Leverage AI For Competitive Edge With Omnichannel Pharma Marketing

Posted on July 26, 2021 by Tapan Ray

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.

Pharma Marketing: The New Normal: Challenges of Change

Posted on June 28, 2021 by Tapan Ray

A lot has changed in healthcare marketing prompted by the Covid pandemic. Apace with these, lots of old problems continue to remain very much the same. The aforesaid was observed in a recent article, published by WARC, on May 21, 2021. Although, this analysis was done in the United States, it has a global footprint, as the disruptions are broadly similar, with a varying degree from country to country.

Healthcare marketing leadership, including the pharma industry in India, presumably, is taking notes of these critical changes, along with their degree of impact. These are the basics for required responses in India, while managing its snowballing effect, both global and local.

Today’s article will provide a bird’s eye view of this area, to encourage marketers continue with their ongoing deep-dive data gathering exercise. Then, comes sieving the ‘catch’ with cerebral power – before using modern analytics to draw meaningful inferences for strategy making.

Some macro-changes stand out:

Some of these widely visible changes, also captured in the above WARC article, include the following:

An emerging trend of re-orientation of the healthcare industry around patient outcomes.

Need to realize that health and safety are the currency that can be used to rebuild consumer trust across categories.

Increasing need to build deeper emotional connections with customers, going beyond product-oriented features, benefits, and intrinsic brand values.

Providing healthcare consumers more data and behavioral science-driven, personalized solutions to their problems – to drive better outcomes.

More people are realizing that: ‘Healthcare, after all, is about life and death, and those stakes have been tragically reaffirmed during the pandemic,’ as the above paper underscores. Thus, affordable “health and safety will continue to be a currency that brands can use to re-establish trust with anxious consumers,” the author reiterates. To steer a company in that direction the marketers need to create a pathway for success by joining several emerging dots in the new normal. Let give just a flavor of these emerging dots with three examples, as below.

‘The end point – the price point’ - re-emerging as a core value expectation:

Interestingly, ‘The end point – the price point’ for quality treatment outcomes is re-emerging as one of the core values and expectations of the consumers, especially facing an uncertain future that everybody is witnessing today. The health system is also transitioning from ‘pay for healthcare product and services’ – to ‘pay for integrated value-based care offerings.’ In the changing environment, many pharma players seem to have realized that customers are no longer interested in paying for brand values that serve mostly self-serving interests of the respective companies.

More healthcare customers are digitally savvy now:

Today’s brand values need to be in sync with what the perceived value of the customers, enhancing their end-to-end experience of the disease treatment process, more than ever before. For example, increasing number of patients are now choosing between F2F – in-clinic consultations and remote or virtual consultations, for non-life-threatening ailments. Some often do data-driven online assessment for different treatment value offerings, against what these would cost to them.

Purpose driven corporate branding is making better impact:

Pharma industry’s purpose-driven branding initiatives, in tandem with creating robust corporate brands, are drawing much greater public attention amid the pandemic. The list includes both the original product developers and their contract manufacturers. Even in India, many held with esteem – Corporates, such as, AstraZeneca and Serum Institute of India (SII) for Covishield, or Bharat Biotech for Covaxin.

The same thing has happened world-wide with many other Covid vaccine and drug manufacturers, such as, Pfizer, Johnson &Johnson, Moderna, Eli-Lilly, Roche, and others. Interestingly, from the available data in the cyberspace or from word-of-mouth, several people have also inferred about comparative value offerings of each. At least 4 Covid vaccine manufacturers are showing-up in this year’s ‘Conscious Brands 100’ list of 2021. This is, apparently, unprecedented.

Demonstration of ‘patients’-problem solving skill’ with resilience pays:

As we all know by now, the drug industry as such – across the world, instead getting overwhelmed by the problem, pulled up socks and rolled the sleeves to find out scientific means of saving as many lives as possible, soonest.

Almost overnight, repurposing old drugs for Covid treatment and development Covid vaccines, racing against time, were initiated. The entire healthcare industry including, Medical Diagnostic and Devices companies and others, did not fall behind to offer reliable tests for Covid diagnosis, and other life support systems and equipment.

Alongside, Omnichannel digital campaigns of many companies, and favorable news reports amid the pandemic, made people realize the stellar role of the industry in saving lives and livelihoods – from the Covid menace.

Such examples include Pfizer’s What to know About Coronavirus webpage; Merck Inc’s Podcast: How Merck is looking at past epidemics and science to respond to the coronavirus outbreak; and India’s Mankind Pharma’s Mask My India digital campaign. It captures the stories of heroes, who are setting examples and doing more than their call of duty during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The campaign also spreads the message that ‘together we can all fight with deadly Coronavirus.’

Some pandemic-triggered India-specific challenges:

According to the April 2021 KPMG paper, Covid pandemic has brought to the fore some of the following challenges for the India pharma industry, some due to years of neglect:

Heavy dependence on imported API (60%) continues even during a national health crisis, including Covid vaccine related supplies.

Fragile public health care system and laboratory testing infrastructure and supplies of life support items. This primarily due to one of the lowest Government spend (1.56% of the GDP) on health. As a result, India currently ranks 155^th out of 167 countries, in terms of hospital bed availability (Human Development Report 2020) with just 5 beds availability per 10, 000 Indians.

Changes in health care consumption pattern – especially with the increasing use of e-health or telehealth, besides, online ordering of medicines through e-pharmacies.

Apart from these, it’s also noteworthy – how pharma demonstrated its healthcare ‘problem solving’ skill to save billions of lives from deadly Covid-19 and its mutants, attracting unprecedented kudos from all corners. To keep this initiative going – meeting customers’ core expectations, in my view, could indeed be yet another challenge of change.

Conclusion:

There won’t be any ‘one size fits all’ sort of solution to address such challenges of change. Neither is all company’s challenges the same, in a relative yardstick. Each company would, therefore, need to understand what the pandemic triggered changes in market dynamics and customer expectations mean to them to pursue sustainable business excellence.

Thus, each player would require to elaborately make data-based assessment and analysis, to figure out where they currently stand, so far are the pandemic-triggered changes are concerned. With similar analysis, they should also try to fathom what are their customers’ specific value expectations, which may now go beyond the value that their brands can deliver, but critical for branding success.

Accordingly, a value delivery strategy to be worked out, taking all concerned on-board – with a carefully crafted employee and customer engagement blueprint – and mostly Omnichannel digital platforms.

To successfully navigate through the challenges of change, pharma marketers need to wear a different thinking cap. They would also need to realize that treating pharma marketing as an intrinsic product value delivery system, and by just doing digitally whatever traditionally used to be done manually, may not help generate an adequate return in the new normal. From this perspective, giving shape to a robust, comprehensive, integrated and Omnichannel digital strategic game plan for the organization, is the need of the hour.

