Our head of digital, Chris Cullmann, alongside our team at Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide have developed a playbook for pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing in 2018. Although not definitive, this playbook points to emerging platforms, the maturing of existing communication mediums, and areas that need your attention to be competitive in a rapidly evolving marketing space.

1. January 2018
Chris Cullmann

3. WHAT YOU
SHOULD
LOOK FOR:
Our team at Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide has developed a
playbook for pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing in 2018.
Although not definitive, this playbook points to emerging platforms, the
maturing of existing communication mediums, and areas that need
your attention to be competitive in a rapidly evolving marketing space.

4. CONTENT IS KING AND
ENGAGEMENT IS ITS THRONE
Although brand-centric messaging and having content about products easily
discoverable is critical to patient, caregiver, and physician engagement, brands
need to create content that can add value and be worth their time in consuming.
Brands are competing on a playing field where their strength and trust from their
audience is typically limited to product specifics and safety information.
StrategySolution Channels
Your brand should be identifying how to
add value outside of typical brand safety,
efficacy, and dosing information.
Think about how to make that information
more meaningful, more relevant, and more
timely.
Create messages and communication
that can support product information.
Develop content that supports a
broader patient and physician journey.
Consider behavior-based CRM
programs, partner with influencers,
and extend communication outside of
owned platforms with advocacy- and
community-based interactions.
CRM, social media, advocacy, patient
education, KOLs, and peer-to-peer
programs.

5. HEALTH VIDEO
CONTENT
Video still represents a huge opportunity for healthcare brands.
There are few brands creating content, and fewer that are true
authorities for most brand subject matter. YouTube is still the
true leader in this space, but there are many more platforms
and solutions in paid, earned, and owned media.
StrategySolution Channels
Create meaningful content that
addresses key audience needs.
For patients and caregivers, video will
be the strongest platform to explain
clinical information or telegraph
empathetic dialogue for patients.
For physicians, clearly presented and
engaging videos will galvanize
relationships with the brand.
Create budgets for video programs
that address audience needs. Make
them accessible and able to help with
health literacy for target populations.
Update videos more frequently and
produce them appropriately for
specific channels and make them
easily discoverable.
Websites, YouTube, social media,
email, point-of-care, partner
platforms.

6. DIGITAL DISRUPTORS
ARE AT THE GATES
Amazon and CVS are taking action to change the healthcare market in the
United States. Healthcare is capturing the attention of not just headline-worthy
giants, but from every category of investor and entrepreneur. Issues range from
patients and caregivers paying out of pocket—and shopping around—to
innovation coming from a new breed of fast-moving competitor.
StrategySolution Channels
Think differently about your audience
and the value your brand is brining to
the table. Think faster and take more
risks in communication and channels.
Where can your brand participate that
is both true to the character of your
product and is also taking advantage of
existing audience behavior?
Use data and insights to help drive
decision making and make calculated
changes to your approach.
Identify how you will measure success
and how you can use these metrics to
make your product “disruption-proof.”
Be prepared to make more changes.
Leverage your success metrics to help
define your road map in innovation.
All of them!

7. DATA IS EVERYWHERE,
BUT HOW DO WE USE IT?
It seems as though 2017 was the year of big data. As marketers, we are awash in
data from our sales, market, rep teams, marketing campaigns, and a myriad of other
sources. In what feels to many to be choice paralysis, 2018 is going to be the year
for brand leadership to refine their data strategies and focus on key sets of data.
StrategySolution Channels
Focus on how data can work for you by
focusing on insights. What brand
leadership is searching for is not more
data, but relevant insights to drive
their business—the more proprietary,
the better.
Work on honing a solution that can
address your business questions.
Modern data solutions should work in
your favor, carrying the burden of
segmentation, market growth,
identifying influencers, and specific
needs of the modern brand
communicator.
All tactics, channels, and campaigns
can benefit from and yield data to
better inform business decisions.

8. VOICE
INTERFACES
Amazon Echo, Apple Siri, and Google Assistant are becoming “at-the-ready”
solutions to do everything from managing checkup reminders to answering key
healthcare questions. 2018 is going to see broadening popularity for voice as a
platform. Both responsive experiences and intervention support are going to see
advances with a new generation of popular devices.
StrategySolution Channels
Identify who your audience is and
what their likely utility voice interfaces
will be.
Providing utility that is valuable and
low-friction will yield success. Look for
opportunities in your existing patient
journey to add whimsy and surprise.
Leverage assistant technologies in the
home to augment experiences without
being intrusive.
How can you alert a patient, a
caregiver, or align physician
instructions with at-home behaviors?
The ideal space to make use of an
assistant is being “just in time” and
helpful.
CRM, search, social media,
telemedicine, call centers.

9. “APPS” ARE
COMING BACK
The solve-all “there’s an app for that” heyday was over along with what was the
reprise of every marketing firm addressing the popularity of the iPhone, but apps
are going to make a comeback. A new category of application meets mobile
(and some desktop) users with extended utility such as alerts, notifications, app-
like interfaces, and “deep-linking” to create less friction in the user experience.
StrategySolution Channels
Look for opportunities to enhance
experiences for mobile users in specific
areas of focus: does your brand have a
calculator, frequently accessed listings,
a forum module, or telemedicine
approach?
These solutions, among many others,
can evolve a user searching for
information into a valued engagement
by a frequent user.
Begin building progressive app
solutions for high-value content that
can play a frequent role or can be
updated remotely on the fly.
A platform investment combined with
strong content, search strategies, or a
CRM program can greatly change
engagement around key content areas
and points of differentiation.
Websites, mobile platforms, social
media.

10. THE BOTS ARE COMING
TO HEALTHCARE
Artificial intelligence in its many, many forms is on the tip of
everyone’s tongue. I believe we are passing into the early days of
leveraging bots (and the intelligence that drives them) to address
communication needs. The early adopters can quickly take a seat of
authority—this is the new “mobile” for healthcare communicators
StrategySolution Channels
Identify where bots can address
customer needs and trial a solution.
Call centers, customer service
interactions, channel monitoring, and
even addressing access and clinical
issues for patients are ideal junctures
in an audience journey to deploy a bot
effectively.
Minimize risk by testing in
environments already deficient and
without a strong solution.
Identify specific success metrics. Speed
to resolution, reduced cost per call, or
higher satisfaction in support are
excellent metrics aligned for beginning
bot-enabled solutions
CRM, social media, websites, call
centers.