How to integrate digital and traditional pharma marketing?
Pharma needs
to speed up the integration of
digital technology into their marketing mix
by collaborating with innovators and the medical profession. The digital technology innovators may know very little about medicine, pharma marketing and sales. Conversely, pharma people and the
medical profession will have scant knowledge of emerging technology.
To emerge as winners in the over‐crowded scenario, the communication must be precise, attention grabbing, and address existing as well as unmet needs. The adaptation will involve training of employees to harmonize with the other channels of communication.
Many
companies have used laptops or similar means to convey the audio‐visual message. It did help to draw attention for a
while, but the novelty wore off very soon. Many consider it equivalent to a
television advertisement for a cosmetic or toothpaste. Today the mobile phone has
become the most used gadget to access the internet and social media from
anywhere at any time.
Awareness
is just one step in the process of gaining ‘brand loyalty’ as we saw in the
CORD Model (Fig. 5.2 in Chapter 5). The pathway to ‘brand loyalty’ in
pharmaceuticals is very much dependent
on interactions.
Mechanisms
of eliciting more responses from
customers can be easily incorporated into the communication media. The responses need not be answers to questions or feedback forms only. It can be routing of the customer to preferred information
sites, by providing access through hyperlinks or a QR Code.
In
pharmaceutical marketing and sales, it is essential to individualize the message for each Doctor and
digitalization can support the execution process in numerous ways.
a. If technology has to be
productive in sales communication; it must provide an avenue for interaction and a speedy response mechanism that facilitates an interaction. E‐mail and WhatsApp are a very good option if the customer is responsive. Most of the marketing messages may be treated as spam. Don’t forget
the human angle. I have used e‐mail for communication to Doctors for more than 10 years. It is most useful for
delivering information that
was requested by the Doctor. The human interaction was always the final clincher.
b. To overcome ‘information fatigue’ and
the ‘trust deficit’; we must provide easily accessible, interesting, credible and verifiable information to support claims of benefits or superiority. If
the
product
related information is not easily traceable
on the internet, they would need websites that provide the information in a cluster.
c. To generate more interest
and establish trust, the communication pattern should have variety in the form of CMEs,
Webinars and interaction with
KOLs. This is probably the most credible and
productive of all the digital interventions in pharmaceutical marketing. The
Salespersons must be trained to identify activities that
are ‘emotionally satisfying’ to the Doctor. Collaborating with the Doctor for such activities will
lead to ‘emotional bonding’ and enduring sales.
d. On‐line pharmacies are now a reality in India. They offer discounts
and also the convenience of door delivery. Despite pressures from trade associations,
this will be a valuable multi-channel
distribution option for companies.
e. Companies can address
‘customer complaints’ promptly, to restore the confidence of the Patient and the Doctor, who prescribed the product. The
key is ‘promptness’ in addressing complaints. Traditionally, the dissatisfied customer would tell his friends and relaves personally or telephonically depending on his
level of
agitaon. Today the message can
spread like wildfire on Facebook, Twitter,
WhatsApp and other mass messaging services.
f. Digitalization can help us to connect with rural Doctors and patients. Rural penetration continues to
be difficult and expensive for pharmaceutical
companies. Insurance coverage and increasing rural incomes are factors which
make rural coverage an attractive option.
Examples of integrating digital and traditional marketing
The
examples given below may not appear hi‐tech but were common sense applications of the available technology, for holding the attention and
communicating benefits to the Doctors.
a. On numerous occasions the
Salespersons would call the PMT for specific information that was requested by the Doctor. The information was organized for ready access by all PMT members.
The information is sent within the next
5 minutes to the Doctor’s e‐mail, with a copy to the Salesperson and his superiors.
The Doctor is informed about the mail and to be doubly sure the Salesperson
provides a printed copy within a
short time. In over 70% of these cases, further discussions
led to a conversion. The promptness of the response makes a good impression on
the Doctor and the emotional
right brain triggers a favorable response.
b. PowerPoint presentations on various aspects were kept ready by PMT for
interactions. One such interaction was
with an Infertility Specialist. The
presentation reached the Doctor
within 3 minutes and this real-time support enabled a detailed
discussion. The Doctor was thoroughly convinced and
became a
prescriber
c. Quite a few Salespersons
enthusiastically forward short videos and
diagrams to the Doctor if they show interest. These are usually supplied by
PMT, but many have used their native intelligence
and initiative, to photograph an important aspect from the VAF
and forward by WhatsApp. They request the
doctor
to have a look whenever they have free time. The doctor
appreciates it because of the time saved
in the clinic. Many have reported successful conversions with this technique.
Conclusion
Using
digital media to leverage the efforts of Salespersons is definitely a game
changer, but the rules of the game are quite different than in Western
countries. Due to numerous branded generics of the same molecule the sites that
provide the best content and visualization of
benefits may gain an upper hand in the long run. The basic problem continues to be the limited attention span
of the customer.
Digitalization will help the Salesperson to use specific
information from a massive database
to
convey
the differentiating benefits, in real‐time
during interactions
with the
Doctors. In the final analysis, the adaptations needed are peripheral and
not fundamental in nature. The marketing and selling basics are the same and digitalization is to be integrated with traditional
marketing. Let’s overcome the ‘fear of the unknown’ and
embrace digitalization, to
HOP in the Mind with greater efficiency.
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