Digital transformation of Pharma Companies in India-- 2

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has managed to impact everyone’s life. Right from being stuck in our homes or away from it, to the way we spend our time and the priorities we have today. Economy seems to have slowed down to a snail’s pace. While the coronavirus is much to be blamed for this slump in traditional ways of marketing, consumption of online content, social media and OTT platforms have surged big-time. Hence a lot of companies are discovering the many merits of advertising their products online while keeping in touch with their consumers.

Making the best of Lockdown Period with Digital Marketing

More people are online than in their cars or walking on the road. Search traffic has increased significantly over the past week and will continue to climb, as we deal with the after-effects of the outbreak. We’re all glued to our computers and phones looking for updates and trying to stay connected via social media - our window to the world right now. So now is the best time to realign and refocus your marketing efforts to reach out to a maximum audience by including Digital Marketing in your portfolio.

In my earlier article in 2018 I had written that one of the key priority markets & witnessing a major growth in the health &wellness space is India. Indian pharmaceuticals market grew at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 17% from 2005 to 2017 & expected to expand at a CAGR of over 22% over 2016 –20 to reach US$ 55 billion by 2020. India’s pharmaceutical exports stood at US$ 17.27 billion in 2017-18. In 2018-19 these exports are expected to cross US$ 19 billion.

During the 12 months ended February 2020, pharmaceutical companies in India have clocked sales of ?1.4 trillion, growing 9.7% year-on-year. Medicine spending in India is expected to increase at 9-12 per cent CAGR between 2018-22 to US$ 26-30 billion, driven by increasing consumer spending, rapid urbanization, and raising healthcare insurance among others.

Digital Marketing will remain to be a robust growing industry at least for next few years. There are a lot of reasons as to believe it. The industry is poised to grow at a staggering pace. A research report from Forester Research which came out in Feb 2020 shows that India will be the fastest growing online retail country in Asia Pacific. Further it says that India should grow at a staggering 31% per annum for next 5 years.

Digital Marketing is in high demand and a trendy career option. The opportunities and Scope for a Digital Marketing professional is huge in India right now. Digital holds the dual benefits of making information easily available and accessible online, anywhere. Also, the growing interest of consumers in exploring digital technology has led businesses to successfully try newer things online.

Searching for health related information is the third most common activity done on the internet. Patients these days are no longer play a passive role when it comes to medical consultation. Due to the advent of internet, people prefer to conduct a brief research on the type of drug preferred by a physician, its side-effects etc. Hence, digital marketing for pharma sector can increase trust and brand loyalty as consumers like to be addressed, informed and supported when it comes to their health.

Digital marketing will soon become the core of marketing campaigns for the pharma industry in India. The internet is a growing platform for information, awareness, and solutions about healthcare. As a result, a pool of better-informed patients and better- networked doctors are being created.

More and more pharma and healthcare companies are moving away from traditional marketing. Global digital marketing trends are also seeing apps and social media playing a bigger role in this industry. From scientific detailing to the use of newer algorithms for better consumer insights, the trend of digital marketing has caught up with the $17 billion Indian Pharmaceutical Industry.

The healthcare industry comprises stakeholders, which include customers, such as doctors, and consumers, such as patients. They are all held together by caregivers and regulatory bodies. Today, many segments of the healthcare industry have integrated digital tools. Manufacturers, clinical trials, drug discovery, regulatory norms and commercialization are all being meshed together digitally in the healthcare industry.

With a digital boom in the country, a holistic digital culture will help to reduce the increasing gap between patients and doctors. With so much data being available pharma marketers should be using it to serve customers better. By making data the currency and building a patient-centric environment through digital, people will feel more engaged in the industry. The Indian Pharma market being a highly regulated one, marketers need to think twice before playing with data. It’s important to build a digital culture rather than narrowing your focus on various apps and gimmicks.

Digital marketing will soon become the core of marketing campaigns for the pharma industry in India. The internet is a growing platform for information, awareness, and solutions about healthcare. Pharma Digital Marketing in India has also helped medical sales representatives to contact doctors easily. Even patients are looking for health-related information online. This digital age has even seen many doctors starting to adopt digital technology in their practice. Understanding the industry in the Indian context - doctors, patients and the regulated industry that work here will result in better marketing efforts and return on investment.

Pharma companies in India like Sun Pharma & Abbott among others have already started adapting to this technological trend with the launch of their mobile app.Few of them make use of augmented and virtual reality in order to engage with patients and doctors alike.

Digitization throws up some interesting options. Decisions on Indian drug manufacturing will happen through social media. Crowd-sourcing, telemedicine, wearables, connected devices and social media will aid patient management. Digitization will change the manner in which clinical trials will be deployed.

The healthcare industry is exploring digital opportunities to streamline processes and lower costs, making digital integral to all segments of the value chain.

Digitization comes in the form of artificial intelligence (AI); Internet of Things (IoT); robotics; data management; voice and real-world experience (RWE). Immersive experiences are used to treat patients. For instance, virtual reality (VR) is for surgeries.  VR industry & the augmented reality (AR) presents huge opportunities to design healthcare applications.

Other than that, ML and robotic process automation (RPA) will also facilitate the data management process. Thereby, the healthcare industry will achieve a data maturity curve. The application of AI, ML, DL and natural language processing (NLP) opens up channels of predictive intelligence. This helps the clinical and commercial side of the value chain in decision making.

The healthcare industry will move from sensor-based platforms to intelligent patient assistants such as bots. Voice chat bots that are available 24/7 can interact with patients. In the case of drug safety, global pharma companies receive over one million adverse event reports annually. AI and automation can help reduce adverse events..

RWE happens in the case of clinical trials or when the patient visits the doctor. RWE helps collect data points for identifying diseases. The next step is to take the drug to the market in a cost-effective manner. Real-world existence (RWE) will help in predictive outcomes.

Manual processes can be automated. For instance, optical character recognition (OCR) can be leveraged for filling forms. Automation helps improve efficiency and quality of healthcare services, besides scaling down both the turn-around time for rendering services as well as operational costs.

Challenges pertaining Social Media Marketing for Pharmaceutical Industry:

Social media allows interaction among people which involves exchange and creation of information Social media infiltrate virtually every facet of an individual’s digital life.

Consumers learn about products on different social networks and seek customer service on messaging channels.

Moreover, good storytelling has always been an essential part of effective marketing But social media is changing the way audiences consume stories and pharma companies will be required to keep up with the evolution of social storytelling if they want to remain relevant

Today, patients are using social media as a major source of information and healthcare research. To comprehend how social media can assist patients, it is crucial to understand what compels people to use social media as a source of information.

Thus, it is essential that pharma companies should be present on social media to provide full and accurate information to the consumers.

It is the perfect conduit for pharmaceutical companies to connect with their customers, patients and physicians. Numerous companies still think of social media as merely a marketing tool which is not true anymore.

Yet there is still a note of caution with compliance being the foremost priority of pharmaceutical companies.

But as industries are starting to adopt social media without clear regulatory guidance, remaining compliant will be the main challenge to face.

Source: Secondary Research /Seminar notes