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Nearly 35% of operations of pharma cos need to be shifted to digital marketing: C Com Digital survey
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Our Bureau, Mumbai
June 27 , 2020
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There is an urgent need for the pharmaceutical organizations thriving on age-old business models to embrace the world of digital marketing and leverage technology to their optimum advantage. Nearly 35% of the operations of the pharma companies need to be shifted to digital marketing, according to a survey conducted by C Com Digital, a full-service digital marketing agency.
The survey, conducted study to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the Indian pharmaceutical industry, was carried out in collaboration with some of the leading decision makers and business consultants from across India to gauge the impact of COVID-19 on their organizations as well as the whole of the pharma industry. Most of the respondents that participated in the survey experienced complacency in the industry with respect to heavy dependency on the out-of-date B2B model and hesitance to adopt changes due to ROI centricity prevailing for decades.
The study also saw that, pharmaceutical companies are considering dedicating about 5% to 10% of their marketing budget towards creating webinars and online communications.
“It’s time for pharma companies to respond positively to digitization; since it’s here to stay for a long while now. In general, when we are talking about the ‘new normal’, we must understand that employees can work remotely with utmost productivity, but the key remains to prepare ourselves, as an organization, to adjust and adopt new changes quickly as per the changing environment, so that there’s victory at the end of the dark tunnel. And now, as we analyze the report of the survey, it’s clear that to tackle the existing challenges in the pharma industry, we must let the best options and capabilities walk up to the table,” said Chandan Bagwe, founder and managing director, C Com Digital.
The online digital survey said that majority of the top management officials believed that COVID-19 has already brought about a strategic shift in the way pharma companies function and engage with physicians and other clients on a day to day basis. Teleconsultation and online consultation has seen a steady spikeinfact, around 42% of patients are taking prescriptions by tele consultation and doctor visits had dropped by almost 5% during the period of March to April 2020.
To add, the biggest concern for most of these organizations remains to undertake measures for continued remote working facilities and minimizing direct engagement by establishing digital routes.
Moreover, the report identifies that many large-scale pharma companies are now looking to place their bet on online patient education and online training of field staff through the means of comprehensive soft skill modules and dedicated e-learning programmes from a perspective of sustainable development goals. In fact, few of the companies are already leveraging AI-driven models to gain a competitive advantage over others and to build engagement with their clients from newsletters.
Pharma companies are slowly picking up the pace to go digital, primarily by looking at social media for communication and engagement. In the days to come, it is certain that most of these businesses will find an alternative to demonstrate their offerings, either through applications or video content. Clearly, the position of the industry and the present-day scenario points out that more and more pharma companies will dedicate a larger portion of their budgets towards digital marketing as against advertising or branding. Perhaps, the progress and success post-COVID-19 will be primarily reliant on agile working models, sagacious strategies, and adaptable workforces.
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