{"id":15044,"date":"2019-11-27T16:21:48","date_gmt":"2019-11-27T16:21:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ec2-3-93-62-9.compute-1.amazonaws.com\/pharma-mkting.com\/?p=15044"},"modified":"2019-11-27T16:36:08","modified_gmt":"2019-11-27T16:36:08","slug":"shifting-dynamics-forcing-life-science-organizations-to-finally-innovate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ec2-54-175-84-28.compute-1.amazonaws.com\/pharma-mkting.com\/articles\/shifting-dynamics-forcing-life-science-organizations-to-finally-innovate\/","title":{"rendered":"Shifting Dynamics Forcing Life Science Organizations to (Finally) Innovate"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s an Albert Einstein quote that resonated with me for years, until recently. He said, \u201cIf you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.\u201d It had been my mantra of sorts, reminding me to push through what\u2019s difficult; change is hard but worth it. But when I recently re-read the quote, I realized that it\u2019s wrong, particularly as it relates to my career in life sciences marketing. In today\u2019s world of intensely shifting market dynamics, if you keep doing what you\u2019ve always done before, you will get less than what you had before. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s true: commercial marketing dollars return less today than they used to. Three major market factors are disrupting commercial teams and driving the need to seriously look to innovation to help solve important brand challenges and shift the balance to return more. These factors include massive healthcare industry shifts, commercial dynamics, and technology advancements. <\/p>\n

Healthcare Industry Shifts Reducing Relevance of Traditional Marketing Approaches
\nThere\u2019s no shortage of change within the healthcare industry although the greatest implications for commercial teams tend to stem from four critical trends:<\/p>\n

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  1. Doctors are increasingly employed by health systems. This reduces the ability to reach and engage target HCPs, creating a gap for marketers. It also requires HCPs to follow protocol-driven care, reducing the impact of promotion. Marketing simply won\u2019t work if HCPs cannot prescribe certain products. This greatly limits HCP and consumer promotional effectiveness. <\/li>\n
  2. The move from volume to value across healthcare eco-system forces pharma to increase its value proposition with key customers. <\/li>\n
  3. There\u2019s a heightened focus on holistic patient care. The industry at large is beginning to view patients\u2019 individual conditions as a small part of their overall lives, driving the need to look at the whole patient and all their conditions and treatments together vs. as individual components. Social determinants of health are becoming increasingly considered as drivers of patients\u2019 health. Brands must expand their value proposition and learn to respond to a patient\u2019s broader needs.<\/li>\n
  4. The changing location of care requires brands to leverage distributed care models. For example, how does pharma promote to practitioners that are dedicated to telemedicine versus being available in an office setting? <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Commercial Dynamics Don\u2019t Make Our Marketing Efforts Any Easier <\/strong>
    \nHealthcare acquisitions and consolidations are coming in rapid fire: payers, providers, PBM consolidation. CVS and Aetna. Cigna and Healthscripts. These consolidated organizations have more buying power and drive down prices putting more pressure on commercial teams to close the revenue gap elsewhere.<\/p>\n

    Further, pharma consolidation, such as the recent Amgen\/BMS acquisition of Celgene, complicates the commercial situation. These consolidations often result in internal cost savings mandates, including shrinking marketing budgets and pressures.<\/p>\n

    Technology Advancements Require Discipline to Reap Benefits<\/strong>
    \nBrands often look to digital innovation and technology advancements to drive growth in a changing market or to disrupt competitive influences. However, they have little guidance on what is a shiny object versus what has the possibility to work.<\/p>\n

    Technology is advancing so rapidly, commercial teams struggle to keep up, to make proper investments, and to pilot appropriately for long-term success. It is not uncommon for massive marketing transformation investments to fail to pay off, even after years of effort. <\/p>\n

    Innovation as the Way Forward <\/strong>
    \nConsidering these market factors, the industry has generally adopted the idea that innovation is integral to an organization\u2019s success. But where does one begin to start the process of leveraging the right innovation to meet specific goals and challenges? There isn\u2019t a clear consensus within the industry on the definition of digital innovation. In a recent interview with a life sciences technology director, innovation was classified as \u201csomething that\u2019s never been done before.\u201d While true, a lot of innovation can happen outside of this definition. Considering a broader innovation solution set that spans across a continuum is helpful to identify a range of opportunities that can meet brand challenges. There\u2019s no requirement to only explore the riskiest of investments. The full range of a digital innovation continuum includes areas often ignored or under-considered. For example: <\/p>\n