Ground level product promotional activity
Product promotional messaging is the life breath of every business, and finance is
the life blood of every business. Both feed
each other. Promotional messages are transmitted through messengers – both animate
and non-animate. From the inception of
pharmaceutical industry in India, the medical representatives (MRs) have played
a hallmark role of being messengers of product promotional messages to target doctors
and pharmacists. Alongside, they have
performed the role of relationship managers too, providing persuasion tools
like samples and other knickknacks or sponsorships.
Marketing myopia is another truism of marketing domain - it happens
because marketers like to remain in the comfort zone. Instead of viewing the product messages as
being the pull creator of product sales, companies began to view medical
representatives as the product sales pullers.
Yes, the MRs are certainly product sales pullers, but is so only when they push product promotional messages. Otherwise, they are just mendicant or postman
medical representatives. Hence, the
prima donna force providing sales pull is the array of product promotional
messages (through MRs or through other means).
There are some pharmaceutical companies who learnt this home truth early
on; that the medical representatives are relationship managers, people who
handle collaterals in a value added manner, and are product promotional message transmitters. This is what makes the MRs’ masters of
persuasion practice. The MR based product
messaging activity is through the classic modes of visual aid and collateral
detailing, extempore detailing and dialogue detailing with yes momentum. Earlier on the printed visual aid and
literatures were main tools for collateral based detailing, today, electronic
aids like ipad, smartphone and tablet pc based collateral detailing are being done
by MRs to engage the doctors and get them engrossed in the message. Videos, digital images, gif images, and audio
recordings used on these electronic devices have gripped the attention and
engaged doctors during in-clinic activity, in-CME product promotion and in-stall
or in-booth activity. So the nub of the matter is that delivery
of PRODUCT PROMOTIONAL MESSAGES produces the business outcomes, while other
‘give and take’ transactions, provides
a higher level to the business outcome.
For example negotiated sponsorships along with product messaging
activity have provided rocket growth to pharmaceutical companies in India.
The digital dimension of product promotional messaging
activity
Covid-19 coronaviral infection has upset the apple cart of routine
product promotional messaging activity in the pharmaceutical sector. Doctors have been used to medical
representative visits, who provide positive strokes, appreciation, ego massage,
informational product points (these are very important to help recapitulate,
after all knowledge is volatile) and other inputs that are valued by them
(samples, gifts etc). The virulent pandemic
Covid-19 has made people go in for social and physical distancing. Doctors have seen the horrid of morbidity and
mortality with Covid-19 infection from close quarters; hence, they are hesitant
to meet up with medical representatives.
This has changed the way pharmaceutical companies transfer product
promotional messages and do the relationship management.
Pharmaceutical companies adapt to the market change
There is a saying - IF IT IS IMPORTANT, YOU WILL FIND A WAY -
OR YOU WILL FIND AN EXCUSE. Thus,
savvy pharmaceutical marketers have immediately redrawn the blue print of
product promotional message transfer, from relying solely on medical
representatives to laying focus on the digital route of messaging to target
audiences.
Abbott has found its solution through international Key Opinion Leader
(KOL) webinars and focus group discussions involving core doctors. Micro Labs has started influencing and
messaging doctors through zoom based advisory board discussions, and phone
talking with core doctors. Whatsapp has
proved a great help to push messages to core doctors and core pharmacies. So the focus is to find the 20% of doctors,
pharmacies and territories (or areas or pincodes) that provide the 80% of the
business - and ring-fencing them to protect businesses.
Group Pharmaceuticals, Bangalore is a very innovative and
dynamic pharmaceutical company with research based oral care products - this company has focused on digital means of reaching target
patients, doctors and pharmacies, through the website route, webinars (for
pharmacists and doctors), social cause marketing like Dental Reach and ensuring
push messaging of useful nuggets of wisdom to engage doctors and end consumers. Group Pharmaceuticals has a committed field force with a high morale for ground level activation too.
The nature of patient-centric reality of the pharmaceutical business
especially for OTX (over-the –counter plus prescription products) portfolio has
come to the fore due to the Covid-19 disruption. Many companies are also facilitating or drawing
up plans to help doctors provide telemedicine connects to patients.
Conclusion – ‘phygital’ is the way forward
Phygital (physical + digital) is the way forward for ensuring product promotional
messages are delivered at the right time, in the right amount of the right
quality to the targeted audience, because it is the product promotional messages
that actually bring in the business rather than the messenger, -this
is the home truth. The other home truth
that has once again hit investors is that cash is king, and businesses survive
only when marketing is sharp enough to ensure smooth cash flow into the organization. And if the business outcomes have to be
further improved, then relationship management concepts become important, and
here too, ‘phygital ’ is the way forward.