By: Tapan J. Ray

Being Eclectic – A Pharma Leadership Quality In The New Normal

Posted on June 21, 2021 by Tapan Ray

It’s no-brainer that since the onset of Covid pandemic, digitalization initiative of many pharma companies in critical facets of business operations, has reached a new high. The process is now fast accelerating with the adoption of avant-garde ideas, and scalable digital tools and platforms. Some of these initiatives may be incremental in nature, but several others possess game changing potential in delivering business outcomes.

This period of transformation is also an opportune time for pharma leadership to be more eclectic, while working out strategies to gain business momentum – outpacing the competition. As is being revealed, strategic inputs from a diverse range of sources – often from totally different areas, to meet fast changing customer needs and expectations, would immensely help in the new normal.

In this article, I shall argue on the need of being eclectic for pharma leadership to gain competitive edge, especially in the trying times. I shall elaborate this point with the example of an eclectic idea – Gamification. If used where it ought to be, eclectic ideas may help organizations to successfully navigate through unprecedented disruptions, especially, caused by Covid pandemic, in various critical areas of pharma business.

Gamification – an eclectic strategic tool for pharma:

Gamification – an eclectic strategic tool, ‘incentivizes people’s engagement and activities to drive results with game-like mechanics.’ Various companies, across the industries, are leveraging this technique for greater effectiveness in different business domains. This includes, driving employee motivation for sustainable performance excellence.

I discussed ‘Gamification in Pharma’ in this blog – about a year before the onset of the pandemic. However, its potential is being increasingly realized with virtual engagement becoming more common during Covid pandemic. Several drug companies are now imbibing Gamification techniques to offer greater value in several areas of business. These include, among others, chronic disease management, adherence to the prescribed dosage regimen, and also for training and development.

The core purpose and value:

The core purpose of Gamification is to effectively engage with both internal and external customers of an organization, with clearly captured details of their changing needs and expectations in the new normal. Game mechanics are basically the rules and rewards that build the foundation of game play. Game dynamics involve a set of emotions, behaviors and desires found in game mechanics that help foster engagement and motivate participants.

The broad process of Gamification entails integration of game mechanics on various existing platforms. These include, a website, online community, learning tools - providing target audiences with proactive directives and feedback through game mechanics that lead to the accomplishments of business goals and objectives.

According to BI Worldwide - a global engagement agency, ‘Gamification is about driving engagement to influence business results.’ When people participate and engage with gamification initiatives, they learn the best way to interact with the business, its products, services and in thereby in the brand building process.

It further says, the business value of Gamification doesn’t end with the participant. Engagement with game mechanics provides insightful data that can help influence marketing campaigns, platform utilization and performance goals. Every employee or customer interaction gives a better sense of where a participant is spending their time and what activities drive interest.

Application of ‘Gamification’ in pharma is a decade old now:

Gamification isn’t totally a new concept in the pharma industry. It was successfully tried by some pharma majors, at least, about a decade ago. Let me give below just a couple of examples from that period to get a feel of it:

Way back in 2011, Pfizer created the Back in Play game for European patients, to boost knowledge of ankylosing spondylitis, a disease that causes inflammation in the spine and pelvis joints. Interestingly, the game delivered a simple healthcare message to a notoriously difficult to reach audience 38 million times.

In 2012, Boehringer Ingelheim launched its pharma game – ‘Syrum’ on Facebook platform. This particular initiative is considered as an evolution in the pharma industry’s use of the social media platform. It gave the Company a new tool to educate and expand the knowledge of the general public about the challenges of its business. It also helped to improve disease awareness, besides allowing the company to conduct its market research.

Besides these two, other interesting Gamification initiatives taken around that period include, Zec Attack (Novartis), Silence Your Rooster (Sanofi).

Its potential in pharma marketing – and what to avoid:

Applying game mechanics to healthcare marketing could also help ensure that patients are activated, educated, and engaged throughout the duration of their care, driving both – business performance and patient outcomes. This observation was made in an article on ‘Gamification’, published in the Pharmaceutical Executive on February 28, 2019. Another article titled, ‘Gamification is Serious Business’ also reiterates, ‘Research and case studies from both the academic and healthcare space bring forth ample evidence that games can improve patient compliance and healthcare outcomes.’

However, if any pharma marketer enters into the gamification arena with greater focus on the desired outcome than on patient goals, or the games themselves don’t excite, engage, and motivate the users, the efforts may not succeed.

Gamified e-learning helps during Covid pandemic:

An interesting study on ‘The Impact of COVID-19 on Learning,’ conducted by find courses, noted some interesting points. A few of which, are as follows:

Covid pandemic is fueling an unprecedented interest and opportunity for many people to acquire more job knowledge and skills, mainly to protect their future in uncertain times.

In tandem, people’s priorities when it comes to learning are also changing. Health-safety being at the forefront of many learners’ minds, they prefer mostly online courses, or heavily reduced classroom sizes - to maintain social distancing.

It has also been noted that many such learners often find virtual learning programs uninteresting and lackluster. Sensing this issue, many organizations, which include some pharma companies, are now using Gamification to augment learning effectiveness and build greater team harmony. Let me illustrate this point with an example from the pharma industry during the ongoing pandemic.

It’s more relevant in the new normal:

On June 04, 2021, Fierce Pharma featured an article on Pharma companies’ getting into gaming to boost retention, recall – and fun. There, it quoted a top official of the global pharma major AbbVie, who said: “Gamification has become more important and more impactful in the virtual environment.” The honcho further said: “The pandemic showed we need this now more than ever. – It’s given an extra push to what has always been core to what we do, which is retention and recall in a fun and engaging manner.”

The report elaborates, AbbVie Canada uses gamification to onboard new reps, district managers and brand managers as well as for national sales meetings. Instead of studying or reading up, AbbVie asks employees to do the advance work through gamification tasks and then follows with more tasks after the meetings to boost retention and recall.

The Global Healthcare Gamification Market Report 2021-2027, also vindicates this point. As it reported, utilization of new healthcare gamification applications based on mobile tablets and laptops, witnessed a good growth during Covid pandemic. It reported, ‘Healthcare Gamification Market’ is expected to reach US$35,982.7 million in 2027 from US$ 3,072.5 million in 2019 with an estimated CAGR of 36.2% from 2020-2027.

Gamification is now being used by pharma in India, as well:

Abbott India is using elements of gamification in its customer services through a: care program. As the company Press Release says: ‘This new healthcare service is designed with games, quizzes and recognition programs to support patients, doctors and pharmacists throughout the entire healthcare journey, from awareness and prevention to motivation to get and stay healthy.’

In India, since quite some time, many well-known non-pharma companies are successfully using gamification for employee engagement and hiring.

