Tag Archives: digital

Pharma Leadership Challenge In Post Covid Paradigm

Posted on by
Reply

Bringing a long cherished relief to many, on September 15, 2022, the World Health Organization said, ‘we can see the Finish Line’ for the COVID-19 pandemic but it’s not over yet’. As I see today, several things are changing pretty fast in this scenario. Such as, not so long ago – on September 27, 2021, the same global health organization predicted differently: ‘World Will Live with COVID for Foreseeable Future.’ It further highlighted “It is dangerous to assume that omicron will be the last variant, or that we are in the endgame. On the contrary, globally the conditions are ideal for more variants to emerge.” The Wall Street Journal also reported on September 18, 2022 that the US President Joe Biden too  feels, ‘Covid-19 pandemic was over’ in the United States.

Be that as it may, I reckon, the world is not going to replicate to the pre-Covid mode of working, any longer. The Covid-19 pandemic has clearly made some impactful changes in the most work scenario, across the world. This has been revealed by several recent studies. With this perspective, in this article, I shall dwell on the challenges that the pharma leadership teams will face or are already facing, as the world shifts towards the post Covid paradigm.

Four critical areas for change:

To illustrate this point, I will focus on just three critical areas for pharma players, as follows:

  1. No going back to the pre-Covid mode of working
  2. Create a more employee focused organization for future success
  3. Determine the right size of digitally savvy field force in the new paradigm 
  4. Increase online share of voice in represented therapy areas and identify pharma’s digital world opinion leaders.

Why no going back to the pre-Covid mode of working:

With the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic on people’s lives and livelihoods fast receding, the need for some critical changes in several areas of pharma business, is now being felt by some forward looking astute pharma leadership teams. Recent studies, such as, the Gartner paper of June 16, 2022, among others, vindicate ushering-in some of the following changes in workplaces:

  • Ongoing changes in the way people work have transformed employees’ relationship, and their expectations of work.
  • Hybrid work could be a great opportunity, particularly for diverse talent..

Another article in this regard, published in the Harvard Business Review on January 13, 2022, capture 11 trends that will shape the work, in general, from 2022 and beyond. When I put some of these in the pharma space, it may include the following:

  • Employee turnover will continue to increase, as hybrid and remote work becomes the norm for knowledge workers in pharma companies.
  • Many repeated managerial tasks at various levels, will be automated, creating greater space for them to build more human relationships with their peer group and direct reports.
  • The tools used for working remotely are also being used to measure and improve employee performance on an ongoing basis.
  • The complexity of managing a hybrid workforce may drive some employers to evaluate a ‘return to the office’ with its pitfalls and benefits.

Thus, creating an employee focused organization becomes critical.

Creating an employee focused organization will be critical:

In the current scenario, the importance of being able to afford employees maximum flexibility, adapting and flexing to their individual circumstances and needs, is increasing manifold. This, has also come out very clearly in a number of studies, including one paper of the Healthcare Consulting Group (HCG), as reported on July 25, 2022.

Thus, nurturing employees’ desire for personal and professional growth, besides motivating them with a strong sense of purpose to their work, has become foundational to being an attractive workplace, more than ever before.

Is the pharma industry right-sizing the digitally savvy field force?

One can pick up several signals in this direction from what is happening, as the industry is opening-up with a rapidly declining onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic. Various studies vindicate the intent of field staff reduction by the pharma industry. Today’s environment requires a digitally savvy field force of optimal size, which may vary from company to company.

For example, the article published in the Reuters Events Pharma on May 5, 2022, in this regard, elucidated “While Reuters Events Pharma’s own recent polling of the industry suggests a moderate reduction in numbers over the next couple of years, others see signs of more dramatic change.”

Many pharma players are now pondering – during Covid pandemic when companies were making so many less face-to-face calls, sales were OK. Now, when the intensity of the pandemic is receding, do they need the previous sales force numbers to make more such calls?

The general feeling appears to be that the old practices aren’t as productive as they were before, in the changing scenario. Thus, the paper underscored: ‘So with the largest players are already thinking about how to do more with fewer boots on the ground, how do they go about it?’ It concluded by saying: ‘No one is saying it is easy then, but the imperative for change is clear.”

Pharma customers’ online engagement is increasing with a low share of voice of companies:

This is yet another critical area of change where drug industry needs to strengthen its online voice. Several studies indicate that even a tiny part of most pharma companies’ online conversation about their represented disease and therapy areas doesn’t get captured in Google search. For example, yet another recent paper on this subject, published in the Reuters Events Pharma on July 05, 2022, confirms this point.

The article highlights: ‘Around 80% of patients Google for a recommended or newly prescribed medication. And doctors routinely use search engines too – to stay up to date, to verify assumptions and so on. Indeed, it may be no exaggeration to say that the answers found online are possibly the biggest influence on patients and HCPs today. Understanding their real-world digital information experience is, therefore, critical to identifying the content influencing their behavior.’

In today’s world, what these customers see and hear via search engines may shock many, the author emphasized. The study also reveals, despite many pharma companies’ investment in evidence-based, balanced, and accessible content designed for HCPs and patients, this is often buried far out of reach from the billion-plus health-related questions being asked of Google each day. ‘Pharma’s online voice often simply isn’t cutting through,’ it concluded.

What needs to be addressed soon in this area:

Each pharma marketer may wish to ascertain through data-based studies, which voices are dominating these conversations. And also, the nature and quality of the company’s own digital conversation and its share of voice. This is, besides getting to know who the digital opinion leaders are. Then, the task will be to find out ways to work with these people and share the company releases with them, requesting for their inputs, if any.

Conclusion:

The experience of the Covid pandemic and lockdowns has changed work patterns in many industries from what those were in the pre-Covid days. The drug industry is no exception. According to recent studies, two out of every five workers have either switched jobs or are actively looking for another that will fit into their working needs better, and with some remote work. This trend, being a common expectation, is gaining ground.

Thus, making an employee centric organization is now more important than ever before. Bringing together the best of remote working and office locations, as centers of excellence for team building, learning and innovation, is emerging as a central part of the pharma leadership challenge, as an HCG study, reportedly, also points out. It is generally believed that employees ‘who feel connected to purpose at work are more productive and more likely to stay.’ In tandem, pharma leadership teams also would require leaving a lasting impact on everyone’s work, which will be more tangible to them.

Alongside, as several contemporary studies indicate, and I also wrote in this blog on April 29, 2019 – ‘Adopt A Hybrid Business Model For Better Sales – Not A large Field Force,’ each company’s field force number also require a fresh look now with a focus on digitally savvy individuals. Another reason being pharma customers’ online engagement is increasing fast where most companies have a very low share of voice, as the search engine reveals. Consequently, identifying, partnering and in-depthunderstanding of key digital opinion leaders has become critical in creating a digital content that will influence the customer behavior. As reported on September 26, 2022, pharma major Sanofi, apparently has taken a major step in this direction.

From this perspective, it appears that the pharma leadership teams have a task cut out for them to effectively respond to the challenges of change in the post Covid paradigm – in search of pharma business excellence.

By: Tapan J. Ray     

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.

