Robert A. Iger, Chairman and CEO of the very innovative Walt Disney company says, “The heart and soul of the company is creativity and innovation.”

Creativity and innovation are clearly a marketer’s best friends. Trying something new and innovative certainly takes a lot of heart—it can be risky, no doubt, but can also lead to great success. It also takes a lot of soul: The ability to step into the customers’ shoes and feel what they’re feeling. Insights are uncovered here, giving marketers the ability to solve problems and anticipate needs now and in the future. These abilities may well be the kindling of innovation—the spark that ignites creativity, the fire in the belly that burns away the old revealing something utterly new.

In our second Innovations in Pharma Marketing special issue we highlight these types of risk-takers and problem-solvers in the following categories: Companies, Divisions, People, Products and Services. We received an overwhelming response to our call for innovation, proving what we already knew: This industry has no shortage of new ideas, and trailblazers are everywhere. On the following pages, we present 60 offerings we feel are making an impact on the industry and on the lives of patients, while making the lives of brand marketers a little easier.

Journalist Walter Lippman says, “When we all think alike, then no one is thinking.” This is a glimpse of the people and companies who do think differently, who are leading pharma into places it has never been before.

Here are our picks for services. The most compelling offerings from companies that meet the current needs of pharma marketers.

ADHERENCE RISK MODELING: Atlantis Healthcare

Using Health Psychology to Improve Tx Adherence

Atlantis Healthcare
Jennifer Sigaud, Managing Director
Jennifer.Sigaud@atlantishealthcare.com

f6_Innov_Services_Atlantis-Healthcare-Tx-Adherence

Even though the pharmaceutical industry has been addressing treatment adherence for decades, one in three patients still never fill their prescriptions and nearly three out of four don’t take their medications as directed. To address this serious and persistent problem, Atlantis Healthcare developed an innovative approach that is changing the way pharma can improve non-adherence to help patients achieve better health outcomes.

Our philosophy applies principles of health psychology to a robust business model that addresses non-adherence by targeting a patient’s belief systems. Grounded in an evidence-based understanding of behavioral predictors and models for intervention development, we create customized interventions that get to the source of the problem and improve adherence long term.

Led by the world’s largest team of health psychology specialists, Atlantis Healthcare uses proven psychological modeling to assess medication beliefs and illness perceptions across a patient population. We then use this knowledge to develop highly targeted programs that engage patients to rethink how they manage their illness. We use a varied toolbox of digital and traditional methods to deliver meaningful interventions that connect with patients to provide unique support that drives behavior change.

For more than 15 years, Atlantis Healthcare has created and managed treatment adherence programs for a range of stakeholders including pharma, healthcare systems and patients—and we recently opened a North American office in New Jersey. Our model offers end-to-end solutions to improve adherence and contribute to positive outcomes across the healthcare spectrum.

UNCOVERING THE TRUE DECISION MAKERS: Cegedim

OneKey Integrated Health Systems

Cegedim Relationship Management
Jack Schember, Director of Marketing
SK&A, A Cegedim Company
Jack.schember@cegedim.com

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Economic challenges and the Affordable Care Act are driving the emergence of large, integrated health systems that focus on better patient outcomes and cost reductions. Integrated health systems are organizations that own or manage a complex delivery network of hospitals, medical offices, group practices and nursing homes. To achieve economies of scale, integrated health systems are exerting more control over their networks, including choices related to formulary, treatment plans, health IT adoption, product uptake and more.

In the traditional sales model, industry suppliers have successfully engaged and influenced providers site by site. As integrated health systems expand, individual providers have less decision-making authority and influence. Life sciences commercial teams need to seek out and engage the right decision makers in this new ecosystem.

Responding to this trend of consolidation, Cegedim Relationship Management, through extensive telephone interviews and custom research, has identified approximately 626 integrated health systems with affiliations to more than 44,000 work sites and over 412,000 professionals and providers. This unique resource includes key decision makers such as CEOs, presidents, VPs, formulary directors, department directors, administrators, physicians, mid-level prescribers and others.

The OneKey Integrated Health Systems database enables new, actionable insights to drive commercial innovation. It will help sales organizations and other stakeholders determine the network reach of the systems, map the geographic regions where the systems are operating, identify the physicians employed within the networks, and develop new customer segmentation models.

