After a decade of e-marketing and e-detailing, which included much hype and expectation, the dust is beginning to settle on a phase of more realistic expectations and approaches.
This conference, Online Marketing and eDetailing, organised by eyeforpharma, showed significant evidence that physicians are at last embracing online technology on a regular basis. The question of whether doctors are using the internet can finally be laid to rest: studies show that between 70% and 97% of European Union (EU) physicians use the internet on a daily basis for accessing clinical information.
So how are pharmaceutical companies responding, and what is e-marketing now being used for? This conference showed that the main key areas in which e-marketing is currently being deployed by pharmaceutical companies are e-detailing, customer relationship management (CRM), healthcare provider (HCP) portals and consumer compliance applications.
It was widely stressed that the days of simply doing ‘e’ are over; business principles must be applied to any ‘e’ project. Any e-marketing or e-detailing project must start with clear business objectives and determine which key performance indicators (KPIs) should be measured to determine whether the business objective was met and what financial marketing return, or return on investment (ROI), was achieved.
In terms of execution, ‘mundane things matter’, and quality of content and execution are, as ever, crucial. So, too, is involving all key stakeholders from the beginning and getting their buy-in and involvement.
The needs of the customer were a frequent topic in several presentations, and the concept of being customer-centric rather than product-centric was highlighted. Another topic of increasing importance was the integration of any e-marketing/e-detailing programme into some kind of CRM system and feedback loop. In fact, this concept fed into another key topic - the integration of e-marketing with the overall marketing mix. The theory of dropping the ‘e’ and ensuring all marketing is digitally enabled was highlighted in several presentations.
CONTENTS
Online Marketing and eDetailing - Programme
Introduction
About the author
The business case for e-marketing
e-Detailing focus: why and who?
e-Detailing focus: implementation issues and case studies
e-Detailing focus: how to create a practical action plan
Organisational issues
ROI and success measurement
The future of e-detailing: conclusions
References
Further reading
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr Andrée Bates is the Managing Director of Eularis, a company that applies sophisticated analytical processes to quantify the sales impact of specific marketing programmes for pharmaceutical brands. These analyses determine the financial return for individual sales and marketing activities, as well as the optimal synergistic combination of activities (and budgets) to have maximum market share growth. Eularis offers brands and their agencies the bottom-line facts: what messages, what activities (and what budgets) - in what combination - will provide what market share for your brand.
Andrée’s career has encompassed academic, clinical and pharmaceutical positions internationally. She has gained wide recognition within the healthcare industry internationally for ROI and marketing effectiveness measures in pharmaceutical marketing. She is the author of many publications on this topic in peer-reviewed journals. In addition, Andrée has been invited to lecture on e-detailing ROI in the Pharmaceutical MBA programme at INSEAD Business School and on marketing ROI at the Center for Pharmaceutical Marketing Studies, Erivan K. Haub School of Business, St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia.
The question of whether physicians are using online technology can finally be laid to rest. Studies show that between 70% and 90% of European physicians use the internet on a daily basis. In response, the pharmaceutical industry is deploying e-detailing, customer relationship management (CRM), healthcare provider (HCP) portals and consumer compliance applications to develop e-marketing strategies that, at last, demonstrate clear business objectives and measurable return on investment.
The eyeforpharma conference, Online Marketing and eDetailing, held in Berlin on 8-9 May 2006, focused on a new ‘era of enlightenment’, with internet technology at the forefront of communication with European physicians. It examined how customer segmentation through sophisticated CRM tools can add value to the pharmaceutical industry/physician interaction, and looked at how HCP portals can deliver significant business value as the online needs and preferences of doctors are better understood.
e-Detailing still faces some barriers, yet it is emerging as a viable complement to the traditional sales force. Moreover, the deployment of digitally enabled representatives enhancing customer visits with e-detailing technologies is steadily becoming an industry trend.
This Conference Insights report looks at how the pharmaceutical industry is using the e-channel and, in turn, how European physicians are responding to technological advancement. In response to physicians’ growing familiarity with the internet, the report uses best-practice case studies to look at the critical success factors in developing e-detail programmes, and outlines key selection criteria for choosing e-detail vendors.