Tame Physicians’ Digital Fatigue With Brand Message Overdose

Posted on by
Reply

“The COVID-19 pandemic forced pharmaceutical companies adopt digital-first marketing models when in-person strategies were inaccessible, but health care practitioners report they’re becoming increasingly inundated with information and the shift to virtual marketing isn’t meeting their needs.” This was the finding of a new research of Indegene, published on March 02, 2022. The survey covers around 1,000 physicians from the U.S., Europe, China, and India.

Currently, many HCPs construe that pharma’s increasing frequency of digital outreach – involving several digital channels and various touch points, primarily to push product-related promotional information, is excessive. Continuity of such feelings could be counterproductive to the desired intent of drug companies.

Therefore, the point that surfaces: Is the digital marketing drive of many pharma marketers, even when the Covid pandemic is in a waning phase, ‘overwhelming’ some Key Opinion Leaders (KOL)? More important is to fathom, how to address it? Today’s article will focus on this emerging issue. Let me begin with a few other key findings of this paper.

Some other key findings of the survey:

Some of the major findings of the above survey include:

  • Digital marketing channels for HCPs most commonly include webinars, social media outreach, emails and text messaging from reps and self-directed web and remote detailing.
  • While HCPs are becoming more familiar with digital technologies, 62% of them feel ‘overwhelmed’ by product-related promotional content they receive from pharma companies through various virtual channels.
  • 70% feel that drug companies are out of touch with their information needs and expectations from new drugs, besides other products and services.
  • 63% HCPs expect pharma companies to share only relevant content with them – over channels of their preferences, and at a time of their convenience, to make the interactions more insightful.

At this point, let us also have a glance at the findings of other recent surveys, as well, in this space.

Other surveys also point in the same direction:

Yes, other surveys also vindicate this point. For example,

A. Just prior to the above study, on December 07, 2021, Accenture published the findings of their own study in this regard, which includes the following:

  • 65% of HCPs feel that several pharma companies have “spammed” them with digital content as the COVID-19 pandemic went through several waves.
  • The firms need to do more to better understand and meet HCP expectations (56%) and their patients (60%) due to COVID-19.
  • When pharma companies do more, 80% of HCPs would be twice as likely to meet the pharma reps with more time and attention.
  • Almost half of the HCPs surveyed (46%) prefer a mix of in-person and virtual meetings focused on the needs of their patients, as the COVID-19 pandemic ends.

B. Another study on this subject was published in PLOS ONE, on April 16, 2021. This study focused on pharma Webinars. As many will be aware, Webinars comprised a major avenue for customer engagement during COVID-19 – creating initial general satisfaction among physicians.

This, in turn, led to an increase in webinar usage in 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, with more than 300% in one study and up to 3250% in another. Which is why, despite the initial satisfaction – over a period, most physicians ‘felt overwhelmed with the number and frequency of webinars.’

Hence, customer satisfaction being crucial in any engagement process, Webinars may now be used with a purpose to complement traditional in-person methods, rather than replacement, study concluded.

What exactly doctors want to know in the new normal?

Against the above new backdrop – the issue is, how can pharma marketers engage the HCPs without overwhelming them, mostly with continuous, too frequent and wave after wave digital contents. This point was addressed in a Fierce Pharma article, published on February 16, 2022. It quoted some doctors saying, such as:

  • “If I’m a [high prescriber], great, remind me about efficacy.”
  • “But I also want to know who’s the right patient for this drug.”
  • “I want to know what access is like.”
  • “What types of patient savings programs are available?”
  • How can I support my patient, so they stay on the drug—because I believe in it.”
  • “If I’m a non-writer, I want to know how the mechanism of action is different?” “How does this drug show up in the guidelines?”
  • “Is there head-to-head data versus another drug?”

Reps digital training demands a fresh focus:

Educating or updating doctors through Continuing Medical Education (CME) programs is an ongoing process for drugmakers. It remained so with remote digital channels during the pandemic, as well. Whereas, selecting digitally savvy reps, training and helping them to be “flexible and efficient” in using digital channels and content, based on HCP preferences – demands a fresh focus.

As some of the above studies also emphasized that significantly reducing the number of reps because of wider use of remote digital platforms, may not be advisable at this juncture. This is despite some companies are now doing it – both globally and locally. For example, on January 12, 2022, Reuters reported: ‘Pfizer to cut U.S. sales staff, as meetings with healthcare providers move to virtual.’

On the contrary, I reckon, most reps will need fresh training to ‘go beyond the product script, particularly if a given doctor has seen plenty of digital product info already.’ The same paper further suggests: “Reps should focus on conversations that make the interactions insightful – and avoid driving product information fatigue.” 

Conclusion:

With the intensity of Covid-19 pandemic subsiding, many HCPs feel that they’re getting too much digital content from pharma companies. While they aren’t totally averse to digital communication, several of them expressed by being increasingly “spammed” as the time progressed.

For making pharma companies’ engagement with their customers in the changing times, this issue needs to be effectively addressed, soon. The companies will need to select and deploy marketers with a deeper understanding of what HCPs are looking for, to make new digitally focused marketing more meaningful to them – fetching greater business return.

Some studies also signaled that significantly reducing the number of reps – as less staff is required for digital engagement with doctors, may not be prudent at this stage. Instead, the companies need to upskill their digitally savvy reps ‘to integrate remote and digital touchpoints successfully with their in-person touchpoints.’

All these new initiatives when taken in tandem and well-integrated manner, will help meet doctors’ engagement preferences. In that process, pharma players will succeed in taming physicians’ digital fatigue with product-communication overdose, especially, in today’s time – making their marketing efforts more productive and meaningful to HCPs.

By: Tapan J. Ray    

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.

 

 

Why Is ‘Empathy’ Central In Pharma’s Digital World?

Posted on by
Reply

While pharma industry’s late realization of its slower pace of reform is widely criticized, it did demonstrate a resilience in facing several challenges of change, caused by Covid-19 pandemic to keep the business going. This was witnessed in many areas of customer-value delivery systems of various companies, also in India.

That said, digitalization notwithstanding, a critical soft skill has now emerged as central for a long-term success in the patient engagement process. A transformation is now much warranted in this area, as it remains generally neglected, even today. This space involves – target-audience specific marketing communication – with well-researched, and contemporary content materials that each patient can relate with one’s needs and expectations from a brand.

Many marketers may be missing out on this nuanced, yet a critical space while striving to make their stakeholder engagement more productive for business. In this article, I shall focus on the art of leveraging this critical soft skill set – ‘empathy’, to fetch better dividend from such initiatives of pharma marketers.

An empathetic intent of what customers need and expect is critical: 

‘Empathy’ isn’t totally a revolutionary idea in marketing. But Covid-19 related disruptions in peoples lives and livelihoods, have brought the issue at the center stage of even pharma marketing. In depth understanding or an empathetic intent of what the customers need, expect and are looking for, has emerged as a key requirement of today’s marketing success.