Conclusion:

Unprecedented disruptions caused by Covid pandemic have considerably impacted the business operations of virtually every industry in India – just as other nations, across the globe. Since the onset of the pandemic, non-covid related medical centers, fitness institutions or gyms remained shut. Getting F2F – in clinic or hospital care, especially for non-Covid patients were also challenging for several reasons, with virtual care being the only options for many.

Interestingly, with most interactions and engagements – including learning, training and development programs going virtual, ‘Gamification’ initiatives started gathering wind on the sail, in some of those areas. This happened mainly because, organizations, institutions and people were driven to look for digital and app-based solutions for all needs and necessities, for a sustainable progress in an uncertain future.

An article on gamification, published in the PharmaPhorum on March 21, 2021, reiterated the same. It said, “Gamification” – adding game-like elements into non-game or real-world settings – has become a popular concept in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, and event industries, especially as virtual engagement becomes more common during COVID-19.’

With diverse applications and approaches, Gamification is quickly becoming a promising tool in various areas of pharma service and operations. These include, patient adherence, chronic disease management, preventive medicine, rehabilitation, besides better customer engagement, medical education, training, hiring and more.

From this perspective, in my view, pharma leadership now needs to more eclectic, and try using methods and approaches, such as, ‘Gamification’ – drawn from various other disciplines, in pursuit of excellence in the new normal.

By: Tapan J. Ray

Augment Pharma Customers’ New Value Expectations With Content Marketing

Posted on May 31, 2021 by Tapan Ray

‘COVID-19 is driving lasting changes in what HCPs need and value,’ found the Accenture Healthcare Provider Survey May 2020, named – ‘Reinventing Relevance.’ Several physicians from the US, Europe and Asia were found to have experienced a significant change taking place in many pharma companies’ communication with them – going much beyond just product information.

The study observed, right from the early days of Covid-19 pandemic, daily operations of many health care providers (HCPs) shifted to more virtual interactions with both patients and pharma companies. The participating doctors also felt, the services that pharma companies are now offering deliver higher value than the pre-pandemic period.

Accenture’s follow-up study in August 2020 reiterated, ‘pharma companies have improved how they engage with healthcare providers during Covid-19.’ It, therefore, appears that the new value expectations of many physicians are being met with a newer value delivery model, significantly deviating from pre-Covid practices.

For example, in the above August 2020 survey, most HCPs said pharma players are increasingly providing education on how to better treat patients remotely and help them manage their conditions in light of COVID-19. Besides, some of these companies are also helping patients understand various contemporary health and care related issues.

Against this backdrop, as the study underscored: ‘Now is the time for pharma companies to redefine their relevance.’ Picking up from here – in this article, I shall focus on the relevance of ‘Content Marketing’ in pharma to effectively deliver the new value expectations of physicians with a new value delivery model.

Pharma marketing can’t be ‘an outdated and uncoordinated analogue’ any longer:

Since quite some time, technological innovation has started opening new vistas of opportunities with new tools, multi-channels, and platforms for personalized and more effective customer engagement in pharma. But, majority of tradition-bound pharma players, unlike their counterparts in other industries, preferred to stick to the single channel marketing model, that has been offering golden eggs, till Covid-19 struck.

It’s not that no one in pharma knew at that time about the usefulness of content marketing. This is vindicated even in the article on the future of pharma marketing, published in the Pharmaphorum, on May 23, 2017. It wrote: ‘Where others have taken marketing innovation in their stride, pharma retains an outdated and uncoordinated analogue perspective of how to communicate its business.’

Citing examples of some pharma marketers, such as, Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly, it wrote, ‘while moves have been made to embrace new marketing methods, such as the integration of digital technologies for multichannel marketing (MCM) strategies, the way forward for pharma marketing is far from clear.’ It was – then.

It is different now;

Covid-19 pandemic has encouraged many pharma marketers to expand marketing focus much beyond just product information to meet their customers new value expectations. These encompass some critical areas, as the May and August 2020 surveys of Accenture have brought out.

For many companies, content marketing strategy with an omnichannel presence will help build long-term relationships with customers. That said, for all to be on the same page, let me recap – what exactly is content marketing, and its difference from the traditional single channel marketing in the pharma industry.

Content marketing in pharma:

According to the Content Marketing Institute: ‘Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience – and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.’

Instead of pitching the products or services, content marketing provides contemporary, relevant, and useful content to customers to help them solve their contemporary issues in the given space. Since quite some time, content marketing is being practiced in many industries, including -by a selected few in pharma, as indicated above.

The key difference from traditional marketing:

The value of content marketing lies in the quality of personalized engagement between the customer and the company with personalized content through different channels. From this perspective, while traditional marketing is akin to ‘shouts’ at the customers – generally, for a brand prescription, whereas content marketing is akin to ‘talking’ with them for a solution. Content marketing in pharma is, therefore, about a grand strategy for effective participation in meaningful conversations for development stronger stakeholder relationships.

Content marketing usually includes educational articles – on the company website or in the form of e-books, videos, infographics, white papers, magazines, podcasts, or webinars. The content for all these need to be tailor made to credibly answer specific questions that customers have and provide them with something they can’t get elsewhere. This process of creating a deeper and a sustainable bond with stakeholders, often pays a rich commercial dividend, even in trying times.

Increasing use of content marketing, especially, in a fast-changing scenario, as we witness today, can help a pharma company to change and enhance its customer’s behavior toward the company, in a win-win manner.

Some recent examples of content marketing in pharma:

For more clarity, let me give below a few examples of good content marketing in the pharma industry, as available in the cyberspace – some of them capturing Covid related issues too:

Speak Your Migraine, developed by Novartis, was created to support people living with migraine. The website carries an impact assessment tool for the visitors to feel how migraine affects people’s lives, enabling them to openly share their experiences with doctors and family.

Lilly Pad is Eli Lilly’s official blog, consisting of articles on the company, its research to cure diseases and improve the quality of lives. The blog also provides details of the health and public policy, along with corporate social responsibility of the organization in various areas of the society.

Takeda Pharmaceutical launched its campaign IBD Unmasked to support and create increased awareness of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The campaign aims to help IBD sufferers find their inner super-strength and become superheroes like the characters featured in the graphic novels within the campaign.

Bayer’s content marketing initiatives span across print and digital media with a large following. The organization publishes two well-appreciated publications as a carrier of its content: The Bayer Scientific Magazine and the Bayer Magazine.

Conclusion:

Overall, pharma and biotech industries don’t seem to be doing as well in this area. According to ‘The State of Content Survey for Life Sciences’ by Accenture, only very few of them think that they are doing well. For example:

Just 13% of pharma and biotech marketers and 17% of med tech marketers think they leverage content well.

Only 4% in med tech and 11% in pharma/biotech report they have a clearly documented content strategy that meets their current and future needs (compared to 42% across all industries).

Only 6% of med tech marketers and 9% of pharma/biotech marketers feel objectives are clearly laid out (versus 19% across all industries).

