DIGITAL EXPERIENCES: LEARNINGS FROM OUTSIDE PHARMA

It’s long been the case that pharma lags behind other industries when it comes to digital adoption and engagement, and that fact remains just as true today. While there have been some advances in recent times, fuelled by growing demand for digital health solutions since the pandemic, opportunities for pharma to better support patients and drive improved health outcomes have been missed.

Industry has often blamed tight regulations for playing it safe in how it communicates – and digital is no exception. Yet businesses in other highly regulated industries, fintech being one, continue to breakdown barriers and deliver great things when it comes to digital consumer experiences.

So, what can we learn from these other industries, and how could those innovations be adapted for healthcare?

HARNESSING CUSTOMER INSIGHT

Brands today are constantly competing to remain visible and relevant in the eyes of consumers. The enjoyable and seamless experiences they deliver are often great examples of omnichannel done well, powered by an ever-growing understanding of their customers’ lives. To secure that highly sought after clickthrough, content, video, even photography, are all individually curated, based on the digital profile of the specific customer. For some brands, success here can literally be the difference between life and death.

While this may sound dramatic, Gallup observes that organisations that leverage customer behavioural insights outperform their peers by 85 per cent in sales growth and more than 25 per cent in gross margin. Put simply, omnichannel done correctly can deliver major benefits in brand value, customer relationships and, more importantly, sales.

“ORGANISATIONS THAT LEVERAGE CUSTOMER BEHAVIOURAL INSIGHTS OUTPERFORM THEIR PEERS BY 85 PER CENT IN SALES GROWTH AND MORE THAN 25 PER CENT IN GROSS MARGIN.”

Many pharma companies, such as MSD, J&J and GSK, have already invested heavily in data and are driving effective omnichannel experiences to audiences using insights. Investment here seems a no-brainer, yet the wider healthcare industry seems to have a long way to go before this becomes the norm.

GOING LIVE

British retail institution M&S has long sought to change its image and be seen as a youthful, modern and progressive brand. As part of this endeavour, video is now a core component of its omnichannel strategy with a recent initiative being “M&S Live Expert”, a web feature that connects consumers directly with in-store product experts in a FaceTime-like experience.

While video as a method of content delivery isn’t new, there’s a growing demand from audiences who prefer to engage with brands “in the moment”, and McKinsey states that the social media “live” trend (upon which M&S Live Expert is no doubt based) is expected to account for 10-20% of global e-commerce by 2026.

“SOCIAL MEDIA ‘LIVE’ TREND IS EXPECTED TO ACCOUNT FOR 10-20% OF GLOBAL E-COMMERCE BY 2026.”

Live video has a number of practical applications with both patient and professional audiences, for example as part of Patient Support Programming (PSPs) where patient experts get to share their disease journeys with others whose lives have been similarly impacted; and on the flip side, KOLs discussing their work and patient cases with their peers; and of course, via social media as part of disease awareness campaigning. There is much to be explored here.

THE OPEN BANKING MODEL

Put simply, open banking gives consumers total control over their financial and banking information, which previously was the domain of Banks only. When the EU passed the PSD2 Law in 2019, giving approved and regulated third-party businesses the permission to connect to banks and make payments on consumers’ behalf, it kick started a revolution. As of January 2022 there were 5 million open banking users in the UK – 3.9 million payments were made using open banking technology in that month alone. And this is set to expand as more and more consumers take advantage of the flexibility and freedom that open banking provides.

“DATA ACCESS AND SHARING WILL PLAY A CENTRAL ROLE IN THE METAVERSE, WHERE AUDIENCES WILL EXPECT DIRECT ACCESS TO THEIR INFORMATION ACROSS MULTIPLE CONVERGENT DIGITAL PLATFORMS.”

One of the many benefits here is the innovation that has come about as a result, with start-ups all vying to win over consumers with their digital solutions and services. For the first time in history, banks are on the back foot and being forced to up their game and compete. For pharma, the idea of opening up its data to licensed third parties must be horrifying, but in doing so industry may just bring about long-awaited improvements to their patient and customer experiences. Data access and sharing will play a central role in the Metaverse, where audiences will expect direct access to their information across multiple convergent digital platforms. Time will tell if pharma is willing to be a part of that

ENHANCING REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCES

Global sports-wear giant Nike turned 50 years old in 2022 and celebrated by rolling out a new Augmented Reality (AR) experience in stores around the world. No stranger to immersive experiences, Nike has explored AR and VR for many years, with varying degrees to entice customers into physical stores while delivering unique and engaging interactions with its products.

Nike understands the value that AR brings to its retail experience – that it doesn’t replace the physical world, but enhance it by applying digital interactions over real environments, which, when implemented correctly, drive improved customer engagement and product commitment.

While we are already seeing AR pop up across healthcare, from hospital tours to surgical training, its use is limited, and we are yet to see it fully leveraged with patients or the general public.

Today, the lines between the real and virtual world are more blurred than ever and the future of digital makes it highly likely they will blur even more. The pandemic was a catalyst for digital innovation, but the revelation was the broad recognition by brands that central to this innovation needed to be good user experience, personalised to the needs of the customer.

By overcoming barriers to change and embracing digital transformation, pharma has the opportunity to deliver meaningful and compelling experiences for patients and professionals that have the potential to save lives, as well as change them for the better.

At Frontera, we’re committed to harnessing the power of insight to create digital solutions that drive measurable change for audiences. If you’d like to hear more about our approach, please get in touch. hello@frontera-group.com.

“PHARMA HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO DELIVER MEANINGFUL AND COMPELLING EXPERIENCES FOR PATIENTS AND PROFESSIONALS THAT HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO SAVE LIVES.”