REACHING UNDERSERVED HCPs: CMI/Compas

Own the Audience

CMI/Compas
Carly Kuper
VP, Strategic Marketing & Corporate Communications
ckuper@cmicompas.com

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With Own the Audience, CMI/Compas radically alters the promotional landscape. We employ our proprietary ByDoctor audience analysis tool to guarantee that non-personal promotional marketing messages will impact previously un-promotable HCPs. Using proprietary data supplied by over 250 publishers across all media channels, ByDoctor enables CMI/Compas to analyze the value of un-promoted HCPs on a brand’s customer list, determine their needs and understanding of the brand, and analyze media preferences and affinity ensuring that the non-promotional message will connect with each HCP.

Then we repurpose a brand’s own marketing messages to reach out to these isolated HCPs, removing the barrier of lengthy MLR reviews. To date, solely through non-personal promotional efforts, Own the Audience has created an average uptick of over 72% on scrips written.

A barrier to adoption of Own the Audience: Proving to brands that we could reach previously un-promotable audiences with non-personal promotion. Putting our money where our mouths are, we decided to forgo upfront payment for our research, our planning time, our creative input, campaign supervision and measurement tools. Instead we partner with brands on the upside of their success. If our analysis and recommendations are wrong, we suffer the consequences. If we are right, we share in the profits along with our brand partners. CMI/Compas has made money on every Own the Audience campaign we have launched.

MEASURING PERFORMANCE INDICATORS: Flashpoint Medica

Personal and Non-personal Promotional Mapping

Flashpoint Medica
Nicole Johnson
SVP, Director of Digital Strategy and Technology
nicole.johnson@flashpointmedica.com

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When it comes to data metrics and analytics, 2013 has been a transformative year of innovation for Flashpoint Medica. More than ever, we’ve been collaborating with clients to develop customized measurement plans that track results against their business goals. These plans serve as roadmaps for making informed decisions about where to make investments across an array of channels, how to personalize experiences and which devices and technology to target.

As part of this initiative, we’ve partnered with GTO Media (www.greaterthanonemedia.com) to operationalize a model for mapping personal and non-personal promotional initiatives onto business objectives and measured them against return on investment (ROI) and return on engagement (ROE) goals. Flashpoint and GTO Media piloted this model with a client eager to increase disease awareness, optimize physician targeting and expand brand advocacy. We focused our effort on the identification of a core set of media platforms that reached and engaged their target audience, capturing physician-level data to personalize experiences in more meaningful ways. Early performance indicators were measured for a range of tactics, including emails, diagnostic tools and eDetails. Results of this analysis allowed us to expedite creative and mobile optimization.

Investments in metrics and analytics are delivering meaningful results that drive cost efficiencies and empower marketers to make better decisions. 2014 will be an exciting year on this front to continue these innovations.

INSIGHT INTO ACOs: Health Strategies Group

Accountable Care Organization Trends and Implications

Health Strategies Group
Stacey Pollock
Manager, Marketing Content
spollock@healthstrategies.com

f6_Innov_Services_Health-Strategies-Group

 

Health Strategies Group developed this service offering to better understand the challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry in its pursuit of emerging market opportunities, the impacts of these challenges and ways to strategically address them.

As ACOs continue to evolve, pharmaceutical companies increasingly need to create strategies for this important new segment. The ACO service fielded research with three different types of ACO participant (health systems, health plans and physician groups), then cross-referenced them with commercial, Medicaid and Medicare segments. The results painted a compelling picture of the hurdles facing the pharmaceutical industry and the best growth opportunities for brand and payer marketers who engage—or will engage—with ACOs.

Early access to this research has allowed clients to develop their ACO strategies and to deepen their understanding of ACO trends and the implications these have for their business. This research reveals who the ACO decision makers are, what their risk looks like, how they are managing disease state categories and drug access—and what all this means for pharmaceutical product access.

Brand and payer marketers who need to develop company or brand strategies, plans and programs can use this service to:

  • Assess the impact of ACOs on product, portfolio and company.
  • Understand how ACO impact will vary across therapeutic categories.
  • Identify the best opportunities with this new customer type.
  • Identify options for engaging with ACOs today and in the future.

 

PERSONALIZING PATIENT AND HCP EXPERIENCES: HyperPointe Health

Cloud-based Software Platform

HyperPointe Health
Peter Newman, President
pnewman@Hyperpointe.com
www.hyperpointe.com

f6_Innov_Services_HyperPointe-Health

 

HyperPointe Health is a customer experience management company that combines technology, Big Data customer intelligence, and deep behavioral insights to design, deliver and optimize patient and HCP omni-channel experiences for pharmaceutical marketers. This ensures that each customer receives the right experience, at the right time on the right device.