It is quite possible that more than a year since Covid disruptions, this situation has somewhat improved for some companies. Nevertheless, amid this complex environment, most of the pharma and biotech players still require defining a robust ‘content marketing strategy’ for them. Establishing clear objectives of the content strategy based on well-researched data, along with its measurement criteria, will demand a quality thought process. Depending on the strategic requirements, the leadership will need to put in place an organizational structure for content marketing, including people, processes, technology, and tools that can deliver the stated content marketing goals – both during, as well as after the pandemic period.

Thus, I reckon, to effectively augment pharma customers’ new value expectations, content marketing needs to occupy an important place in today’s pharma marketing playbook.

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.

Rebalance KOL-Mix As Covid-19 Redefines Pharma Marketing

Posted on May 24, 2021 by Tapan Ray

‘It’s safe to say that 2020 was a year like no other and that 2021 will certainly not revert back to the old normal,’ reiterated the Harvard Business Review Article - ‘10 Truths About Marketing After the Pandemic,’ of March 10, 2021. Amid Covid 2.0, several astute pharma marketers, I reckon, have also realized the same by now. The recent Government announcement on the impending third wave of Covid-19, coupled with slow vaccination pace in the country, further strengthens this possibility.

That said, making all internalize that pharma marketing, and specifically the brand building process will no longer remain – as it traditionally was, may still be a tough task. Mere digitalization of the traditional marketing processes won’t be a magic wand, either, to excel in the rapidly transforming market situation. The task ahead is fundamentally cerebral – ahead of any Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and applications.

With the market dynamics going through a metamorphosis, pharma marketing needs to be redefined. Capturing the nuances of this redefinition is essential also to ensure the right focus on the right Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) – for successful branding with long-term image building. Today’s article will focus on this less charted area during the pandemic. Let me begin with a few examples of the redefined areas of marketing triggered by disruptive changes in the current pharma business environment.

Traditional pharma marketing axioms need to be redefined:

To give a flavor of this redefinition, I shall pick up the following two examples from the above Harvard Business Review Article and then zero-in on just one, to explore the recasting and rebalancing need of the KOLs, for business excellence in the new normal:

A. Technology and human enablement:

Pre-pandemic belief: The right tech stack to drive modern marketing success.

Post-pandemic need: The right balance of factors (including tech stack) to drive modern marketing success.

In pre-pandemic days, focus on “tech stack” was emerging as an end-all game changer for marketing. But in the pandemic days there emerges a need to take a step back. The right approach to human enablement is becoming the key to properly understand the changes and their implications in the pharma business environment. Human enablement includes, making sure that people have the right skills to select and employ the most appropriate environment specific technology tools, effectively. The system should also ensure that the right measurement approaches are in place to motivate innovation and rewarding success.

B. Relationship building to drive marketing success

Pre-pandemic belief: Relationships matter to drive marketing success

Post-pandemic need: Relationship building is everything to drive modern marketing success

Building relationship with customers rests on the bedrock of trust. Covid-19 has placed a new emphasis on relationships, faced with a near virtual sales environment. New findings indicate, the teams with existing relationships have been able to maintain revenue momentum, capitalizing on the strength of their prior bonds. In contrast, prospecting for new customers has required an evolved set of skills focused on selling solutions, not products, as the Harvard Business Review Article emphasized.

Trust, credibility, and integrity are fundamental to driving market momentum. These are foundational to the value exchange between a company and a consumer. As the Harvard paper writes, this has necessitated ‘a serious recasting of talent to identify people best suited to driving relationships in this new world of online interactions — a world that relies less on charm (and even an expense account) and more on insights and solutions. Trust will be built by and rewarded to those that listen to customer needs and then craft solutions to meet those needs.’

Thus, I believe, in the redefined pharma market, the marketers need to have a fresh look with fresh a pair of eyes to expand and select their KOLs to achieve their business goals – consistently, in the years ahead.

Pandemic impacted pharma’s KOL outreach:

Pharma marketers are well-aware how much they rely on their KOLs in several areas of a brand building strategy, including the creation of widely acknowledged brand reputation, winning key stakeholder trust on brands. Thus, a robust strategy for engaging with stakeholders – based on KOL inputs, continue to remain an area of paramount importance for drug companies.

From this perspective, as I wrote before, during the early days of national lockdown triggered by Covid-19 pandemic, many marketers felt that in-person KOL outreach activities in physical events have only got disrupted temporarily. As the disruption prolonged, some companies hurriedly shifted online. Others hopefully kept waiting for some more time, and then tried to figure out how to catch up quickly by switching over to a more effective, interactive – and situation-specific contemporary communication channels and platforms, for them.

Marketers require recasting their KOL outreach strategy:

No doubt, KOL engagement remains a high priority area for pharma marketers - for guidance with fresh inputs while charting a new marketing pathway, mainly based on their:

Therapy area expertise where the company represents, and the sphere of influence
The span of influence to further business progress, gaining stakeholder trust and building brand reputation.

As the market environment and stakeholder expectations have altered significantly, in several marketing related areas, pharma marketers require quickly recasting their KOL outreach strategy, including virtual communication models and platforms. Many may consider, for valid reasons, though, that virtual events may not be as effective as effective as F2F physical events.

Notably, some well-researched digital outreach strategy for the KOLs – tailor-made according to their new expectations in the changing market dynamics, are trying to fetch the best out of them. The new initiative is also improving the effectiveness of virtual interactions manifold, steadily – with the ongoing honing of the processes. However, this would involve fresh mapping, and identification of a contemporary set of KOLs, soon, with in-depth understanding of their needs and interests.

Pharma KOL-mix need to include ‘influencers’ also:

Just to recap, KOLs are experts in their respective fields. Each one of them is also a well-regarded and influential voice, whose expert advice is respected and followed by many others – related to that field. These may include authorities in the same industry, whose opinion or decisions may have significant influence or impact on the business. In that sense, KOLs play the role of influencers, too.

Traditionally, in the drug industry KOLs are selected from accomplished and well-decorated medical experts who are often early adopters of new brands, playing a significant role in the prescription decision of other doctors.

Leveraging two other key roles of KOLs in the changing environment:

The other two roles that need to be leveraged by pharma companies in the in the changing environment may include:

Making more people aware of the critical roles of pharma brands, e.g., what people have witnessed recently with Covid-19 drugs and vaccines.

Improving brand credibility and corporate reputation by gaining stakeholder trust. This is usually triggered a favorable word-of-mouth awareness of the role that the company is playing to save and improve the quality of human lives – and, in that process, the livelihoods.

This gets reflected in the most recent annual Axious Harris 100 survey, where two widely publicized Covid-19 vaccine makers – ‘Moderna and Pfizer leaped into the top 10 best-regarded companies in the U.S,’ among all other industries. This clearly highlights ‘Americans love their vaccine makers’. As reported, Moderna ranked third, while Pfizer featured at No. 7 on the strength of its product and innovation scores, nabbing high marks for vision and culture along the way.