The integration of e-activity into the full marketing mix remains a major challenge for the industry. The report concludes that the future of e-marketing within pharmaceutical marketing will not be so much about ‘e’, but ‘e’ will be an integral part of everything the industry does.
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
Chairperson: Len Starnes, Head of European e-business, Schering AG Day one
THE BUSINESS CASE FOR EMARKETING IN 2006 AND BEYOND - AND THE STRATEGIES YOU NEED TO ADOPT
Keynote Presentation: A decade of European pharma e-business: less hype, more realism, but good reasons for your business to be optimistic Len Starnes, Head of European e-business, Schering AG
Search; innovative targeted marketing Henry Elkington, Director of Corporate Development, United Business Media
eMarketing in a changing environment: how and why you must expand your traditional promotional mix through online channels Theresa Broemse, Product Manager, Bayer Healthcare
Doctor Panel Session: Find out exactly what physicians think of your online marketing strategies and how they use them Moderators: Pascal Vancoppenolle, CEO and cofounder, MediQuality Peter Ward, Business Development Director, medeconnect, a division of doctors.net.uk Panellists: Professor Narula (UK Consultant) Professor Dhillon (UK Consultant) Dr Bejjani (Belgian Consultant)
Is the devil in the e-detail? Or is there heavenly hope for e-detailing? Austin Wilson, Group Account Director, Framfab
Panel Session: How can the industry expand ‘traditional’ e-detailing beyond its current limitations? Moderator: Colin Williams, eMarketing Director, PharmiWeb Solutions Panellists: Thomas Thestrup, International Project Mgr Marketing Projects, Novo Nordisk Theresa Broemse, Product Manager, Bayer Healthcare Mark Bard, President, Manhattan Research Dr Inga Stehlow, BSMO Media Services
PLANNING, DESIGN AND EXECUTION
Different models for different brand strategies Tomas Vetrovsky, Head of Division, Pears Health Cyber Vladimir Finsterle, CEO, Pears Health Cyber
eDetailing from a customer, vendor and pharma perspective Ewa Rockmyr, eMarketing Manager Nexium, AstraZeneca
Increase your sales force effectiveness with eDetailing solutions: case study examples from Pfizer, Boehringer-Ingelheim and Novartis Morten Hjelmsø, Founder and Managing Director, Agnitio
It’s all in the mix! Select and manage the right evolutionary eMarketing mix Luc Gasthuys, Brand Manager Vaccines, GSK Belgium
Day two
Choose the right type of eDetailing programme for your product and target audience Dave Clarke, eBusiness Manager, Europe, 3M Pharmaceuticals
ORGANISATIONAL PROCESSES ESSENTIAL FOR SUCCESS
Determine the team and individual characteristics needed during re-organisation of your internal structure to ensure programme success Mariusz Borkowski, Product Manager and Lantus Team Leader, Sanofi-Aventis
Integrate to innovate! Pascal Vancoppenolle, CEO and co-founder, MediQuality
ROI AND MEASURING YOUR SUCCESS
ROI and measurement: Sanofi -Aventis’ pioneering eDetailing project and the important lessons from their success Francesco Convertini, Web Project Manager, Sanofi-Aventis
Panel Session: How should you select the right KPIs and how can these metrics be used to analyse your online programmes? Moderator: Len Starnes, Head of European eBusiness, Schering AG Panellists: Kay Wesley, Global Director eMarketing, AstraZeneca Di Stafford, Director, The Patient Practice (former Head of Patient Relationship Marketing, Pfizer, UK) Carl Engelmarc, Managing Director, Elsevier Interactive Solutions
FINE-TUNING YOUR STRATEGIES
Quality counts - how to ensure your eDetailing programme maximises its potential Irina Osovskaya, eBusiness Manager, Janssen-Cilag
Refining the strategy: how to effectively target your eMarketing initiative Aleks Aísa, Head of eMarketing, Novartis
Round-up discussion: Who wants to be a dot com millionaire? Moderator: Kay Wesley, Global Director eMarketing, AstraZeneca
KeywordPharma publications can be reprinted in bulk on demand. We will be pleased to discuss any branding requirements you have - for example you may wish to include company logos and advertorial. Likewise, individual e-documents can be licensed for multiple-user access, either on web sites or on company intranets. Please contact us.