According to studies, with changing patient expectations, preferences, and power to influence treatment decision-making choices, traditional ‘source dominated messages’ are making lesser business impact to their ‘receivers’. The old way of ‘talking at’ the stakeholders with brand messages, gives many receivers a feel that the message is brand biased. It doesn’t encourage them to express their point of view on the same.

Many bright pharma marketers have started understanding the need to listen to and ‘talk with’ them – before and after messaging – to prepare the right personalized content for key customers, and evaluate their business effectiveness, thereafter. This is a nuanced, yet a critical area, which we all need to accept and act upon to ensure a fundamental change in the customer engagement process.

The fundamental difference between the two:

Various experts have acknowledged and explained a fundamental difference between ‘talking at’ and ‘talking with’ conversations. Some these are as follows:

“Talking at someone” is generally used when the message doesn’t intend to offer a reasonable scope for exchange of ideas, or to engage in a conversation, or to express a contrarian viewpoint on a brand or service. Probably, the content doesn’t encourage or elicit any kind of response, especially the negative ones.

Whereas ‘talking with someone’ intends to start a conversation with the brand between the company and the stakeholders. I hasten to add, there are occasions when these two terminologies are interchangeably used. That doesn’t really matter. What does matter is – ‘talking with someone’ requires a critical soft skill. This is called ‘empathy.’ It is so essential – because of today’s need to establish an emotional connect with customers – for any brand or service.  

Empathy is essential – remote or digital marketing notwithstanding:

This point was captured in the IBM article, published on August 12, 2020, as it highlighted the Covid pandemic induced rapid transformation in the digital behavior of many consumers in different business areas. This triggered several rapid, path-breaking, and consumer-friendly innovation, even in the health care space. As a result, people witnessed, among many others, a wider use of telehealth, rapid adoption of e-commerce/e-pharmacies, besides a significant swing towards the digital-first economy.

The IBM article also underscored the need of similar transformation in some other critical areas, like marketing, especially to keep pace with the change in digital behavior and expectations of a growing population. ‘People are increasingly demanding authentic connections, helpful information and personalized support from brands,’ as the paper added.

Meeting this demand and further nurturing the same, send a clear signal to pharma marketers to gain deep insight of ‘this new consumer journey,’ the paper reiterated. Thus, in the contemporary business scenario, the marketers would require – ‘to create a sense of empathy and personal connection by scaling your brand voice, delivering valuable content and recommendations, and learning directly from your consumers in the digital ecosystem’- the author emphasized.

It’s now visible in the customer engagement process of several industries:

If one carefully notices a company’s messaging – both its content and the format, it won’t be difficult to sense a transformation taking place in this area for most other industries. The content of the message and the communication format/platform, now appear to be quite dynamic, personalized, and built on a robust pillar of the critical soft skill – empathy, or rather – empathy-based marketing.

Shifting from marketing-centric thinking to customer-centric thinking:

According to an expert group in this area: ‘Empathy-based marketing is about walking into your customer’s shoes to understand their experience and how we can better help them get what they want. You don’t want to think like the customer. You want to BE the customer.’

While trying to do so, a marketer would need to move away from marketing-centric thinking to customer-centric thinking and speak from the customers’ perspective and at their motivational level. Empathy-based marketing, therefore, encompasses the following ideas:

  • Empathizing with target-customer’s experience by going into their world.
  • Thinking like them while solving a problem and understanding each step they may take to solve it.
  • Looking for ways to help customers make their lives better.
  • Providing customers with what they want by understanding what motivates them and not what you want them to have.
  • Helping them identify and solve problems.
  • Empowering employees who are directly in touch with customers and provide them resources, training, and tools, accordingly.

In pharma – its personal or in-person selling – but the messaging is not:

As we know, in pharma the selling process is generally personal. Company representatives personally meet individual customer to deliver a brand message to generate prescription demand. Patient engagement processes too, remain broadly the same, at times with minor variations, though. Despite a great opportunity to deliver unique personalized messages through empathy-based marketing that recognizes individual value and expectation – traditionally, one-size-fits-all type of contents continue to prevail.

Leverage technology to create empath-based marketing:

The challenge is moving towards a whole new digital world order. In this space marketers would require working with a huge volume of credible and contemporary data on target customers, markets, the interplay of different emotional factors. A well thought through analytics-based study, would play a critical role to get a feel of empathy for selected customers. This would, then, be the bedrock to strategize a productive and personalized engagement with them. Leveraging modern technology would be essential to attain this goal.

What would ‘empathy’ construe in pharma marketing:

According to MM+M: “Empathy includes making sure your brand not only understands the condition that a patient has, but also the experience of having that condition, encompassing both the physical and emotional impact.’ People are expecting a reflection of empathy from the pharma players in their engagement process. Patients and consumers can figure out an empathetic message when they see it. They know when a brand ‘gets it’ and when ‘it doesn’t.’ Thus, it’s important that ‘marketers don’t just preach empathy, but they also practice empathy themselves, the paper highlighted.

Today’s marketing mostly addresses the fundamental needs of patients: 

As the above MM+M paper highlighted - at a fundamental level, patients just want to get better and feel better and manage their condition effectively. On this premise, most patient engagement initiatives, basically, try to address these fundamental needs, in different ways. However, as the research reveals, the above approach would not generally try to empathize with the target audience. Companies now move beyond the hard facts of medical conditions – their symptoms and relief.

According to the above study, today’s marketers would, simultaneously need to: “Find out what life is like for them. Is it a long, complex, frustrating process to access their treatment? What emotional toll does the disease have on them? On their loved ones? Are they scared? Depressed? Like a method actor, I will soak up everything I can about this person and close my eyes and become them.”

Conclusion:

In the contemporary changing market` dynamics, pharma markers can boost the brand performance either by generating increasingly more prescriptions from the existing brand prescribers, or by creating new prescribers. This is an eternal truth and is expected to remain so, as one can foresee today.

As this metamorphosis keeps rolling on, it will necessarily require healthcare marketers to gain contemporary and data-based customer insight – with an empathetic mindset. It’s essential for them to create the ‘wow factor’ – for patients to get the ‘wow feeling,’ because they will be getting a workable solution that they were looking for – to get relief from an ailment. It will, in turn, help most drug companies to overcome the trust-barrier, giving a feel to the customers that the brand and the company do care for them – not just serve the corporate vested interests.

Thus, empathy-based marketing leadership, armed with this critical skill, will also build a long-term and trust-based relationship with stakeholders for better business outcomes. According to a recent research study, published in the Forbes Magazine, on September 19, 2021, ‘empathy’ emerged as one of the most important leadership skills, especially, in the post pandemic business environment, for various reasons.

Consequently, in today’s scenario, only science-based brand engagement with patients can’t possibly help achieve the desired goals any longer. Thus, I reckon, honing the unique soft skill – ‘empathy’, has become central for pharma marketers’ professional success in the digital world – more than ever before.

By: Tapan J. Ray    

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.

 

 

Why And How To Be In-Sync With Gen Z As Pharma Paradigm Shifts?

Posted on by
Reply

As science and technology, across the world, are progressing at a scorching pace – Covid-19 pandemic notwithstanding, today’s generations are growing up tech savvy – more than ever before. The trend will keep going north faster and with a steeper gradient. This is being driven by transforming social and economic environments – necessitating quicker solutions to any needs, problems, and expectations.

