. They’re living inside their own timelines, frustrations, fears, and workflows. This is what our strategies need to address, plain and simple.

The 2026 Connection-First Model

If we want to build real connection, we need to rethink how we approach communication altogether. Here’s the model that actually reflects how people make decisions now.

1. Do deeper, more human research

Not just “Which message do you like more?” We need to understand:

• mental models
• cognitive load
• decision sequencing
• emotional energy levels
• environmental constraints

In other words: What state is the person in when our message arrives? If we can’t answer that, the message almost doesn’t matter.

2. Prioritize context over content

A great message delivered at the wrong moment is useless. Instead of treating channels like containers to fill, think of them as contextual connection opportunities.

This shifts strategy from “How do we push more?” to “How do we meet people where their brains actually are?”

3. Make creativity useful

If every banner, social tile, and print ad looks the same, we’re not giving people a reason to care. With thousands of ads and messages hitting our eyeballs each day, you have to have variety.

Make the unexpected part of the strategy. Build creative that feels fresh and relevant to the specific moment someone encounters it, not interchangeable with every other asset they’ve seen. Creativity breaks through when it’s useful, relevant, and aligned to the moment someone encounters it.

4. Reduce friction for HCPs

Show them exactly how an action leads to an outcome. We don’t need to make them feel “more confident” because they use Brand X. They are generally already confident in what they do. Utility is the emotional benefit.

5. Be the sanity check in an insane information world

As AI floods the health space with confident misinformation, pharma can differentiate simply by being:

• correct
• clear
• human
• grounded

Truth is a competitive advantage. And honestly, people can usually trust that a pharma ad is at least trying to get them accurate product information to help them make a decision.

We Can Do Better

Connection isn’t about more messages or more “brand stories.” People don’t want to be sold to. On a recent webinar with some out of pharma strategists, it was summed up like this: No one wants to be told that they should love you.

A connections-first approach acknowledges that reality. It shifts pharma from broadcasting to actually helping. And if our goal is truly better health outcomes, then showing up in the right context, with the right clarity, is the brave model that makes sense for 2026 and beyond.

And if you identify as a pharma connections strategist, I’d love to compare notes.