‘They’re the first biopharma companies to crack the top 10 in the ranking’s 20-year history.’ Interestingly, Johnson & Johnson, which featured in the top 10 before; this year, it ranks 72 on the list with a reputation score roughly the same as 2020’s,’ the report adds.

KOL outreach needs to be more focused and well-targeted on even niches:

This is an important need and has been vindicated by Deloitte focus group studies in the U.S., India, South Africa and the U.K and published on May 06, 2021. The studies found that the pandemic did improve overall pharma reputation score with a ‘reason to hope for more.’

However, still many respondents used phrases like, “profit-making” and “harmful”, as reasons of why they don’t trust pharma. Curiously, in the U.S., 29% of people cited “questionable moral integrity of biopharma executives” as a problem. Only about one-fourth (26%) of participants agreed that their trust in drug makers increased during the pandemic, even when Deloitte mentioned vaccine development.

Conclusion:

To mitigate such reputation, trust, and credibility related issues, besides transparency in drug pricing, besides efficacy and safety related research-data, pharma needs to work closely with a wider span of KOLs, who may help in explaining complex science in simpler words.

As the above Deloitte studies bring to the fore, the pandemic could be yet another fresh starting point for pharma to gain long-term trust of customers, and other stakeholders. In that endeavor, a fresh set of KOLs need to be identified through well-structured mapping. This initiative should ideally include, besides top medical and regulatory experts of high repute, globally acknowledged academics, top domain experts, and key members of the government.

Thus, in my view, as the pandemic redefines pharma marketing, there is an important need of rebalancing the KOL-mix of each company, based on their specific needs, especially in the virtual space, as the situation will unfold.

By: Tapan J. Ray

Shape of Future Pharma Operations – Emerging A Pragmatic Outlook?

Posted on April 12, 2021 by Tapan Ray

Just as newer reports come almost every day on safety, efficacy, dosage interval or span of immunity of Covid vaccines, similar reports are also reaching us about the possible future shape of pharma sales and marketing operations. Some hardcore optimists, apparently more from India, still believe that current changes in pharma customer behavior are mostly transient. All business processes will eventually fall in their traditional grooves, as the Covid menace disappears from our lives soon.

No doubt, several studies are also bringing out a number of respondent doctors’ preferences on reverting to F2F engagements, programs and events. Nonetheless, most other experts, including several large global pharma majors, believe that the future shape of business operations won’t be quite the same as the past. There are better ways to be more effective, leveraging the changing environment. Accordingly, they have initiated actions, reimagining the pathway of new operational frontiers. In this article, I shall explore the evolving pragmatic outlook in just two of these action areas:

The new and unique role of medical representatives
Digital health care solutions as a new growth opportunity

New role of medical representatives:

A recent survey published by Reuters Events Pharma on December 18, 2020, revealed that 30% of the respondents still expect that Medical Reps’ (MR) face-to-face access to HCPs would return to the status quo ante of Covid pandemic restrictions. However, a majority of 70% felt that the old normal is unlikely return as such. The study also brought out that the size and disposition of sales teams are under review by many of pharma players and smaller field forces look likely, as the industry moves on.

My personal experience with the Indian Pharma Industry sources suggests, when a Covid pandemic wave starts finding its peak, the feeling of the above 70% prevails. However, when the same wave climbs down from its peak to a transient trough, a large number of Indian companies and experts tend to feel somewhat akin to what the above 30% expressed in the Reuters Events Pharma survey. The process gets repeated with the emergence of the next wave.

Alongside, as the above survey also finds out, most physicians are no longer expecting – brand-driven high sales pitches, during any MR-Doctor interaction or the engagement process. Instead, they are increasingly looking for insights – in an integrated, personalized and value-driven interactions with the Reps.

Considering this as a trend of over last one year or so, it is likely that MR-doctor interactions will now need to be on digital and omnichannel platforms to deliver a personalized and value driven an experience to the customers. In this environment, the field force may be smaller in size than what it used to be in early 2020 but will have a unique new role to play. This process will come with a new challenge, especially to those inbred companies, who are still undecided about the road ahead for business excellence, in the new normal.

Three new pharma leadership challenges:

Apparently, a large number of domestic drug companies, irrespective of size and scale of operations still feel comfortable to be in the old comfort zone that had propelled the business in a growth trajectory. Most pharma sales and marketing staff members, at several levels, have grown within the industry, consistently delivering high performance.

This situation by itself, as the above research paper revealed, poses three fresh challenges for many companies to make their field-staff ready to play a unique and fresh role in e-marketing. Thus, the three new knots to untie in the virtual world, are the following:

Currently, most MRs are not proficient in selling in virtually,
They are being led by people who have also never sold virtually,
They are being trained by people who also have never sold virtually.

MRs will continue to have a role to play even in the digital world:

To overcome the above challenges, today’s reality prompts new L&D needs of pharma’s new e-environment. And from this perspective, I think, they would need professional domain experts’ hand-holding, at least, in the transition phase of digital marketing. Some companies have initiated this process for greater sales force effectiveness, since 2019. A recent example in this area may be quoted from a report on October 01, 2019.

The article highlights, ‘AstraZeneca sales reps have some new help in the coaching department, resulting improved interactions and better development of sales reps’ strengths. While leaders still manage reps, artificial intelligence—in the form of data generated from thousands of field-coaching forms—now adds machine-learned analysis and advice.’

Thus, it is worth noting that MRs will continue to play an important role, alongside remote digital marketing using omnichannel or multi-channel engagement platforms. The same also came out clearly in the latest study from healthcare consultancy ZoomRx, reported on April 08, 2021, where its findings raised an important question - ‘Did pharma overshoot digital sales rep calls?’ This dilemma was prompted by the study charts reflecting a decline in its effectiveness, during this specific survey period.

Thus, in my opinion, a hybrid business model for better performance will be more effective in the new normal. However, ascertaining the right mix of digital and MR’s in-person interactions, may pose a challenge for many pharma marketers.

Entry into digital health solutions – an opportunity for growth:

Before Covid pandemic, digital therapeutics or digital health solutions were not an unknown area for several pharma companies, as a growth booster in the modern world. But, it wasn’t explored so intensively as it is being discussed today, for the same. A recent paper titled, ‘Digital health during COVID-19: lessons from operationalizing new models of care in ophthalmology,’ published in The Lancet on February 01, 2021, vindicates this point.

The paper emphasized, due to Covid pandemic ‘the traditional face-to-face patient–physician care model has had to be re-examined in many countries, with digital technology and new models of care being rapidly deployed to meet the various challenges of the pandemic.’ It further highlighted, these new models incorporate digital health solutions such as telehealth, AI based decision support for triaging, besides clinical care, and home monitoring.