The current signals, as underscored by an article appeared in the Abbott Website on November 19, 2019: ‘Generation Z’s relationship with technology will also influence how the group relates to healthcare.’ Thus, it’s no secret that millennials approach their health care in drastically different ways than members of the Silent Generation, baby boomers or Gen Z, the article added.

Which is why, gradually shifting paradigm of the pharma industry would also eventually create a brand new one – with the Gen Z population growing at a faster pace. From the above perspective, in today’s article, I shall focus on the importance of this shifting paradigm, especially from the pharma industry perspective, including India.

Expectations and experience of Gen Z are contrasting:

Let me start with the definition of Gen Z. In January 2019, Pew Research defined Gen Z as anyone born after1996, just as ‘anyone born between 1981 and 1996 (ages 23 to 38 in 2019) is considered a Millennial.’ Gen Z grew up with technology, the internet, and social media. Moreover, according to another study of Pew Research, published on May 14, 2020, Gen Z is growing up having experienced catastrophic disruptions in almost all spheres of life and livelihoods, triggered by Covid-19 pandemic. It further ascertained, ‘the oldest Gen Zers have been particularly hard hit in the early weeks and months of the Coronavirus crisis.’

Thus, I reckon, the experience and expectations of many of such Gen Z from business and overall environment around – are quite different from earlier generations. More importantly, they will also have a strong influence on younger ones. Hence, the expected transformation would be much broader than what is currently visible today on the ground.

Some core characteristics of Gen X from pharma business perspective:

Various studies have captured the core characteristics of Gen Z, some of which are very relevant to pharma industry and are worth taking note of – for excellence in business performance. These include the followings:

Digital natives:

As McKinsey & Company highlighted in an article, published on November 12, 2018 that Gen Z is the first generation of true digital natives, and they are expanding. Whereas Millennials were regarded as ‘digital pioneers,’ who bore wit­ness to the explo­sion of tech­nol­o­gy and social media, Gen Z populations are born into a world of peak tech­no­log­i­cal inno­va­tion. In that environment infor­ma­tion is imme­di­ate­ly acces­si­ble and social media becoming increas­ing­ly ubiquitous – endorses another study by the Casey Foundation with its own findings on the core characteristics of Gen Z.

Financial minded:

Finan­cial mind­ed­ness is anoth­er core char­ac­ter­is­tic of Gen­er­a­tion Z for several reasons. A major one being, as discussed – many of them grew up witnessing unprecedented impact on lives and livelihoods caused by Covid-19 pandemic. Several other studies, like the one published recently by the Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, indicates that millennials and Gen Z are especially sensitive to healthcare costs.

Shrewd consumers and cost-value conscious:

Gen Z show characteristics of shrewd consumers and are also cost-value conscious. Being tech savvy, they are more influenced by fast-expanding digital, world and would like to make well-informed purchasing decisions after evaluating a range of options – both for products and services. They tend to be more influenced by the experience of real-life users, rather than a celebrity endorsement and val­ue per­son­al­ized prod­ucts.

Gen Z to herald metamorphosis of future healthcare:

That it is happening gets retreated in the caption of the Fierce Healthcare article of June 16, 2020 – ‘Industry Voices -Generation Z is a game changer for healthcare.’ It emphasized, ‘Generation Z – are likely to turn the health industry on its head with their unique expectations for how healthcare should be delivered.’

Convenience is such a paramount for Gen Z that they are often willing to forgo a personal relationship with their healthcare provider. Besides, they will come to their physician and provider armed with data, information, and knowledge, unlike the past generations. Consequently, the danger for providers is, if Gen Z doesn’t get that desired convenience, they’ll go elsewhere, the article says. Simultaneously, ‘they also want a trusted adviser who can guide them toward holistic health and wellness.’ Thus, delivering patient-centric care, capitalizing on real-world data and automated care experiences, will be key to the transformative process of healthcare.

A recent survey also vindicates that the transformation has begun:

A recent Accenture healthcare consumer survey reiterated: “The new healthcare consumer is here.” The study clearly signaled a paradigm shift in this space spearheaded by millennials and Gen Z. Some of the survey findings encompass the following areas:

  • This group of healthcare consumer expectations for convenience, affordability and quality are redefining how they engage at each stage of care.
  • They are most dissatisfied with health care’s status quo and more willing to try non-traditional services, such as, virtual care and retail walk-in clinics, which are gaining in popularity and use with them.
  • With greater health care needs, they will increasingly look for services to satisfy their expectations for effectiveness, convenience, efficiency, and transparency.
  • With millennials and Gen Z to become the largest generation in not-too-distant future, they hold the most power to influence future healthcare models.

Some pharma players are tracking Gen Z and the changing paradigm:

Some global majors, such as Abbott, are also writing about it in their website Abbott.com. The Company has noted some of these changes, as follows:

  • Generation Z’s relationship with technology will influence how the group relates to healthcare. While growing up in a fully connected world, they ‘are less likely to have primary care providers and are more likely to use apps for scheduling, viewing medical records and paying bills.’ They are also more receptive to telehealth visits and connected healthcare than previous generations.
  • With the wait times for an appointment with a doctor growing longer, Gen X populations are more likely to use walk-in clinics or opt for urgent care centers which are more convenient.
  • Self-service and convenience play into Gen Z’s interactions with doctor’s and the industry as a whole. They prefer email, texting, and apps to manage their appointments or communications with doctors. Finding ways to communicate with this younger generation in their preferred modes, can help keep them engaged with the industry.
  • Millennials and Gen Z populations are most likely to use a wearable device. They typically reach out to friends or online communities to ask about a particular health condition before speaking with a doctor. Although they aren’t the groups using the more healthcare services, millennials and members of Gen Z are showing what the health industry needs to do to provide the best care.

Size of Gen Z population in India:

According to EY Gen Z survey, released on November 04, 2021, the next decade will be shaped by the maturation of Gen Z, the largest generational cohort in history, where India stands out with a population that includes 375 million people or 27% of the total population in Gen Z. Besides, the survey also underscores the importance of Gen Z in the shifting paradigm of market dynamics for the pharma industry, as well.

Conclusion:

Currently, healthcare industry, in general, and most drug companies, in particular -especially, in India, don’t seem to nurture the fast-growing population of Gen Z with a customer engagement strategy that they can relate to. What these players are currently marketing is mostly aimed at traditional customers, and who still form the majority.

Exploring these evolving changes, I wrote an article in this blog, on November 07, 2016. This was titled ‘Millennial Generation Doctors And Patients: Changing Mindset, Aspirations, And Expectations.’ However, the unprecedented impact of Covid-19 pandemic, alongside rapid advancement and adaptation of digital technology, tools, and platforms, has expedited this process.Apace with these changes the pharma paradigm is also shifting, at a much faster pace than ever before. Which is why, I reckon, it’s important for the entire health care industry in India to be in-sync with Gen Z expectations and engage them, accordingly.

By: Tapan J. Ray

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.

