Editorials

Marketing Homeopathy

editorial e
Written by Alan V. Schmukler

Sept 2016 Editorial

While millions of people use homeopathy, many are still uninformed or misinformed. Most allopaths view homeopathy with attitudes ranging from disbelief to hostility. The homeopathic community has responded to this largely by doing more research and signing petitions. Neither has resulted in homeopathy gaining wider awareness or acceptance.

While hundreds of excellent studies on homeopathy had little effect, opponents of homeopathy published just two biased reviews of research, which resulted in defunding of homeopathic hospitals, lawsuits against our pharmacies and persecution of homeopaths. Why did they get so much mileage? The difference was that the opponents (Pharma surrogates) used their data as part of a well coordinated professional campaign (of disinformation). The homeopathy community is winning the war of facts, but losing the battle of perception.  But how do you change perception?  How do you fight Pharma lies and promote homeopathy? There’s a science to it, which is the purview of the marketing industry.

For years the tobacco industry used clever marketing to get millions of people to smoke.  In 2000 an anti-tobacco “truth” campaign was launched in the U.S., which used the same cutting-edge marketing strategies, but this time, to fight the tobacco industry.  It included television ads, such as the one showing young people piling up body bags outside a tobacco company’s headquarters.  Another had a “Singing Cowboy” with a tracheostomy, singing “you don’t always die from tobacco, sometimes you just lose a lung.”  Today literally everyone in the U.S. knows tobacco is dangerous and no one believes the tobacco industry lies.

Homeopathy is such a wonderful concept, that we think it will sell itself. But in the marketplace, having an exceptional product or concept means little, if you don’t know how to promote it. In 1847, Ignaz Semmelweis tried to educate doctors about antisepsis, using just his research and passion. His ideas were ridiculed and the world had to wait twenty more years and bear many dead patients, before that knowledge was accepted.

I’ve known many homeopaths and some had extraordinary healing skills, but not one was an advertising genius. What homeopathy needs now is a highly professional marketing campaign that will rework its image, redefine its branding and connect with issues important to the consumer. We know there’s a need for homeopathy, and now we need to create a demand for it. Now that Pharma owns lawmakers, only mass appeal can make homeopathy prevail.

Homeopathy is too important to be defended only with petitions and passionate pleas on Facebook.  Things like that make us feel good, but they don’t get the job done. We must marshal our resources and hire talented marketing professionals to coordinate a serious, ongoing campaign to promote homeopathy.  Let’s do it!

In This Issue

Interview – Petr Zacharias

This month we chat with Petr Zacharias, founder of the Prague College of Classical Homeopathy.  Petr shares his passion for homeopathy while giving us important tips for practice.

Articles

The Scope of Homeopathy in Labor – cases to illustrate – Dr. Meera Belsare

The Use of Homeopathy Via Hair Transmission –  Dr. Ravi Singh

Arthritis  – The Homeopathic Approach  – cases to illustrate –   Dr. Suriyakhatun Osman

The Soul of Remedies – Baryta Carbonica –  Rajan Sankaran

Why Some Arthritis Cases Are Lost  –  Dr. Santanu Maity

Healing Intractable Digestive Distress – Joette Calabrese

An Outline of the Major Approaches to Case Taking  – Dr. Myrna Quintero

Some Etiologies of ADHD  – Dr. Jean Lacombe

Mandragora officinarum – Bhanu Sharma

Reflections on some basic remedies learned as a beginner – Dr. M.A. Rajalakshmi

TIPS & SECRETS – Alan V. Schmukler

TIDBITS – Elaine LEWIS

Cases:

Chronic  Lymphatic Leukemia of non Hodgkins type”  -Viveca Wilhelmsson

Duodenal Ulcer – One case – 3 different approaches – Dr. Myrna Quintero

Synergistic Approach in Allergic Rhinitis – Rajan Sankaran & Sneha Vyas

Vasculitis and Acid Reflux  – Dr. Sowmya Sridharan

A Case of Empty Follicular Syndrome –  Dr. Piyu Mohanani

Ulcerative colitis   – Dr. Pranali Kamat

Non-Healing Wound With Diabetes –  Dr. Satyakaam Trigunaait

Infertility –  Drs. Prajakta Vaidya  and Preety Shah-Chauhan

Hypertension – Erin Douglas

Hypothyroidism  – Dr. Jhalak Khatri Nagrani

Ringworm  – Dr. Ramakrishna Valaki

Veterinary

Ask the Holistic VetDr. Deva Khalsa, holistic veterinarian answers veterinary questions from readers. Send your questions to [email protected]

Research

An Update on Research in Homeopathy – Robert Medhurst

Book Review

The Synergy in Homoeopathy – An Integrated Approach to Case Taking and Analysis- reviewed by Harry van der Zee.

