Crystal Gazing into Pharma
-Amlesh Ranjan
Healthcare is first a responsibility and then only an opportunity for Pharma. Marketing has a great role to play in fulfilling the responsibility and optimizing the opportunity.
‘Read your Roti* before eating it” – Lifebuoy put this sentence on all the Rotis, which got served at the Mahakumbh** mela, “ Lifebuoy se haath dhoye kya” (have you washed your hands with Lifebuoy soap). Keeping in mind the importance of hand hygiene for health, this was a great example of optimizing opportunity while fulfilling responsibility.
(*Roti- Indian pan bread; **Mahakumbh – World’s the largest religious congregation)
Pharma has been progressing through the decades with very aggressive portfolio and sales force expansion but the industry environment has been changing in a big way. Newer stakeholders, in healthcare delivery space have been gaining ground. The landscape is stormy with network of influencers – Providers, Payers, Regulatory – making their impact.
But as Vivian Greene said, “Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass…it’s about learning to dance in the rain”. And rightly so because increasing Health Insurance and Public funding of healthcare is fueling growth. Healthcare infrastructure investment and expansion augurs well for future. Household healthcare spend will keep growing through the years. Medical tourism will increase in coverage – geographically and in therapy areas. Private Hospitals will continue their rapid expansion and improved reach and will also keep evolving from current critical care to chronic and primary care. Lifestyle related interventions, Niche therapies and Disease Management will keep on gaining. All this will make our healthcare move from being ‘Out of pocket’ to becoming ‘Partly reimbursed’ to becoming ‘Majorly reimbursed’ market.
With the above in mind, Pharma growth agenda will have to address the present and emerging opportunities –
o Opportunities in geography: Driven by growing urbanization, Metro and Tier I towns will continue to be significant drivers of growth.
o Opportunities in Economy: Disposable incomes set to rise significantly in rural areas
o Opportunities in Life Cycle Management: Pro-active approach towards building brand portfolio and augmenting the same as you progress through the life cycle
o Opportunities across specialty: Targeting GPs, Physicians and Specialists
o Opportunities in adherence: Medication compliance has great impact on health outcomes
o Opportunities in Digital Ecosystem: Increasing number of Doctors & Patients are exploring social media for healthcare
Let us have a look at the possible roadmap for a sustainable growth for Pharma –
o Multi-Segment approach: Different Indications; Across sectors –Clinicians, Hospitals, Health Systems; Various specialties; Diverse Tiers of geography
o Collaborative Marketing: Evolving from Transactional to Relationship based to finally into a collaborative mode of marketing strategy and operation
o Multi-level approach in Marketing : Share of voice with Prescribers, Partnership with Providers and Participation with Payers
Physician centricity approach needs to transform into healthcare Systems involvement. Co-creation of value, through healthcare network orientation, is the possible answer where Dialogue, Access, Risk-benefit and Transparency are the key elements. Co-creation approach can result into the desired outcomes of Choice, Trust, Community and Innovation which will benefit all involved and impacted.
All-round effectiveness is a critical need of the hour which at organizational level, manifests through Strategy, Culture & Infrastructure and at individual level – Knowledge, Attitude & Skills.
Commercial Excellence is a key imperative which can be achieved by efficient integration of Customer Focus and Growth Strategy. Go-to-Market Strategy needs to flow seamlessly into Sales and Marketing.
Sales Model Excellence can be attained by creating Hybrid model of Sales force structure which can address varying Customer size and complexity. This will facilitate ‘Reach and Penetration’ with Portfolio and Geography match with focused BU and sales model supported by appropriate channel structure.
Sales Force Optimization can be aimed at by 6 critical elements – Resource Optimization, Segmentation & Targeting, Incentives & Rewards, Training & Capabilities, Sales Force Planning and Measurement.
Key Account Management team will be very important to harness the healthcare opportunity where the organization needs to aim for achieving ‘Relationship progression’, from being Standard Supplier to becoming Strategic Partner for the accounts.
Social Media Engagement will be critical for Transparency, Trust building and Patient empowerment. The Multi-Channel approach will facilitate two-way and multi-point communication to achieve above.
And we are clearly into an an era of Partnerships which will thrive on ‘Co-petition’ and not competition. So joining hands together is not a one time, one issue strategy, it should be a norm, now.
Pharma will keep thriving with a ‘Healthcare approach’ fueled by ‘Multi-level Marketing’ and driven by ‘All-round Effectiveness’.
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#pharma #biopharma #healthcare
Transcripts from my presentation at Brand Drift 2013, Pharma Marketing Conference by MedicinMan
Contact/connect details
amleshranjan@gmail.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/amleshranjan https://twitter.com/AmleshR
Disclaimer
Views expressed are personal and do not necessarily represent that of the organization that I work for.