 

Physicians’ Increasing Digital Proficiency And Its Implication

Posted on by
Reply

At a time, when an unexpected and unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic struck a catastrophic impact on human lives, livelihood, and the global economy the healthcare sector continued surging ahead. This is being fueled by exponential advances in medical science, and the pandemic-triggered explosion of digital technologies, data access, analytics – besides emergence of more informed and empowered consumers with new expectations and aspirations.

Echoing this, Deloitte’s paper - ‘2022 Global Health Care Outlook’ articulated: ‘The global health care sector continues to rise up to the new challenges presented by the ongoing pandemic, which continues to dominate health care systems’ attention and resources.’

No more than just a couple of years back, none could predict that a pandemic in these modern days, would have the power to initiate the unforeseen changes so quickly. This is especially applicable to – mostly tradition bound and slow to change – the pharmaceutical industry, even in India, which gets reflected in the growth of this sector. That too, amid sporadic disruptions in the operational areas of many companies.

As reported on December 29, 2021, Indian Pharma Industry registered a growth of 15% in 2021 led by growth of Covid-19 products, against a growth of 3% last year. The report emphasized that the challenges posed by the pandemic gave rise to new opportunities for the pharma sector to evolve quickly under changing circumstances.

Which is why, many players are being compelled to adapt newer digital processes and practices to survive and excel – while navigating through this uncharted frontier. These will call for growing investments for paving a high-tech digital pathway, primarily for an effective customer engagement, besides refinement of the product life cycle through digitization.

To give a sense of perspective on strategic implications of increasing digital proficiency of physicians, particularly in the context of an effective, patient-centric engagement by pharma companies, I shall focus on this development, in this article.

HCPs digital proficiency poses a fresh challenge – it’s real:

Increasing digital proficiency of HCPs during Covid-19 pandemic poses a fresh challenge to pharma marketers for several reasons. It’s so real, which will invite many fundamental strategic changes, as Covid-19 isn’t going anywhere, at least, anytime soon, contrary to what many people are expecting.

The emergence of Delta and Omicron like variants that infected a large number of fully vaccinated people, as well, is expected to continue. For example, as reported on January 27, 2022: ‘Just as the omicron surge starts to recede in parts of the U.S., scientists have their eye on another coronavirus variant spreading rapidly in parts of Asia and Europe.’

Increasing digital savviness of HCPs is now unstoppable. It is expected to keep rolling at faster a faster pace now than ever before. Endorsing this trend, an article published in the Pharmaceutical Executiveon January 20, 2022, made some interesting observations.

The author underscored that the trend of the digital shift of HCPs in their professional space, is an outcome of a catalytic effect of the pandemic. It poses a new challenge for the life sciences industry, requiring a complete revamp of the content strategy and customer engagement channels, for each specialty. It further said: ‘The wave of consumerism led by digital natives has impacted HCPs when it comes to engaging with content on various digital channels for personal consumption.’  

A recent research study vindicates the magnitude of the challenge:

A recently published Indegene study, revealed some thought-provoking areas in this space. The research surveyed 984 physicians from the United States, Europe, India, and China for this study. All participants have >10 years of experience and represent a broad spectrum of specialty areas. According to Indegene, the process of surveying HCPs had started since 2014, to identify how their digital habits manifest and how do they change. Some of the key findings of the study include:

  • More HCPs, in general, are increasingly adopting digital channels to consume content.
  • 77% of HCPs use digital channels primarily for personal learning and development.
  • 68% of HCPs prefer short webinars or webcasts over other virtual
    engagement channels, globally.
  • Only 47% of HCPs prefer receiving communication through the marketing e-mail channel, although, marketing emails are among the top 5 channels used by pharma companies to engage HCPs. 
  • 62% of HCPs are overwhelmed by product promotional content pushed by pharma companies on various digital channels.
  • 70% of HCPs said that pharma representatives do not understand their requirements completely. Further, 62% of HCPs said that the most significant area where pharma representatives can add value is, by understanding the needs of HCPs and sharing only relevant content with them to make the interactions more insightful. The one-size-fits-all approach will no longer work, and pharma companies will have to invest in greater personalization at scale and build better content development and operations capabilities.
  • Pharma to consider using digital channels to provide HCPs on demand access to reps and content.
  • Need to map and implement geographic variations in HCP preferences for content, channels, device, and time.

This evolving trend sends clear signals to pharma marketers that need for professional engagement with the HCPs has to be on their own terms in the new normal

‘Engaging HCPs on their own terms’ – the need of the new normal:

This emerging need also came out clearly in another recent Global Physician Specialty Survey by Medscape - with over 12,000 participants in key specialties across Europe, Latin America, Canada, Asia, and MENA.

It provided some actionable insights, highlighting online content consumption habits of HCPs across the globe, in the new normal. This study also found: ‘The pandemic has had an undeniable impact on the interactions between HCPs and the pharmaceutical industry, with the shift towards virtual engagement and online events likely to be long-lasting.’

Based on this finding, it flagged a critical issue. This is, while the consumption of online medical content is growing and traditional in-person meetings are still not completely back on the agenda, how can pharma players reimagine the way they reach their target audience? This is indeed a primary business requirement to maintain respective drug company’s share of voice and foster relationships with their key customers. The key takeaway from this study includes the following:

  • Being incredibly time poor even now, HCPs mostly prefer to engage with the pharma companies on their own terms.
  • Compared to traditional in-person interactions, most HCPs feel, digital engagement channels offer them greater flexibility that they desire.
  • Over half of the survey respondents rated their online consumption of digital content higher, or much higher now than before the pandemic.

Conclusion:

On the positive side, during a short span of the last couple of years, Covid-19 pandemic has also triggered unprecedented advances in various critical areas of medical science and related areas. These include, remote healthcare services, digital technologies, ease of access to required data by all, the application of sophisticated analytics and above all emergence of an increasing number of digitally empowered customers. Consequently, aided by greater disease awareness and the need for prevention, the ‘self-care’ space also witnessed exponential advances.

Besides, the pandemic has also offered a fresh opportunity to the pharma and biotech sectors – to leverage the break in the cloud for accelerating all-round innovation – charting new frontiers of the modern digital world to remodel their business models for a faster growth in a new paradigm. Although, pharma customers have remained mostly unchanged, their expectations, behavior, practices, and preferences have undergone a metamorphosis. Some of these changes may be stark, and more may be a bit nuanced. Marketers, need to map all the changes, which are specific to their organizations, to excel in the new paradigm.

That said and, as pointed out above, results of expert surveys and syndicated studies in this area, send a clear signal about the pandemic-triggered – increasing digital proficiency of HCPs, even in India. This trend needs to be leveraged for a thorough overhaul of pharma’s customer engagement models. This is a new ball game of the new normal – having a huge impact on the business performance of drug companies.

By: Tapan J. Ray  

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.

Expand Market Share Unleashing Digital Health Potential For All

Posted on by
Reply

“Advancement in digital health is currently restricted mainly to economically and socially privileged populations. Those having access, resources and basic digital skills, are reaping disproportionate benefits from the technology and other associated infrastructure available for this purpose. Unfortunately, underserved population, mostly in rural hinterland and in some urban areas, still do not have much access to this technical advancement in the healthcare space. Ensuring affordable access to “Digital Health” in digital India, would help augment quality healthcare support with equity, to all in the country.” I wrote the above in my article on digital health, published in this blog, way back on March 09, 2015.