Our leading-edge, cloud-based software platform builds rich customer profiles and predictive algorithms by leveraging a multitude of pharmaceutical, healthcare and consumer data sources so that each touch point is based on both past and anticipated customer needs. The platform responds to customer triggers in real time and automates delivery of tailored experiences across channels—from websites and email to iPads and sales reps. This is the only platform that combines all the technology, data and analytics into one easy-to-implement platform developed exclusively for the pharmaceutical industry. Competitive brand advantages include:

  • Identifying patients that are more likely to initiate therapy, convert, defect or adhere.
  • Ensuring each patient touch point is relevant and timely throughout their treatment journey.
  • Engaging HCPs in a personalized cross-channel dialogue through state-of-the-art data management.

HyperPointe Health has driven $150 million in profit for one client, driven by a 20% conversion rate and an incremental lift of 1.7 prescriptions per patient. ROI is an impressive 12:1. These results speak to the power that lies at the intersection of data, technology and insight.

COMMERCIAL EFFECTIVENESS SUITE: IMS Health

Customer Engagement and Social Listening Capabilities

IMS Health
Andrea Vandeven, Director, Marketing, U.S.
avandeven@us.imshealth.com

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In 2013, IMS Health made significant investments to help life science companies keep pace with changes in healthcare. With the acquisitions of Appature and Semantelli, IMS Health brought together best-of-breed, cloud technology developed specifically for life science clients to address needs in marketing and consumer engagement, analytics and social listening.

  • With Appature, marketers have a platform that aggregates customer sales and marketing data giving marketers actionable insights and the ability to optimize campaigns in real time.
  • With Semantelli, pharma companies get a robust set of cloud-based tools that automate the collection of healthcare-specific social media content and provide real-time social media monitoring for reputation and opportunity management. These tools deliver extensive insights into consumer and physician behavior and sentiments.

Together, these SaaS applications give marketers better insights and improved cross channel customer engagement and social listening capabilities that they never had before. Appature’s rules-based Nexus campaign management tool enables marketers to deliver the right message to the right customer at the right time. For example, if an HCP responds to a specific campaign event or if our social listening analytics identifies an HCP as having a positive sentiment for a brand, the Nexus campaign management system can deliver a personalized communication to that HCP. The IMS Health commercial application suite is designed to give marketers the information, technology and analytics to implement effective commercial strategies.

PROBLEM SOLVED IN 11 DAYS: Intouch Solutions

Innovation Lab

Intouch Solutions
Joey Barnes
Sr. Director, Business Development
joey.barnes@intouchsol.com

f6_Innov_Services_Intouch-Solutions-Innovation-Lab

Imagine if your marketing problem could be solved in just 11 days.

Pharma marketing isn’t known for innovation. But with the changing healthcare landscape, the patent cliff in full swing and continually emerging technologies, pharma must innovate or die. Intouch Solutions has answered the call with Innovation Lab.

A client has a challenge or problem that seems unsolvable. They have some ideas, but if they choose the wrong one, then they could waste literally hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not to mention the months or even years lost because they invested in a mistake. What if there was a process that greatly reduced the risk while increasing the odds of success? What if they could quickly test new ideas for viability before making a significant investment?

Using a model successfully implemented for many clients, Intouch tackles tough marketing challenges. With the client’s input, we define it clearly. Then, implementing our proprietary method, we hypothesize a variety of solutions. Our SWAT team, in the field with the target audience, tests the ideas—in any of a number of ways appropriate to the situation. In some cases where programmers are on site, we create a beta test for real-time experimentation. The client receives instant feedback and valuable insights, and with a virtually instant information loop, we continually refine the idea until we reach a conclusion on the idea’s viability.

It’s smart. It’s efficient. It’s proven innovation.

PROGRAMMATIC BUYING SOLUTION: Precision Health Media

PageMatch Private Marketplace

Precision Health Media
Bill Jennings, CEO
bjennings@precisionhealthmedia.com

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There’s been a continuous shift in ad budgets toward digital media channels throughout these past few years. However, pharma and health brands are often more limited than other industries in how they can target consumers online. The concern in the pharma industry has been ad placement and the widespread use of cookie-based audience targeting across exchanges. This has made it a non-starter for many pharma and health brands.