Global pharma majors, such as Novartis, have publicly acknowledged on January 21, 202 that ‘digital innovation looks set to dominate the 2021 healthcare agenda.’ The statement said, COVID-19 was a catalyst for change in healthcare during 2020 and an accelerator for digital health. Similarly, 2021 looks set to continue the revolution – exploiting ‘an explosion of interest, traction and scale’ in the potential for digital solutions. These would not only support remote working, but also keep the very fabric of business, healthcare, education, and essential services in operation.

Other important and recent examples of digital health care solutions:

Witnessing the COVID-19 pandemic pushing more people toward virtual doctor visits over the last one year, AstraZeneca, as reported on April 06, 2021, is preparing for it in the new normal, through a novel project with Massachusetts General Hospital. The Company is now in the process of establishing and validating its ‘recently launched digital health platform, designed to help patients with chronic illnesses manage their conditions without stepping foot into the academic medical center’s clinic.’

Similarly, several other companies, are also investing to be early entrants with user friendly state of the art technology in this space. Interestingly, many of these ventures were reported during March and April 2021.

Conclusion:

Arthur Miller’s play ‘Death of a Salesman,’ broadly addressed the loss of identity and a man’s inability to accept change within himself and society. Although, the book depicts a larger philosophical perspective of life – many pointed out similar issues in the drug industry perspective, as well.

Nonetheless, many studies have established, pharma MRs have been effectively delivering, since long, the endpoint deliverables, as expected of them – sales. However, the question that still haunts many – can this core process be re-imagined for greater efficiency and effectiveness at a lesser cost, harnessing modern technology. An article, published in the Pharmaphorum on March 11, 2011, has also suggested – ‘in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an even greater need to re-examine the rep’s role. How can a field force evolve to deal with current challenges and be future-fit for the way we will be working in the post-pandemic world?’

There is no confusion today that MRs’ will have a key role to play in pharma’s digital endeavor. However, the key purpose of having them has evolved during the pandemic. Such as, from being an efficient way to achieve personal communication objectives – to be an orchestrator for physicians to navigate the difficult landscape, providing them a differentiated service. For this purpose, I reckon, a hybrid business model for better performance, will be more effective in the new normal, while quickly adapting to digital transformation. However, arriving at the right mix of digital and MR’s in-person interactions, may pose a challenge for many pharma marketers, as it will be a company-specific need.

Similarly, the criticality of leveraging opportunities to provide remote delivery of digital health care solutions to patients, has also come onto the radar of many pharma players, during this difficult time. Several players have already added this area as a lucrative business expansion platform – many more are expected to follow. Thus, in my view, the fast-evolving data-based trends are now giving a pragmatic shape to future pharma operations – especially on the new and unique role of medical representatives and the relevance of digital health care solutions, as a growth opportunity.

By: Tapan J. Ray

With Changing Customer Behavior Pharma To Leverage AI For Better Engagement

Posted on April 5, 2021 by Tapan Ray

More than 55 million doses of Coronavirus vaccines were administered in India, reportedly, at the beginning of the last week of March 2021, in what is the world’s biggest inoculation drive. Notably, amid this mega initiative, the news media simultaneously reported that ‘India is facing a second wave of coronavirus because it let its guard down too soon.’ I also reiterated in my article of November 16, 2020 that in the thick of ‘Covid Vaccine Challenges – Abidance To Defined Health Norms Stays As Lifeguard.’

From the pharmaceutical industry perspective – as I had written on July 06, 2020, in the midst of this pandemic, there appears to be a break in the clouds that pharma should effectively leverage. There isn’t an iota of doubt that Covid pandemic, for-all-practical-purposes, has propelled healthcare into a virtual world, primarily for survival of business, maintaining the continuity.

Most pharma players, especially in the sales and marketing domain, either were not or, were using e-marketing, in a selective way, as a key strategic tool in their brand prescription generation process. The pace of this shift in the digital space is now getting accelerated to more than neutralize the long-term impact of unprecedented business disruptions that overwhelmed the industry, last year.

Interestingly, a large number of pharma marketers weren’t focusing much beyond syndicated retail and prescription audit data, in the old normal. Whereas, to make digital strategies work effectively during rapidly changing customer behavior and business environment, ‘customer centricity’ is no longer an option today. It’s rather a key business success factor for effective customer engagement, in the prevailing environment. Thus, unlocking the ‘Herculean Power’ of targeted data of many types and genre, is a pre-requisite for acquiring deep insight in this area, while moving in this direction.

Alongside, comes the need to unleash the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to ensure pinpoint accuracy in targeted strategy formulation for the same. Well before Covid struck, I wrote on April 01, 2019 – ‘A New Pharma Marketing Combo That Places Patients At The Center of Business,’ flagging a slowly emerging need. Covid, unexpectedly, has provided a strong tailwind to it, increasing its urgency manifold in the new normal.

Consequently, pharma marketers should have, at least, a working knowledge in this area – such as ‘machine learning’ and other analytics-based processes of AI that can help them enormously. In this article I shall discuss, why it is so important for today’s astute pharma marketers to hone their knowledge in this area for making a strategic shift towards ‘real-life’ Patient-Centricity. No wonder, why top pharma leaders now consider this transformation so critical for pharma strategy formulators, to acquire a cutting-edge in the digital marketing warfare.

Patient needs aren’t really at the center of a business strategy, today:

Despite so much hype on patient-centricity – in a true sense, patient-expressed needs aren’t generally placed at the center of a business strategy, as on date, unlike most non-pharma companies. That pharma players, by and large, don’t have a robust online feedback mechanism in place to capture ‘patient-experience’ with medications – directly from patients, vindicates the point.

As I reiterated in my article of March 21, 2021: ‘Measuring patient-experience has always been an integral part, virtually of all types of sales and marketing using digital platforms. We experience it almost every day, such as, while buying a product through Amazon, buying grocery items through D-Mart, scheduling a doctor appointment through Practo, buying medicines through PharmEasy, or even for availing a service through Urban Company.’

Thus, patient-experience, in their own words, with prescribed medications, is generally expressed to the physician, if at all. The process, generally, doesn’t get extended to drug companies’ strategy formulators for taking a patient-centric amendment, wherever needed.

However, assuming that doctors would convey the same to concerned medical representatives, it becomes a third hand (patient-doctor-Rep-Company) feedback, with commensurate distortions in each verbal transfer of communications. The outcome of this strategic gap has been captured in several research studies.