About two years down the line from that date, the IQVIA report – ‘The Growing Value of Digital Health’, published on November 07, 2017, also reported: ‘The impact of Digital Health on patient care is accelerating with the increasing adoption of mobile health apps and wearable sensors.’ It highlighted, among others, the following important points:

  • Health-related mobile applications available to consumers nearly doubled from the number available just two years ago, with increasing clinical evidence on app efficacy – supported by 571 published studies in 2017.
  • The use of Digital Health apps with proven reductions in acute care utilization include, diabetes prevention, diabetes management, asthma, cardiac rehabilitation, and pulmonary rehabilitation.
  • ‘Digital health’ signals a high potential in reducing overall health care cost for both patients and the providers – reducing huge burden on the health system, significantly.
  • Efforts by patient care organizations to fit ‘’Digital Health tools into clinical practice have progressed with 540 current clinical trials in the U.S. incorporating these tools, and an estimated 20% of large health systems shifting from pilot ‘Digital Health’ programs to more full-scale rollouts.
  • However, despite progress to date, several barriers still exist to widespread adoption by patient care institutions, and only an intermediate level of adoption has yet occurred.

In this article, I shall explore – how pharma marketers can expand their respective brand market share by unleashing the full potential of digital health, for all, and equitably, while formulating their marketing strategies of the new normal.

Digital health accelerated effective response to COVID-19 challenges:

Never has extensive operational overhaul been more urgent in health care than in the current climate of the COVID-19 pandemic – emphasized the article on ‘Digital health during COVID-19’, published in the February 2021 online issue of The Lancet (Digital Health). The paper underlined – the urgency of the pandemic prompted new models of patient treatment, providing medical professionals tools to respond effectively to the unprecedented crisis, with the advances in digital health.

However, the authors cautioned, ‘to ensure sustained adoption, it is necessary to not assume that digital solutions will naturally assimilate into clinical practice, and instead adopt participatory approaches that regularly involve stakeholders.’ Meanwhile, a confused signal is causing delay in the speedy adoption of digital health.

Is a confused signal delaying speedy adoption of digital health?

As Covid vaccination process gaining steam, the pandemic, apparently, is coming under control in many places of the world, just as it is in India. Alongside, several optimistic health care facilitators, providers and even regulators are probably awaiting the old normal to return – especially, F2F customer services.

Whereas, the above The Lancet (Digital Health) study finds – the clinical demand for digital services are gradually picking up – mostly because of the sudden surge in patient demand during the pandemic. Intriguingly, amid this situation, weak governance of digital technologies and platforms, is increasing health inequities and compromising human rights, which I wrote in my article on digital health, published in this blog, on March 09, 2015.

Weak governance of digital health results, increasing health inequities:

That weak governance of digital technologies and platforms, is increasing health inequities, was reiterated by yet another contemporary article titled – ‘Digital technologies: a new determinant of health,’ published in the November 2021 issue of The Lancet (Digital Health).

The article revealed, ‘The Lancet’ and ‘Financial Times’ Commission on governing health futures 2030’ has made important recommendations for successful integration of digital technologies in health. The bottom line of which is, weak governance of digital technologies is causing health inequities and compromising human rights. The study also emphasized, the future governance of digital technologies in health care ‘must be driven by the public purpose, not private profit’.  

Points to ponder for pharma marketers:

As iterated in the article of the November 2021 issue of The Lancet (Digital Health), the following facts needs to be considered by all, especially I reckon, by astute pharma marketers:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic has caused massive disruptions within health care, both directly as a result of the infectious disease outbreak, and indirectly because of prompt public health measures to mitigate against transmission.
  • This unprecedented disruption has caused rapid dynamic fluctuations in demand, capacity, and even contextual aspects of health care.
  • Therefore, the traditional face-to-face patient–physician care model has had to be re-examined in many countries, including India.
  • To rapidly tide over the crisis, and thereafter to avoid similar possible situations in the future, digital technology and new models of care are being rapidly deployed to meet the challenges of change, triggered by the pandemic.
  • The new models include remote digital health solutions such as telehealth, artificial intelligence – decision support for triaging and clinical care, and home monitoring of several ailments.
  • Operationalizing these new models will be based on the choice of technology support, clinical need, demand from patients, and manpower availability – ranging from pre-hospital to out-of-hospital models, including the hub-and-spoke model.

Conclusion:

It is widely believed today, the pan-industry shift toward digital health of different types is here to stay, in varying degree, though, and accelerate further for several strategic reasons. These include, adding more flexibility in attaining greater efficiency and effectiveness for customer engagement, and patient-perceived brand value delivery to them.

That said, as I wrote before, customer engagement may call for a hybrid business model of virtual and in-person F2F engagements. However, going back to the old normal of in-person F2F engagements for all doctors could probably be a far cry. Similarly, the initial success of e-customer engagement is unlikely to replace in-person and in-clinic F2F engagements of sales reps completely.

From the above perspective, I reckon, pharma marketers may now wish to expand their brand market share, significantly, by unleashing the full potential of digital health for all, and equitably, particularly, in the new normal.

However, in that process, they need to be vigilant for not deviating from the key purpose of digital health for the end users. This must reach across all socioeconomic strata, regardless of patient demographics or their geographical locations. It’s, no doubt, easier said than done, but has to happen – for the sake of health-equity - augmenting healthcare for all in India.

By: Tapan J. Ray      

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.

Focus More To Create Patient-Perceived Value of Brand Outcomes

Posted on by
Reply

Healthcare providers, including many drug companies aim to create a beneficial effect on patients with their respective products and services. However, and more importantly, these benefits need to be such that recipients are able to sense, feel, and perceive as they expect – or may often go much beyond their expectations.

In this endeavor, when the perceived value of health care offerings exceeds the perceived cost of the products or services, the beneficiaries get naturally delighted. Conversely, when the perceived cost of the product weighs more than the perceived benefits, especially when it is incurred in lieu of some other essential living expenses, the patients accept the benefits grudgingly – without having any choice, or alternatives. The situation often fuels growing healthcare activism, across the globe and more involving expensive patented products.

Such expectations of many customers have increases manifold during Covid-19 pandemic, as many studies highlight. Thus, creating a win-win situation while aiming for a beneficial effect on patients, would call for in-depth understanding of the complex changes in the value delivery process. This is critical for all in the health care environment, and particularly the pharma marketers.

In today’s article, I shall dwell on some recent developments in this area, beginning with the basic need for in-depth understanding of the complex changes in the value delivery process. This process flows from ascertaining what have and have not changed in pharma industry’s new normal. The core intent is to find an answer to the key question: Should markers now need to focus much more on creating patient-perceived value of brand outcomes to business excellence?

