PRODUCT DETAILING IN THE PHARMA INDUSTRY
SUREKHA ROY ISB&M
Pharmaceutical marketing Pharmaceutical marketing , sometimes called medico-marketing, is the business of advertising or otherwise promoting the sale of pharmaceuticals or drugs. Marketing is critical to the success of drug development . Promotion of pharmaceutical products can traditionally be done with four techniques viz, personal selling, advertising, sales promotion and publicity
Advertising
of prescription drugs is restricted in India according to Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and can be used only to promote OTC (Over The Counter) drugs that are used for minor ailments and not for prescription drugs.
Promotion efforts in pharmaceutical industry are typical, as it i s not directed to the end user but the influencer ± the physician
Advertising,
publicity and sales promotion is used secondary to support the main technique, personal selling
To register a brand in customers¶ minds amidst all the clutter recourse adopted by the pharmaceutical companies is personal selling, the most essential and vital aspect of pharmaceutical marketing as the target audience and customers are different, who are not the end users but merely influencers.
Product detailing has been the most important way for pharmaceutical companies to communicate drug information to physicians.
Product detailing Detailing in pharmaceutical companies is a set of process that build and establish relationship with physicians and other member of the value chain for delivering drug to the consumer. Detailing is the only way in which the medical representatives reach their consumer base and inform them about their company products via the influencer i.e the physician.
Detailing bridges the gap between a pharma company's communication restrictions and a physician's need for complete product information. Detailing is performed via doctors office visit, seminars and conferences. Detailing delivers by far the biggest return on marketing investments for pharmaceutical companies,
Challenges in traditional detailing Pharmaceutical companies are finding that although the cost of detailing products to physicians is rising, tangible results are not. Traditional methods of detailing are no longer as effective as they once were. The competition for doctors' time is intense. Pharmaceutical companies face mounting competition where physicians have less time to spend with sales representatives. The time allowable for pharmaceutical detailing has thus been reduced dramatically. Detailing physicians today is perhaps more challenging than at any point in history. The number of representatives detailing products often exceeds the number of physician specialists several times over and is increasing.
Loopholes
in traditional detailing
process
Common mistakes made by representatives include: Direct confrontation on prescription-writing habits. Addressing clinical research data as if they are the experts. Asking for blanket prescriptions (unrelated to patient care). Forgetting about the patient in the sales engagement. Failing to understand the physician's schedule when pursuing time with him or her. Poor understanding of the intricacies of managing the broad spectrum of the disease sales representatives fail to understand that the transaction is not between the representative and the physician, but between the physician and the patient
Alternatives
to conventional
detailing: Promoting brand with theme or story The idea of a product or brand has to be based on some ³theme´ or ³story´ associated with brand as it becomes easy for the physician to relate brand with a particular theme or story Detailing theme can be modified according to the specialty of doctor, time available in doctor¶s chamber, rapport with doctor. Detailing theme helps to tailor the detailing of product according to the needs of the customer i.e. doctors Detailing theme should be based on broad objectives; the pictorial depiction in detailing chart should be in synchronization with the message to be conveyed to the doctor. Easy for medical representative to remember the theme of detailing rather than entire detailing story
Advantages
Avoids
of detailing theme:
repetitive and monotonous detailing
Attracts
doctors¶ attention
Can leads to discussion with MR and thereby arousing interest about the product Helps to register ³brand´ of the company easily as it is linked with a theme Medical Representative would enjoy ³learning´ during training period in the company Helps MRs to develop good rapport with doctors easily
Technology-Based
Solutions
E-detailing - selling to physicians anytime anywhere To revolutionize this aspect of detailing has come into picture edetailing. e marketing and e detailing are some of the strong points that technology offers to pharmaceutical companies. e-detailing is the digital equivalent of a medical representative¶s visit, using Internet-enabled technology in the product detailing process. E-detailing solutions vary in interactivity from those that provide static product information online to those that require doctors to go through interactive product materials online to those which involves the doctors in a ¶face-to-face¶ video detail via the computer.
Why
e-detailing????