Ask the Plant Doctor  – Agrohomeopath Radko Tichavsky answers readers’ questions about houseplants and crops. Send your questions to: [email protected]

QUIZ – Elaine Lewis – Sharpen your skills with this monthly quiz from Elaine Lewis. Also, see “Revisiting” to learn the answer to last month’s quiz.

There’ s more! Remember to see the new Cartoon and Crossword puzzle. Get Involved!  Send your questions and comments, cases, articles, book reviews and interviews to: [email protected]

About the author

Alan V. Schmukler

Alan V. Schmukler is a homeopath, Chief Editor of Homeopathy for Everyone and author of ”Homeopathy An A to Z Home Handbook”, (also in French, German, Greek, Polish and Portuguese). He is Hpathy’s resident cartoonist and also produces Hpathy’s Tips & Secrets column and homeopathy Crossword puzzles each month. Alan is a recipient of the National Center for Homeopathy Martha Oelman Community Service Award. Visit Alan at his website: Here.

8 Comments

  • Alan, you’re right! I can see Billboards showing Paul McCartney with his homeopathy emergency kit and giving the thumbs-up! Same with Tina Turner! You just have to wonder, though, can Big Pharma have billboards taken down?

    • Bill boards, TV ads, radio ads, medical expert talking heads, anti- pharma ads, human interest stories, etc etc etc.

  • Very true Homeopathy needs marketing catalyst I am Professor of Marketing having written well know book Marketing published by TataMcGraw-Hill Currently, its out of print. I have turned my age long passion for homeopathy into a non profit practice I wonder whether I can be of any assistance in operationalizing your vision of Marketing Homeopathy May I can put my consulting experience to some use Please feel free to write to me

  • dear sir,
    i think that from 1970 [i passed from nehru hoeom college, n delhi] till today homeopathy has achieved a lot. we all know this fact. there are certain short comings which have hindered in its fast progress. even today less than 5% of population go to homeopaths for treatment. i would like to mention a few hindrances created by we homeopaths.
    1. two homeopaths never agree on remedies.
    2. we have not mastered even 100 remedies and jumped to 5000 or so remedies. most of them are not available in market. in our days there were no computers or cds. even books were not available freely. students were aged persons and used to master NASH, ALLEN and KENT only. today even with help of cds we are not able to agree on treatment , that is remedies, potency, dose, repletion etc
    3. renown homeopaths never share their experience. book are written on copying other books.
    Nash mentions candidly in his mm that he has used the remedy and its potency and result of his failure or success in its use.
    4. time taken is very long in taking the cases. patient s loose their patience and run away.
    5. etc,etc in short
    thanks and regards
    dr c s gupta

    • Dear CS, you make a lot of good points. Chronic/constitutional cases are the ones where so many homeopaths disagree on what the right remedy is; but in acute cases we should have a 70-80 percent agreement rate. How can you be confused about a Belladonna fever or a Bryonia flu? Most people come to us for acute reasons. My last few cases: 1. painful gas and bloating (Carbo veg), 2. Headache with heaviness especially in the back of the head (Gelsemium), 3. Achilles Tendonitis (Rhus tox), 4. Painful, crippling sciatica (Aesculus). I bring these up to say that by and large, this is what people tend to want help with. We should have no trouble agreeing on these cases UNLESS we are of the mistaken opinion that all of these are constitutional cases that require a 2 hour case-taking! They’re not! We have to somehow make this clear to people and teach them how to take an acute case and, as you say, learn to recognize the basic 100 remedies.

  • You’re so right Alan. A huge professional marketing campaign is our only way to save our wonderful healing modality, homeopathy.
    How to raise the funds to achieve this is the big question. We need a united worldwide effort before the Big Pharma kills homeopathy.

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