Words by Helena Beer
With the 2023 machine going full steam ahead, naturally, attention is fixed on predictions, trends and potential for the year – everyone is striving to make improvements and headway in their specialist field. For the pharmaceutical industry, this means continuing to push for excellence in both customer experience and patient care and, to achieve this, it’s important to stay ahead of the curve. But this is a long-standing challenge, particularly when it comes to marketing and medical affairs teams communicating with healthcare professionals and patients.
Our regular columnist, Davidek Herron, Global Head of Digital at Roche, highlights pharma’s outdated tactics when it comes to omnichannel. His advice is to be bold and avoid doing what’s always been done, and I entirely agree. Too long has pharma relied on legacy approaches that were once the pinnacle of innovation but now feel rather lacklustre in comparison to emerging trends and technologies. Take personalisation, for example, this is far more effective than a one-size-fits-all approach that may have been taken previously. As Davidek says: “The long-term value of omnichannel engagement is that healthcare professionals receive the right content via the right channel at the right time to make more informed decisions with the goal to improve outcomes for patients.” This must be a key focus going forwards.
And Dr Derek Connolly, Consultant Cardiologist, Birmingham City and Sandwell Hospitals, would agree with this assessment. Contributing to our feature, Conquering generational differences in HCP marketing, he highlights that many pharma companies have worked the same way for years and would be wise to refresh strategies and try new approaches.
Whether you’re working in marketing or medical affairs, don’t be afraid to think differently when it comes to HCP interactions. Thinking inside the box creates boundaries that can be hard to overcome, but thinking outside the box means possibilities are endless, and personalisation is likely to only become more important in future.
This ‘different’ approach is something that drives much of the work we do at GOLD and our parent company EMJ. Encouraging colleagues to innovate, adapt and continually improve, as well as striving to do this in our own work, can have far-reaching benefits professionally, personally and across the business. Progress will never come from standing still: be bold.
This Editor's Letter appears in GOLD 26 – read the full issue here.