Outcomes of absence of online direct ‘patient experience’ feedback system:

Let me elaborate this point by quoting an example from a contemporary research in this area. This study was conducted by DrugsDisclosed.com in August 2020 with a total of 3,346 patients all taking medicine on a daily basis – aged between 18 and 80. The key findings are as follows:

72% of patients feel ignored by pharma companies.
76% don’t trust advice from them.
81% feel that drug players influence prescribing decisions.
63% would like to give product feedback to directly to companies.
69% find their medication effective.
81% feel their medication is needed.
77% feel confident with their medication.
82% don’t feel bothered by side effects from their medicine.
73% take the medicine as agreed with their doctor.
74% feel that the benefits of their medication outweigh the disadvantages.

The study concluded – the above insights show the need for patients’ voices to be heard by the pharma companies. If medicines are to solve health problems for billions of people who need them, listening to real-life patient-experience with medication, is the key to unshackle the full potential of the world’s health systems. Thus, pharma companies need to directly listen to what patients experience and express with their medicines. It will help them earn customer-trust and greatness in business, while gaining new and important insights for performance excellence.

I hasten to add, although, this study was conducted among patients residing in the UK, Ireland and Denmark, the core issue, even in India, is unlikely to be much different from what appears above. This genre of pharma marketing approach would warrant extensive use of AI, much more in the coming days – than ever before.

The above genre of pharma marketing calls for extensive use of AI:

The above genre of pharma marketing calls for extensive use of AI, much more in the coming days than ever before. For example, as new generations of Covid vaccines will come – with some without the use of needles, like a nasal drop, machine learning tools may be necessary for pinpoint accuracy in market segmentation. I reckon, there will be many such areas, where those companies who would use AI to orchestrate a cohesive customer experience, will drive stronger differentiation, better customer access and higher sales impact.

In that process, creating opportunities and empowerment for deserving marketers to reap the benefits of AI based digital tools and systems, such as machine learning with human integration within sales and marketing, will be the need of the hour. Gaining actionable insights from this endeavor, marketers need to go whole hog to unleashing the power and value of AI for achieving business excellence. I wrote about it, even during pre-Covid days – on July 15, 2019. But, this approach has assumed much greater importance in the new normal, when innovative e-marketing is gaining momentum to gain a competitive edge. However, this would require more investment in AI than what it is today.

The process has accelerated during the Covid pandemic:

This has come out clearly in the results of McKinsey Global Survey 2020 on AI. The paper is titled – ‘The state of AI in 2020’ and was published on November 17, 2020. The findings of the study ‘suggest that organizations are using AI as a tool for generating value. Increasingly, that value is coming in the form of revenues.’

Although, the number of these companies is small, they are planning ‘to invest even more in AI in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its acceleration of all things digital.’ The paper emphasizes that this could create a wider divide between AI leaders and the majority of companies who are still struggling to capitalize on the technology.

Pharma’s increasing use of AI during the pandemic:

The above trend gets reflected in the ‘AI In Pharma Global Market Report 2021: Covid-19 Growth And Change.’ The report underscores, the global AI in pharma market is expected to grow from $0.91 billion in 2020 to $5.94 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 47%. The initial spurt in growth was mainly due to companies resuming their operations and adapting to the new normal while recovering from the COVID-19 impact, the report underscores.

Although, the number of pharma entrants in this space isn’t yet very many, major players includePfizer, Novartis, IBM Watson, Merck, AstraZeneca and Bayer. Gradually, some Indian drug companies are also testing water in this area, as discussed in the article – ‘The Increasing Use Of AI In The Pharmaceutical Industry,’ published by Forbes on December 26, 2020.

Conclusion:

“Patient-Centricity” emerging as a hallmark, fueled by rapidly changing expectations and behavior of pharma customers, especially doctors and patients. To be effective with such changes in market dynamics – capturing ‘patient experience’ with medication – directly from them – to the respective companies online, is a necessity today.

Most other industries involved in digital marketing are already doing so. Pharma companies while embracing e-marketing can’t just wish it away, any longer. Today, when digital marketing has commenced in the pharma industry, with accelerated speed – machine learning alongside the creative application of AI powered analytics, can immensely help gaining actionable insights on customers. These include customer experience, their perception and pattern of usage of brands, besides channel preferences, preferred contents for effective engagement.

Thus, the consequences of not directly listening to patients’ voice on structured digital platforms – supported by analytics, can be ignored at pharma marketer’s own peril. Many of them may not yet be able to fathom the depth of its potential, opportunities and possible roadblocks, or simply unable to figure out where to begin with and – how. Experts’ hand-holding will be pivotal for them in the transition phase of this endeavor. From this perspective, I reckon, to keep pace with fast-changing customer behavior, pharma marketers need directly listen to patients’ voice online. And based on which, develop customized strategies by leveraging AI – for more productive engagement with them.

By: Tapan J. Ray

Creating A Unique Patient Experience By Listening To Patients Voice – An Imperative In The New Normal

Posted on March 22, 2021 by Tapan Ray

Acquiring deeper insight on the patient journey through a disease treatment process to create and enhance end-to-end patient experience, never assumed such critical importance, ever in the past. Without this realization, I reckon, even digitalization of any scale in the pharmaceutical industry, is unlikely to yield desired results. The term ‘Patient experience’ is generally considered as ‘the summation of interactions that influence patient perceptions across the continuum of care, until now,’ as defined in an article, published by Aranca on February 28, 2020.

This isn’t a new concept. This subject was well-deliberated even before the pandemic crisis. For example, an article, published in the Pharma Voice on April 2014, had also highlighted this point. It wrote: “Too many companies continue to view the world as a physician-centric, and do not recognize the growing influence of the patient in treatment decisions. The evolution toward a fully integrated commercialization approach centering on the patient experience will continue to crystallize over the next five to 10 years. Within a few years the industry will universally have one goal that supports the patient experience, as there is a tremendous amount of attention being put on the patient today.”

Even thereafter, another paper, published in the Reuters Event Pharma, on August 17, 2017, also reiterated: ‘A greater understanding of the patient journey is rapidly becoming an essential tool for market access.’ It further elaborated that the use of patient journey data stands to benefit everyone:

Patients: through empowerment programs,
Pharma marketers and more widely, the Company: by targeting the right patient segment and the company more widely.

The paper concluded: ‘Given the potential benefits, pharmaceutical companies should develop a robust mechanism to design effective patient journeys, which could prove instrumental when it comes to bridging treatment gaps and improving quality of life for countless patients around the world.’

From this perspective, Covid-19 pandemic seems to have hastened the process with changing customer behavior and expectations in the new normal, thorough understanding of customer needs emerged as a key success requirement for pharma marketers. That said, customer experience has to be measured both qualitatively and quantitively through credible market research initiatives, capturing the patients’ views. Guessing the same, as was generally the common practice in the old normal, would no longer suffice. This article will dwell in this area.