E-Detailing can strengthen the pharmaceuticalphysician relationship by offering physicians an opportunity to improve how they work, cut costs and increase revenues for pharmaceutical companies Lack of time for health care professionals For physicians to be better equipped to serve more patients. Patients today are educated and well aware. The ubiquitous nature of internet, in theory, provides access anytime, anyplace and anywhere. e-detailing products, use Web-based, self-service concepts to provide a low-cost option for detailing to the pharmaceutical companies. Allows physicians to pull information as they need it rather than information being pushed onto them by the sales reps.
Effective e-detailing e-Detailing results require companies to build trust not just doling out data when and where needed, but helping provide doctors with better care with access to valuable, trusted drug information Build in trust- . Doctors want unbiased, up-to-theminute information that they can use to make informed decisions and serve patients, not the typical rhetoric found in corporate sales materials. Understand the needs of physician segmentsUnderstanding each segment's needs and preferences is key to determining the right e-detailing approach and offering the information and services that a particular segment values most Apply e-detailing tactics strategically- Applying edetailing along with traditional detailing gives both physicians and pharmaceutical companies options to improve their efficiency and effectiveness
In
a nutshell«..
No e-detailing plan or initiative will be truly successful unless it is fully integrated into your company's customer relationship management (CRM) strategy and execution. E-detailing tactics should share physician information that is integrated across all corporate channels. Integrating sales activities and the information gathered, both electronically and in the field, into your company's marketing systems will go a long way toward strengthening the physician relationship, as well as helping improve the way doctors work. And
the better doctors -- the gatekeepers to increased prescriptions and market share -- perform, the greater the opportunity for your company to profit.
Pharma Marketing Meets Social Media Pharma Marketing Meets Social Media Twitter Accounts
(excluding personal
pharma people) Face book Sites YouTube Sites BrandSponsored Patient Communities Blogs
Twitter Accounts AF
Stat (sanofiaventis) JNJComm (J&J¶s Marc Monseau) Race with Insulin (Novo Nordisk) Roche Xpresskindness (Allergan) Most pharma Twitter accounts are focused on company news. Recently, however, non-branded campaigns focused on disease awareness or cause marketing have been launched.
Best BrandSponsored Patient Communities AccuCheck
Diabetes Link (Roche) Children with Diabetes (J&J Lifescan) Diabetes Handprint (J&J Lifescan) Crohn¶s and Me (UCB) Voices of Diabetes (Novo Nordisk)
Pharma YouTube Channels Goinsulin
(sanofiaventis) Johnson & Johnson Health Channel Pfizer Europe Pfizer UK (the rat video!)
Pharma Blogs More Than Medicine (GSK) JNJBTW (J&J) Think Science Now (Pfizer) AZ Health Connections There are very few pharma blogs. A couple of disease or product related blogs have gone defunct after the person responsible has left the company (e.g., Centocor 411, alli blog). Those that are left mainly focus on corporate news and views
Issues
using social
media Accountability
Fulfilling Regulatory Requirements Posting Corrective Information Links Adverse
Event Reporting
Trends in physician using social media Rise Of Physician-only Social Networking - There are a number of sites such as Sermo, Ozmosis and Social MD that offer physicians the chance to connect with others in their profession for knowledge sharing, networking and support. Increasing Utility Of Pharma Customer Service Portals - Most large Pharma brands have their own specific physician customer service portals (Merck Services, Pfizer Pro, and Novo Medlink) where docs can do everything from downloading samples or patient education information to conducting live video conferencing with company representatives. Blogging Physicians Humanizing The Industry. There are an emerging group of top physician blogs such as KevinMD which are offering the physician¶s perspective on issues related to healthcare, but generally in a tone and language that is more approachable by non-medical people.
CONCLUSION«. The companies realize their traditional websites and advertising strategies are no longer sufficient tools to promote products in a competitive marketplace in which doctors, pharmacists and consumers aggressively trade information about medicine on blogs. The companies are also aware that 'if they can't fully participate in the social-media conversation, they get marginalized.