Understanding complex changes in the value delivery process:

In today’s scenario – amid expressive customers, to get to know the needs, wants and expectations of the target audience, pharma marketers would need to listen to them carefully, and capture the same as they are – in an organized way. In-depth analysis of the data, thus captured, would help marketers chart a cutting-edge strategic pathway – converting data into actionable insights, in pursuit of excellence.

Covid-19 pandemic expanded digital media use even by older age group: 

Many studies have shown, since the onset of Covid-19 pandemic, the use of digital media for various purposes, including health care products ad services, has increased among older age groups, more than ever before.

One such April 2021 Press Release of AARP Research was captioned, ‘Tech Usage Among Older Adults Skyrockets During Pandemic.’ It reported, technology enabled older adults, to better weather – the isolation of the pandemic, started using digital platforms and social media, from ordering groceries to telehealth visits to connecting with loved ones.

More specifically, in the present context, the study found, among others - ‘50+ use of smartphones increased dramatically. For instance, use for ordering groceries grew from 6% to 24%; use of personal health increased from 28% to 40% for activities like telehealth visits, ordering prescriptions, or making appointments; use of health and fitness information increased 25% to 44%; and use of financial transactions increased 37% to 53%.’

Another AARP publication on September 2021 was captioned: ‘Personal Tech and the Pandemic: Older Adults Are Upgrading for a Better Online Experience.’ It also articulated: ‘Texting, email, social media, and video chatting have become commonplace as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to remain home, separated from friends and family. More than 80% of those 50-plus said they use technology in some form to stay connected, many on a daily basis.’

I hasten to add that the above study, although was conducted in the United States, the overall trend is expected to be similar in India – of course, with varying numbers. Be that as it may, the new opportunity of listening to customers from their reach, use, interactions, and conversations through digital channels, and sieving out relevant information from the same, needs to be adequately leveraged.

This space could provide high-quality data, when used in a structured manner, for in-depth understanding of the pandemic-triggered changes in customer dynamics. No wonder, why some major pharma players’ greater focus on listening intently to healthcare customers’ conversation is assuming increasing criticality, today. This process would also help immensely while delivering value of affordable access to contemporary innovative drugs.

Increasing criticality of affordable access to contemporary innovative drugs:

Alongside the pre-Covid 19 ailments, new disease complications in the pandemic – or, now, in endemic-prone areas, would enhance manifold the criticality of the value of access to innovative drugs – for all to be up and running. This area, was well articulated in a similar context in the article, published in the Pharmaceutical Executive on September 20, 2021.

The authors reiterated, ‘Patient affordability and access enablement, along with health system sustainability and affordability, are critical factors that impact current patient access to these innovations as well as sustained future access to new innovations.’

Many pharma companies, who have both resources and knowledge to develop and supply new and innovative medicines at scale, are already talking about it, even in the new normal. But, they would now need to walk the talk with a greater sense of inclusivity that can be seen and felt by all. Let me cite a very recent example in this area from the Covid-19 perspective.

A recent example in this area from Covid-19 perspective:

An encouraging recent development about affordable access to innovative drugs was reported by The New York Times on October 27, 2021. It reported: ‘Merck has granted a royalty-free license for its promising Covid-19 pill to a United Nations-backed nonprofit in a deal that would allow the drug to be manufactured and sold cheaply in the poorest nations, where vaccines for the coronavirus are in devastatingly short supply.’

More, such examples, also involving treatment in other critical disease areas, would have a salutary effect, even on the public image of the concerned pharma innovators. The ball seems to have started rolling in this direction, as evident from the key findings of the ‘2021 Access to Medicine Index’.

‘2021 Access to Medicine Index’ elucidates the point:

The ‘2021 Access to Medicine Index’, published by the Access to Medicine Foundation, on January 26, 2021, reiterates the increasing criticality of affordable access to contemporary innovative drugs. It adds, with the resources and the knowledge to develop and supply new medicines at scale, pharma players have a responsibility to ensure these are made available to people regardless of their socioeconomic standing.

The key findings of the report include the following:

  • Eight companies adopt processes to systematically address access to medicine for all new products
  • Less than half of key products are covered by pharma companies’ access strategies in poorer countries.
  • R&D for COVID-19 has increased, yet another pandemic risk goes unaddressed.

In sync with other experts, the report further emphasizes, ‘Pharmaceutical companies have the power to address affordability by refining their access strategies; and the ability to strengthen supply chains and support healthcare infrastructures. Considering their size, resources, pipelines, portfolios and global reach, these companies have a critical role to play in improving access to medicines.’

Why affordable access to innovative drugs is more critical in India:

The much-deliberated issue of why affordable access to innovative drugs is so critical in India, was aptly analyzed in an article, published by Brookings on March 03, 2020. The backdrop of the discussion was the W.H.O data on global health expenditures that compares out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) as a proportion of current health expenditure.

It revealed, India does much worse in comparison to the world average of OOPE. This was 65% for India versus the world average of around 20%, in 2016, with a similar scenario as compared to other Asian countries.  It specified, Thailand and China have reduced the proportion of OOPE over time, while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh witnessed an increase over time.

Conclusion:

The current healthcare spectrum of possibilities to address these issues haven’t changed significantly, since then. Interestingly, this is despite the increasing need of innovative drugs that’s keeping pace with the complexity in the health care environment since the onset of Covid-19 pandemic.

Thus, the criticality of affordable access to contemporary innovative drugs in the new normal, deserves an out of the box solution. Even today, OOPE continues to remain very high in India, and mostly for outdoor patient treatments. Thus, it is imperative that pharma marketers should focus more to create greater patient-perceived (not self-perceived) value of brand outcomes, in an innovative way – for business excellence in the new normal.

By: Tapan J. Ray    

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.

Leverage AI For Competitive Edge With Omnichannel Pharma Marketing

Posted on by
Reply

With the requirements of strict compliance to ‘Covid appropriate behavior’ becoming critical for all, pharma reps’ physical access to physicians for F2F calls got severely restricted, across the world.

A paper from IQVIA of May 14, 2021, reported: ‘As patient visits shifted to digital in 2020, pharma was pushed to digital customer engagement at the same time.’ It further added, ‘there was a 75% decrease in promotional activity worldwide, and up to a 500% increase in engagement via remote channels. In my article dated October 19, 2020, I also wrote that the pandemic propels healthcare into a new and the virtual world, creating a new growth driver for pharma.

Looking ahead the above IQVIA paper envisaged – post pandemic, when the medical profession will get ‘busy with a backlog of patients returning to in-office visits, providers may prefer to continue engaging remotely with pharmaceutical reps via email or video conference.’ As this trend gains traction with greater application of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it may prove to be a blessing in disguise, to excel in pharma business with greater cost-effectiveness and overall business productivity than the pre-Covid era.

I deliberated some of these issues in my article of April 05, 2021. However, my today’s deliberation would focus on the relevance of leveraging AI to gain a competitive edge in the changing dynamics with Omnichannel pharma marketing.

Let me start with a basic question – would Omnichannel marketing significantly help to achieve greater cost-effectiveness in pharma business as compared to the old normal?

Would digital transformations yield greater cost-effectiveness?