The pandemic played a catalytic role:

That Covid-19 pandemic played a catalytic role to hasten the process of providing a unique patient experience during a patient’s journey through a disease treatment process in the digital world. This was vindicated by a ZS study, published on July 05, 2020. The analysis found – over the last three months several companies started looking at new ways to engage with patients. These include:

Forming patient panels – to continually check and monitor the quality of patient experience that the company is providing,
Connecting with patient advocacy groups – to get a pulse on critical needs
Leveraging the field force – to hear from physicians where their patients need the most help.

These are laudable initiatives for dovetailing patients’ views in the drug marketing strategy to provide a unique experience to patients during their end-end-to journey through a disease treatment process.

Measuring patient-experience – an integral part of digital sales and marketing:

Measuring patient-experience has always been an integral part, virtually of all types of sales and marketing using digital platforms. We experience it almost every day, such as, while buying a product through Amazon, buying grocery items through D-Mart, scheduling a doctor appointment through Practo, buying medicines through PharmaEasy, or even for availing a service through Urban Company.

The November 15, 2020 research report of DT Consulting has also reiterated this need. It found, patients seeking and receiving care, depend on a complex system of health providers—an environment in which pharmaceutical companies play an important role. ‘When seeking care, patients gravitate to experiences that other patients rated well; when receiving care, they prefer experiences that consistently meet or exceed their expectations,’ it underscored.

Why then all pharma digital initiatives for its customers aren’t in sync with such practices? It’s about time that pharma players also follow a similar path, to continually improve company offerings, based on what the customers expect from a company’s brand and services – regardless of whether they are doctors, patients or any other key stakeholder.

I re-emphasize, this initiative has to cover end-to-end of a customer journey starting from clinical development, brand launch and expansion of market access. In each of these stages, loose knots, if any, require to be tightened, after thorough deliberations, to delight the customers – and consequently rewarded by them, appropriately. While some progress can be seen in this area, pan industry progress in this space, still falls much short of other industries. A pharma company may continue to ignore its importance, even in the new normal, at its own peril.

The way forward won’t be a bed of roses, expect thorns to overcome:

The above ZS study also brought out some interesting facts, as follows:

43% of participants cited difficulty identifying quantitative, measurable KPIs that fit within the organizational structure and practices,

29% indicated a lack of tools and resources to help communicate tangible outcomes and the case for change

22% cited organizational silos as the true barriers.

The good news is, as the study highlights, Covid-19 has proven that it’s quite possible to actually be more patient centric to create an exclusive brand experience for patients. But, many ‘organizations still have work to do, in getting there.’

Sermonizing what patients’ need, without involving them, may be counterproductive:

Things were quite different in predominantly a physician-centric world for patients, in the old normal. At that time, sermonizing the treatment needs of patients, blended with a heavy dose of respective company’s self-serving interest, sans patient involvement in the treatment decision making processes – worked. The same approach may not yield desired cost-effective outcomes, when the customer behavior, triggered by the pandemic, is fast changing, for various reasons.

‘Patients want more services before they are treated’ for a disease:

Many patients have been asking for more services, especially from the pharmaceutical companies, even before they undertake the journey of getting a disease well treated by medical professionals, regardless of disease types. Till Covid-pandemic, this remained mostly an unmet need for many patients, as this is an arduous for most pharma players. Which is why, most drug companies did not want to jettison the traditional approach, in favor of being ‘patient-centric.’ Thus, the entire decision-making process for any disease treatment continued to remain ‘doctor-centric.’

This wasn’t an unknown need for most patients, either, as it was well documented through several research studies. For example, an Accenture survey of 10,000 patients had examined their unmet needs in seven different therapeutic areas across the entire patient journey. Its findings concluded, ‘patients want more services before they are treated for a disease, regardless of disease type.’ Interestingly, even when such services were available in some places, the vast majority of patients still are not aware of the availability of these patient services, the paper added.

The situation is different today:

Overall, the situation is different today, mostly because, during a long Covid-19 lockdown period, many patients started visiting the cyberspace to manage their health, in increasing numbers. With the experience thus gained, a large population, even in India, now consider digital as a primary channel to initiate the journey for their disease treatment, such as telehealth.

As judicious assimilation of knowledge has always been a source of wisdom, patients have now become wiser to demand more services from a drug company that will help them to get cured of diseases and maintain good health – the way they want. More importantly, patients have also realized that in most cases treatment alternatives to choose from, are plenty.

Thus, the above study of Accenture raised the following question for the pharma companies to ponder that is more relevant today than ever before: ‘Are pharmaceutical companies missing a significant opportunity to provide services at the earliest possible point in the patient journey – before they are even being treated for a disease?’ That’s why, ‘patients deserve as much focus, if not more, in pharma market research as ‘physicians.’

‘Patients’ deserve as much focus on market research as ‘physicians’:

In the old normal, medical reps, in general, used to expect their target physicians to educate the patients about the disease while prescribing their respective company’s brands. With many patients getting more and more informed in the digital world, pharma companies need to strategize a comprehensive patient engagement and educational campaigns, enabling patients to actively participate in their treatment decision making process, exactly the way they want, to improve quality of life.

From this perspective, collecting first-hand data on patient-experience, straight from the voice of patients, isn’t too common a practice for the drug companies, even today. It will rather be a new venture for many, to gain meaningful insights on the impact of their operational endeavor – from the patients’ perspective. This will, in turn, help organizations strategize more productive engagements with them, reaping a rich harvest.

The process starts with ferreting out patients’ needs from a variety of credible sources – after cross-checking and getting it vetted by focus groups of patients, in due course. Some pharma majors, reportedly, invite patients to narrate their experience in the disease treatment process, directly to medical reps at their sales meeting on virtual platforms. A few others have started patient-groups in the selected therapy areas, for the same purpose.

Nonetheless, pharma marketers to please ensure that their organizations need to genuinely care about the patients, making this onerous task deliver a win-win outcome for both. The key point to take note of is that its real purpose, in no way, should be achieving any company’s self-serving objectives, under this creative façade.

Conclusion:

Creating and enhancing the unique customer experience has been recognized as one of the key success factors in any industry, pharma business is no exception. Curiously, it could not draw as much focus as it should have been, until Covid-pandemic struck, triggering disruptive changes in the customer behavior and the overall commercial environment. The good news is, in tandem with their digital transformation process, several drug majors are now mulling about patient experience-driven marketing strategies.

For this purpose, the pre-requirement is to put in place a comprehensive patient experience measurement framework, to accurately understand the end-to-end journey of the patients in their disease treat processes. This would include, capturing their key unmet needs from various sources, including focus group studies of real patients, in various formats.

Prudent use of connected health applications and AI platforms may be of great help – supported by state-of-the-art analytics, to gain meaningful access to patients’ behavioral and attitudinal data for strategic use, in various digital platforms. This has the potential to deliver a quantum leap in business outcomes. From this perspective, I reckon, for creating a unique patient experience, listening to patient voice, is an imperative in the new normal.

By: Tapan J. Ray

PILMAN

A Tapan Ray Website

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