Pharma, Patient Engagement

McKinsey & Google: Pharma needs to seize social media opportunity

According to the report, from McKinsey & Co., Google and the Wharton School, one of every 20 Google searches today is for health information. That's grown 15 percent a year since 2011.

McKinsey Pharma 3D

Pharmaceutical companies are missing out a major opportunity to grow their brands: social media. That’s according to a newly published e-book from McKinsey & Co., Google and The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

“Historic mixes of advertising in traditional media combined with heavy salesforce coverage and ‘push’ messaging are insufficient,” the publication said. “While each of those tactics remains relevant, today’s commercial mix should reflect the fact that people are now viewing digital channels close to 50 percent of the time, and, even more importantly, that those people seek real engagement in regards to their care.”

From the e-book:

The most innovative marketers today are finding ways to solve a problem, delight, inspire, or empathize with patients right in the flow of what they are doing (instead of interrupting to push a message to them). Similarly, more and more HCPs use digital tools and media to confirm facts and as a way to connect with others for clinical advice as well as emotional support.

Indeed, according to the report, one of every 20 Google searches today is for health information, the book said. That’s grown 15 percent a year since 2011.

“As a result, pharma companies need to make a mindset shift from ‘telling’ to ‘listening’ and then (eventually) ‘engaging’ because patients are no longer passive recipients of care. Rather, they are active shapers of their care,” the McKinsey-Google-Wharton team wrote in the e-book, entitled, “Pharma 3D: Rewriting the script for marketing in the digital age.”

“Pharma 3D” stands for discover, design and deliver. “The 3D approach has helped scores of organizations across industries innovate their approaches to digital engagement,” said the lengthy document, which includes numerous case studies. (The authors promised to update the e-book with additional case studies in the future.)

They said that companies with a high “digital quotient” experience twice the rate of revenue growth as those that do not. “The investment in this considerable change is worth it,” the book said.

Photo: McKinsey & Co.

Shares0
Shares0