Full-Speed Ahead: The Shift to Patient-Centric and Personalized Marketing Programs

Read a new article in PharmaVOICE magazine about segmentation advances and the value of personalizing marketing programs

Changes in the industry are shifting the goals of marketing programs to focus on the patient, and to provide meaningful outcomes. To do this, the focus must be on getting the right patient on the right treatment. Advances in technology are fueling exciting changes in how effectively marketers segment and message to their audiences. Real-time data capture empowers decision-making and increases the effectiveness of marketing programs.

The industry has used the decile model for segmentation for years, and in a world of hard-to-reach and no-see physicians this approach is no longer effective. Technological advances provide…  

     * Insights into the number of “appropriate” patients a provider has in their practice 
     * A better understanding of patient behavior so that marketers can deliver more
        compelling messages and valuable programs

As the industry continues to evolve marketing programs to be more patient-centric, delivering personalized information and messages takes on an even greater importance. The key to effective marketing programs is delivering value, and the starting point is to understand patient behavior. This understanding allows marketers to provide programs that meet their needs and helps them overcome their challenges. Valuable and relevant programs foster patient commitment and trust.

There is an article in the October 2012 issue of PharmaVOICE magazine (it’s available on-line) that shares expert insights on advances in segmenting and personalizing marketing efforts. The article provides an excellent overview of the technological changes that empower better segmentation, as well as insights into the impact personalization can have in enhancing the effectiveness of programs.

There are many options for personalized marketing programs. As a pharmaceutical call center, we provide opportunities for patients and caregivers to interact personally with our nurse educators and care counselors at their convenience.

I’d like to hear how you are personalizing your marketing activities. Also, are you using advances in technology to fine-tune your market segmentation activities? If so, what insights have you found along the way that helped you to better understand the patient journey? Did you incorporate these findings into your programs?

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Valuable Insights into Selecting the “Right” Pharmaceutical Call Center Partner

Lou Shapiro

In my last blog post titled” The Secret to Successful Brand Planning”, I shared two recurring questions that are on many pharmaceutical marketer’s minds as they plan for 2012. The first question on every marketer’s mind is how to “get more impact with fewer budget dollars?” My advice is to engage service providers that have expertise and systems to support your marketing and clinical programs effectively and efficiently.


As a service provider focused on providing call center services to support physicians’ practices, hospitals, and pharmaceutical/biotechnology/medical device companies, we are experts in building relationships with healthcare providers and patients. We can efficiently provide information and materials healthcare providers and patients need, and answer their questions. Engaging service providers adds value and streamlines your initiatives.

A major concern pharmaceutical marketers and communications professionals have is how to select the “right” pharmaceutical call center partner. This is a great question, and there is no easy answer to it. I recently recorded a Podcast through PharmaVoice on how pharmaceutical call centers can support pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device companies. Also, we recently published a White Paper on selecting the “right” pharmaceutical call center partner. The White Paper offers 9 areas to be evaluated when you are looking to identifying the “right” potential partners. When used together, these two resources will help you identify the “right” partner for your program and company.

To listen to the podcast, please click here. Additionally, if you are interested in a copy of the White Paper, please click here to request it. Please let us know what you think of these two resources—are they helpful or not? Also, would you like to have additional resources in other areas? If so, please let us know what areas interest you.

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The Secret to Successful Brand Planning

Lou Shapiro

It’s the time of year when we all begin work on brand plans for the upcoming year. I’ve been talking with clients about the challenges and opportunities they face with their products. Two questions continue to come up in these conversations. The first is “how can I get more impact with fewer budget dollars?” The second question is “what should we do on-line?”


There is an obvious answer on how to get more impact with less budget dollars. Engage service providers that have expertise and systems to support your marketing and clinical programs effectively and efficiently. As a service provider focused on providing call center services we are experts in building relationships with healthcare providers and patients. We can efficiently provide information and materials and answer questions. So, my advice is to engage service providers that add value and can streamline your initiatives.

Regarding on-line initiatives, I ran across an interesting study conducted recently by FiercePharma and Sermo (the on-line physician-only social networking site). Sermo launched a study to their members to understand physician thoughts on pharmaceutical dinner programs, their preferred topics at these events, and preferences for alternate programs (ie, peer-reviewed journal articles, on-line presentations, on-line e-details, teleconferences, and meetings with company Medical Science Liaisons).

A few words of caution with the survey, it gathered results from 100 Sermo members, which is a relatively small sample of their 120,000 members. Also, keep in mind that if the respondents are using Sermo they are most likely more engaged in using social media and on-line resources. However, what struck me about the results was that nearly 63% of respondents are looking for information through non-traditional channels such as peer-reviewed journal articles (21%), on-line presentations (ie, 20%), on-line e-details (ie, 14%), and teleconferences (ie, 8%). Physicians are certainly looking to new channels to meet their information needs, and they seem to prefer channels where information is available 24 hours/day and 365 days/year. My recommendation is to implement 24/7 information programs including call centers and on-line information through company, product and disease-state websites.

As you are planning programs for healthcare providers, the FiercePharma and Sermo study also have results on information physicians are interested in on disease awareness, drug information, and practice management topics. I thought the topics were interesting and have outlined them below.

Disease awareness topics including…
• Autism
• Bipolar disorder
• Common dermatologic conditions
• Dementia
• Multiple sclerosis
• Pain management

Drug information on…
• Comparative data
• Latest clinical trials
• New anti-platelet and anticoagulant treatments
• Technical updates vs. the drug’s availability and utility

Practice management issues including…
• Business issues and how to improve the practice of medicine
• Financial planning
• Opting out of Medicare and third party-payers
• Practice management
• Reimbursement issues

Here is a link to the study results if you are interested in reviewing them in detail.

Addressing physician’s interests in your marketing and clinical affairs programs will provide value to physicians. Ultimately building value for the company and product in the minds of physicians, and creating opportunities to interact around meaningful topics. At the end of the day that is what successful brand planning is all about.

Would you consider developing programs on the practice management topics identified in this post? If so, did you encounter challenges from your legal counsel? I’m interested in learning more about the challenges your brand is facing. What are some of the new and unique programs you’re considering? If you have a question on brand planning, please share them.

Visit the PhoneScreen Website at www.phonescreen.com.

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