Understanding the Evolving Role of Pharmaceutical Companies
One of the main challenges for physicians, is that, for many conditions, they have many treatment options.
Using local protocols, their experience and their knowledge of the specific patient they choose the best option available. When new treatments are introduced, they have limited time to understand where these fit in and which patients they are most appropriate for.
Adapting to the New World of Patient Self-Care
This is where historically Pharmaceutical companies have helped using their reach to help as many people as possible to ensure that they understand the benefits of the brand.
But today, physicians, are also reaching out to ask for help with the many new challenges they face, in managing the changing face of healthcare and the new world of patient self-care that technology enables.
Pharma marketing have responded well to these requests, understanding the underlying needs and insights and developing new approaches and support programmes that add even more value.
now we need to think differently, and explore new ways to measure what success really means.
Moving Beyond Share of Voice
Exploring New Measures of Success in Pharma Marketing
This means that Share of Voice alone doesn’t drive a change in the physician’s behaviour, it doesn’t measure the many new emerging channels for brand activation, and it doesn’t measure the physicians and the patient’s journey and experience of the brand and the company.
Therefore, whilst, traditionally, Share of Voice was a key indicator of how successfully a company had performed against its competition, now we need to think differently, and explore new ways to measure what success really means.
The Emergence of Share of Insight
So, what can we use instead? Share of Insight? Share of Care?
From Data Rich to Insight Driven in Healthcare
We can start by considering a move to Share of Insight as a new key indicator. There is no point in having a high Share of Voice, if your insights are poor and don’t inform you of the physician’s needs and priorities and the critical aspects of the patients’ experiences.
Share of Insight means avoiding being data rich and insight poor, becoming an insight driven company, providing customers with support, tools and information so that they increase their knowledge of the disease and improve the treatments and outcomes for the patient.
Share of Insight is essential in Primary Care as demand continues to outstrip resources and other healthcare professionals, such as the pharmacist, take on more responsibility for patient care.
The Value of Share of Care
However, for specialist areas we really need to consider a further indicator of success, our Share of Care.
Navigating the Complex Patient Journey
Share of Care is about providing help and guidance based on fully understanding all the elements of the complex patient journey stages
Share of Insight is often focussed on 1 or 2 steps in the patient experience, often around the treatment choice. Share of Care is about providing help and guidance based on fully understanding all the elements of the complex patient journey stages and experiences, to move from a disease care centred world, to create a health care world, that is truly customer centric.
The Future of Pharma: Strategic Account Management
To do this value-based customer/patient centric solutions need to be co-created with customers. Doing this demonstrates knowledge of what is important to physicians and their patients and the challenges they both face and, thereby demonstrates caring.
Delivering Share of Care means changing the company’s alignment and approach. Primary Care can usually be managed by the Medical Reps but engaging our specialist physicians with a share of care approach requires a new era of Strategic Account management. 10 years ago, Share of Voice worked as an indicator of sales, but it is not enough in the world of healthcare today, as it becomes ever more complicated with multiple decision makers, new stakeholders and patients taking more and more control of their treatments and care.
Cross-Functional Teams: The Key to Driving Share of Care
We need to develop cross functional working teams who can utilise our Share of Insights to create the value-based solutions that will drive our Share of Care which is essential to our future success.
Share of Voice is an easy measure and something that everyone feels secure with, however, ask yourselves how will this help me navigate the new world and increase my understanding of the physicians and patients needs or would I be better looking to the new indicators of success by exploring my Share of Insight and Share of Care?
Whatever you measure, the key to success, in our view, is an in depth understanding of the customer experience and the needs of your Key Accounts.
If you’d like to talk to us about your current challenge, then please do get in touch.
We’d love to talk.
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