"C" How the Industry Is Shifting

One of our fearless leaders Donna Murphy got down to the difficult task of enlightening us on the changing and challenging dynamics of the pharmaceutical industry and what the ramifications of these changes are. The objectives for doing so were twofold:

• Create a future vision of healthcare marketing and communications
• Determine how we can get to the Future First together

The first part of her presentation surveyed the current environment of the industry, how it was being impacted by the economic downturn, and how it will be re-shaped by the Obama administration. These are the principle driving forces in the revamping of the industry landscape due to the increased scrutiny on large and small pharma.

Some of the key changes going on include: cost containment (price controls and push for generics), a move toward universal healthcare coverage, mergers and acquisitions, and an extremely low public perception of the industry.

The second part of the presentation demonstrated how target audiences are rapidly changing their approach to pharmaceutical companies and their representatives, with 20% of office-based physicians not seeing reps at all and major institutions employing a similar policy. The key message being that traditional audiences are now much harder to get to and brand messages in the future must be very tailored, data-driven, and non-personal.

There also appears to be a paradigm shift as it relates to optimization of sales force effectiveness, with government and regional payors becoming the key accounts versus traditional widespread coverage of PCPs.

In moving from mass media to personal media as dictated by today’s audiences, the goal is to “build a meaningful relationship in a non-personal world.” Gone are the days of rep and detail aids, brand messages now - and in the future - need to be highly targeted, content/data-driven, technologically-advanced experiences.

Some examples of the direction the industry is moving include: Virtual CRM programs, eLearning portals, mobile applications, and full-blown virtual environments.

Brace yourself for the eminent Dr. Will Smith battling virtual reps in a future summer blockbuster.