This fall, Precision Health Media offered the pharmaceutical and other health brands using PageMatch access to programmatic targeting options through the company’s integration with leading exchanges such as AppNexus and Right Media. PageMatch is a managed service where the Precision Health Media team makes bids in the digital marketplace on behalf of the agency/brand. The PageMatch Private Marketplace combines deep relevance, historical analysis and real-world data to identify content that attracts visitors based on specific health conditions.

The new addition of PageMatch Private Marketplace enables pharma brands to target and bid on those trusted pages across 15 billion daily impressions in addition to Precision Health Media’s private marketplace of top health sites. It also provides a scalable, efficient and cost effective alternative or supplement to buying ad inventory direct from publishers.

3D LIFELIKE PRESENTATION: The Supertouch Group

Projection Mapping at RSNA 2012/2013

The Supertouch Group
Sam Ewen, President and Co-Founder
sam@supertou.ch
www.supertou.ch

f6_Innov_Services_Supertouch-Group-Projection-Mapp

 

Using the best people and the best technologies, GE tackles the toughest challenges. It is only natural, therefore, for GE Healthcare IT Solutions to exhibit their products in a way that adds momentum and empowers the audience to continue to move the world forward. At the 2012 and 2013 Radiological Society of North America show at Chicago’s McCormick Place, The Supertouch Group created the first 3D projection mapping of radiological imagery over a human form. Supertouch used animation, actual radiological images and custom software that mapped the content onto the form and a backdrop simultaneously. Moderated by a specialist, the seven-minute presentation, executed over four days, showcased the clinical and service IT solutions that GE offers.

Not only was the setup eye-catching, but attendees also marveled when the form came to life in front of their eyes. The form took the role of both patient and doctor as we investigated how radiological images can give us deeper access into the human body. They captured photos to save and share, filled the seats until it was standing room only and could be overhead pushing others to visit.

DRIVING CUSTOMERS’ BEHAVIOR: Triple Threat Communications

Behavior Design

Triple Threat Communications
Bob Hogan, Director, Consumer Services
bhogan@triplethreatcommunications.com

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Ninety-five percent of the time, people’s behaviors emerge from the instinctive, emotional part of their brains. Five percent of the time, they come from the thinking part. So why do pharma marketers spend so much time trying to influence that five percent?

Triple Threat Communications focuses on the 95% of the brain where most human behavior—and the whole concept of brands—lives. We offer behavior design, creating interactions with brands that drive specific behaviors. Behavior design starts with a “behavior journey plan” identifying desired behaviors at each key point along the customer’s journey as a patient. Then strategies are developed to increase the customer’s ability to perform these behaviors.

Default research methodologies in pharma rely on self-reported attitudes, preferences, likes and dislikes; yet these are not true indicators of what people actually do. We challenge marketers to think like social scientists and conduct “experiments” that drive customer behaviors that generate upticks in brand prescribing, decreases in patient prescription abandonment and better patient adherence.

Conventionality is the key challenge that we have faced with adoption of our behavior design services—conventional research approaches and conventional views that modon’t settle for what people say,” says Bob Hogan, Triple Threat’s Director of Consumer Services. “We test what they will do.”

PRODUCT TRENDS ANALYSIS: ValueCentric

VCIQ.com

ValueCentric
Dianne Pilon, Director, Marketing
dianne.pilon@valuecentric.com

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Unique in its offering, VCIQ.com was designed for pharmaceutical and medical-supply professionals as a focal point featuring a variety of value-added services and healthcare information. The site includes industry benchmarking, retail store prescription data services, a comprehensive social listening and interpretation practice and healthcare news, all built upon the company’s 11 years of experience in pharmaceutical and medical-surgical products industries. With VCIQ services, companies can analyze product trends to uncover influencers and drivers of their brands and their competitors, which have fueled fresh new understandings around product loyalty.

Brand and marketing professionals can sample industry benchmarks and actual Rx data for free. There is no need to sign up for this service to try it out—users can visit the site and begin tapping into its power immediately. Users can view pharmacy-level product prescription activity across the entire population of partner stores in the sampling that spans the last few months or weeks in the Data Store. The resulting findings will reveal how broad the retail market is, indicating the number of stores filling scrips and the number of scrips filled in the most recent time periods available. VCIQ also tracks national Days On Hand (DOH) averages, Loss of Exclusivity sales trend, average Return Ratios and social media activity.

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