This point was also deliberated by the JAMA Health Forum on September 08, 2020. It found: “The switch to video meetings and online presentations has made drug promotion far less costly for companies – no travel expenses for sales reps and doctors, no fine dining events, and low fixed costs of producing video content that can reach a large audience. History and economics tell us that the lower the costs of doing something, the more firms will engage in it.”

The article further reiterated – now that remote working has dissolved the boundaries between home and office, sales reps can reach doctors in their homes, at all hours, ratcheting up the intensity of exposure to product messaging. Having validated greater cost effectiveness of the digital shift of the pharma business operations, including marketing, let me get back to some key findings of the above IQVIA report dated May 14, 2021.

The new customer engagement model will expand to remote and digital:

The above IQVIA research captured the following worldwide trends, vindicating the above:

  • The trend of customer engagement preferences and behavior is shifting toward virtual and in favor of remote channels.
  • Relationships won’t go away, but reps will need to shift their focus from relationship management to more scientific engagement to ensure that detailing adds value to the doctors.
  • Remote detailing is here to stay with in-person detailing remains at an all-time low.
  • Depending on the therapeutic area, telehealth visits will increase anywhere from 50% to 200% from pre-COVID-19 numbers, with both patients and doctors appreciating their value.
  • To stay competitive in this new reality, pharma companies will have to adopt new models of customer engagement across their entire organization with more agility than ever before.
  • Companies will need to quickly understand different customer preferred channels, types of engagements with them, and shift investments based on the new information they’re receiving.
  • Flawless integration of such information for precise execution is critical for remote Omnichannel engagement capabilities – to deliver the right content and services to customers, while measuring impact.

A few years ago in the old normal, on December 18, 2018, I emphasized that: “Pioneering ‘Omnichannel’ engagement is pivotal” in the pharma business. Let’s have a quick recap of this area.

Relevance of Omnichannel marketing in pharma: 

For the last several years, pharma companies have tried to go beyond its traditional F2F interactions of sales reps with its customers, especially the physicians. However, Covid pandemic triggered a paradigm change in this area with a rapid increase in the use of multiple digital channels to offer remote interactive, and mostly live platforms to them. The channels, nature of content for each, time, and place of such personalized interactions, are selected according to specific customer preferences and are generally made available 24×7. The key objectives include, building customer loyalty towards pharma brands/services of the company and make them feel valued.

According to ‘Prognos Health’ - an Omnichannel approach in pharma includes a cross-channel strategy that seamlessly integrates content – both online and offline – to provide consistency across multiple end-to-end touch points

during the customer’s journey. This approach is especially important in pharma marketing where physicians tend to be short on time and are under pressure to make treatment decisions quickly for their patients.

A well-researched and innovative Omnichannel campaign when meticulously executed, is expected to be more effective, as it helps pharma players to reach the right customers, at a right time with the right content. Besides, it is more cost-effective, as by leveraging AI, it can help optimize the nature and quantum of promotional spend – based on previous outcomes and other measurable impacts.

According to Prognos Health, an Omnichannel approach in pharma includes a cross-channel strategy that seamlessly integrates content – both online and offline – to provide consistency across multiple touch points during the customer’s journey. That said, this approach comes with a challenge – clarity of mind for pharma marketers while taking each major strategic step in this endeavor.

Omnichannel marketing isn’t another name of Multichannel engagement:

It is important to note that ‘Omnichannel (all-channel)’ pharma marketing isn’t just another name of ‘Multichannel (many-channel)’ engagement. However, both will be able to deliver targeted contents to patients through several interactive digital platforms. These include smartphone-based Apps, specially formatted websites, social media community and the likes. But the difference is - ‘Omnichannel approach connects these channels, bridging technology-communication gaps that may exist in multichannel solutions.’

An article on why pharma marketers are embracing Omnichannel marketing, published in the Pharmaceutical Executive  on June 30, 2021, highlighted: ‘An integrated strategy based on Omnichannel marketing is now increasingly replacing multichannel marketing.’ Nonetheless, any change from the fragmented and siloed multichannel approach to Omnichannel marketing would entail ‘simultaneous orchestration of channels across personal, non-personal, and media.’ This is essential to address the integrated needs of multiple stakeholders –consumers/patients, healthcare professionals, and payers. ‘Bringing the channels and stakeholders together in a truly integrated manner is the pivotal shift required to break through today’s noisy and crowded pharmaceutical marketplace,’ the article said. No wonder, why Omnichannel pharma marketing is considered by many as ‘‘The Cinderella of marketing activities,’ as it were.

Omnichannel approach – ‘The Cinderella of marketing activities’:

The pharma players’ confidence in juggling traditional channels with digital means is certainly increasing since the onset of Covid pandemic. Interestingly, the L.E.K Consulting article on this subject, published on May 24, 2021, also articulated, why only an astute pharma marketer can handle it the way it should be.

It said, ‘true Omnichannel engagement — the integration, orchestration and tailoring of customer interactions across multiple channels to match HCPs’ profile-specific needs — has been the Cinderella of marketing activities. Although, multichannel engagement — the use of two or more channels that run relatively independently from one another — is increasingly in use, ‘the Omnichannel engagement model is altogether more dynamic and complex.’

Let me take this thread to flag, how dynamic and complex Omnichannel marketing is, to reap a rich harvest in the pharma business. Application of AI will be necessary to facilitate this process.

The role of AI in Omnichannel pharma marketing:

Although, drug companies have now the requisite tools for stakeholder engagement across several channels – Omnichannel marketing will prompt their marketers to clearly know – from relevant data analysis – the answers to some critical questions. These queries include – which channels to choose for the specific customers? In what frequency? What should be the right content for each?

Yet another article from the Pharmaceutical Executive, published on July 15, 2021, underscored: ‘The answers to these questions at scale – can only be achieved using AI.’ It further reiterated that in this process, AI creates a more personalized engagement. Ironically, in this scenario, “the artificial intelligence enables a natural experience – infusing humanity back into marketing and sales.” 

Conclusion:

In the hindsight, many experts interviewed in the above article, feel that historically, pharma’s traditional product-driven marketing model has fallen short of delivering coherent and high-quality customer experience. This is sometimes due to internal competition between brands, besides lack of customer listening, and frequent employee turnover. Following this model – for a long time, alienated pharma companies, their customers, the patients, the public at large, and also the regulating authorities.

In the new normal, when Covid-19 pushes pharma to walk the talk of ‘Patient-Centricity’, the companies need to jettison its product-driven marketing model. ‘No matter how many apps and brand portals a company offers, the model was doomed to failure because it centered on the brand, not on the customer,’ as several hands-on global pharma leaders believe.

In this scenario, as I wrote on August 10, 2020, the drug players need to shift from disease centered care to patient-goals directed care in the new normal where Omnichannel marketing – backed by AI, will play a game changing role for excellence. AI will help pharma marketers use real time – unbiased data, to know what exactly a customer’s expectations are from the company, and deliver the deliverables accordingly, to delight them. From this perspective, I reckon, leveraging AI to gain a competitive edge through Omnichannel marketing, could be a game changer to win a pharma marketing warfare.

By: Tapan J. Ray  

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.