Healthcare Marketing: What is the Future?

Marketing has been evolving like never before especially in the Indian scenario. Don't believe my words?- here are a three examples that are just extraordinary:- Global Brand Ambassadors: It started with Micromax signing up Hugh Jackman and now we have Tata steel with the #madeofgreat, signing up none other than the living soccer legend- Lionel Messi. Is it because the Indian marketing has expanded its horizons or just that the India brands have become big enough to afford such extravagance? Socially relevant campaigns: Brand relevant CSR is now proven to grab eyeballs and there are many to talk about recently, but the one that really caught my attention is the Dabur Vatika- Brave & Beautiful Campaign. There are many more. Digital Marketing: This should have been the first item on the list, but digital marketing has really evolved in the last 3-4 years and we still can't say it has come of age. It is 'work in progress' and what a progress it has been. From Motorola deciding to retail its new Moto offerings exclusively on Flipkart, to the One Plus invites- it has helped create unprecedented interest. Irrespective of the interest levels generated or the returns, companies have learns this is one area that they need to invest in and learn the tricks of the trade for this is the current trend and one that is to stay. As technology evolves and new media platforms are opened up, marketing will have to evolve accordingly. From posters, pamphlets, banners, newspaper ads- it evolved to voice ads for radio and then to audio-visual ads for TV. Digital platforms actually turned the clock back as you again had items that carried mostly print content that usually directed you to the websites (again with print content.). But now we see a lot of videos and with better technology streaming quality and the run time has improved. With 3G and the yet to be popular 4G, buffering will soon be minimal and a thing of the past. That brings me to another point- Airtel and Samsung today have focused their advertising solely towards better utilizing 4G. That is another new when one talks about how their product better utilizes a new technology. The ultimate questions for us product managers, executives, marketing managers, business heads and other practitioners of the craft of 'healthcare marketing' is - 1. What do we learn from this 'trend metamorphosis' in marketing? and 2. How healthcare marketing would change in the near future? Here is my take on these two pertinent questions. What do we learn from this 'trend metamorphosis' in marketing? This is the easier of the two questions. Practitioners of 'healthcare marketing' should work on the following skill-sets which I believe would become as good as indispensable in the coming years. The word indispensable actually comes with a rider as an argument may be made that one could always seek help of creative agencies to do the job. The rider is that to get a good job done you must have a clear cut idea of what must and ought to be done. Here's the list of indispensables:- Understanding digital platforms: One must have a clear understanding of how platforms like Facebook and its applications like ads, pages, groups, events etc., Google and its own set of apps like adwords, adsesnse, understanding of Google Analytics, Google Plus, platforms like Twitter, Firehose (gives insights from twitter), Instagram etc. work. One must know where and how to showcase generated content- be it Youtube videos, blogs, a simple Facebook post, Twitter feed or an Instagram image. One must be adept at creating trendy hashtags, or be able to ride the wave of an existing popular #Hashtag to promote their own products/ brands. In the end it is not the lone wolf that does the trick but the surround sound. All these tools must be used in sync like a properly orchestrated symphony to create the right kind of noise where each component is interconnected and each component feeds off the other components creating what can be called optimal synergy between digital platforms. It is definitely much much easier to write such stuff than putting it in practice. Leveraging traditional healthcare marketing skills better: We folks know and have practiced traditional healthcare marketing which is highly reliant on the messenger- the medical rep and how s/he carries the message. All/ Most tools are customized to make him/her communicate the message better and ensure that the key message is not lost. One such typical tool is the 'Visual Aid' or the 'Product Detailer' used by both pharma and medical devices firms. Then there are LBLs or leave behind literatures, reminder cards etc. and each of them is meant for a specific communication. Then we have scientific sessions at conferences, CME (Continuous medical education) programs and also Round table sessions with customers to convey and communicate certain messages along with the relevant scientific rationale that helps score one product score over competition, explains how it is useful in a way, or best of all it could be about a new breakthrough development or discovery. That is very exciting and this is how healthcare marketing has been done till now involving the services of key influencers also known as KOLs or Key opinion leaders- usually renowned healthcare professionals involved in academia and research. Is this all set to change? Not really! If we are good at our craft, we are on a sound footing- only that we have adapt to the changed circumstances and match the pace at which our customers are adjusting to the changed environment. We still have to be ahead of our competitors. Though there is one fact- in all possibility healthcare marketing will be a little resistant to change and will probably the take the maximum time to adapt. This can take us in 2 directions- either we know we have time on our hands and relax or we know we have time on our hands and work towards being the first mover- the one that keeps competitors at bay. The changed environment- Real world triggers and surround sound: Even though the catch up with digital will not be so soon- may be 2-3 more years to go before healthcare companies really start taking their digital strategy seriously and it becomes more mainstream but there is one thing which has been proven time and again and will be true for healthcare marketing as well- the triggers will be from the real world. e.g. lets say Big Pharma finally comes up with the elusive vaccine of AIDS and the real world trigger could be that they deliver it free of cost to the first 1000 new borns in Africa and the news becomes viral. The parents of these children thank the company through Youtube videos, Instagram pics are uploaded and twitter is full of #aidsfreeworld hashtags. That is how a real world trigger would set off a digital world surround sound. Add to it the usual reach of traditional media and we will have a global campaign going. Again executing ain't as simple as penning down! 2. How healthcare marketing would change in the near future? Healthcare practitioners (HCPs) have taken to social media big time. They have their own Facebook groups and are quite active. Though this online association has not really transformed in to professional benefit, yet information gets shared and HCPs stay connected and updated on events. In-fact such groups are ripe for product companies to propagate relevant information in a manner that is non intrusive (a way yet to be figured out). HCPs are already writing a lot of blogs and putting up videos. It is an area ripe for product companies to rope in KOLs and key influencers to create content online that can be consumed by HCPs on a regular basis and can act as surrogate for events like conferences and CMEs. The healthcare journals will have to ensure that they take their digital copies and subscriptions more seriously and not merely look at online presence but revenue generation through subscriptions, as very soon the HCPs will stop appreciating paper/ physical copies and expect digital ones. Brand managers and agencies will have to figure out how they place ads in such content. More customized analytics that gives insights on online behavior of customers and other trends will have to be generated and they will be readily consumed by product companies. HCPs or customers too will have to appreciate and adjust to the changes and the humble medical rep who comes and shares company communication and does a bit of ego massage may last forever, though their place is secure for now and still for some time to come. The brand custodians will have to constantly find real world triggers to create the digital surround sound. Today there are digital first-movers like Practo and netmeds who are not healthcare industry insiders. They seem more Blue Ocean and have generated good initial interest levels. This again leaves us marketeers with two choices- wait for the industry to catch up going at the pace every one is going or realize that there is a space to be taken and if we don't then someone else will. You can follow me on twitter at @abhishekk13