Introducing The mPharma Times
The mPharma Times will be conducting regular interviews with thought leaders from throughout the industry on issues pertaining to marketing, patient/HCP engagement and technology.
Jody Myers
Consultant and Former Head
Digital Center of Excellence
Bayer Consumer Care
Listen to Interview
Transcription of the Jody Myers Interview. Any questions please contact Jason.youner@worldcongress.com.
Interviewer: What is your take on m-Pharma, what is m-Pharma to you?
Jody Myers: m-Pharma to me is using mobile devices and strategies to meet customers where they are, because customers connecting with the world through phone and mobile devices, the challenge – so it is critical because we have to meet customers where they are. So we need to truly provide tools, information whatever our customers need, we need to go through their phone or mobile diary.
Interviewer: What is your personal take on the current state on m-Pharma?
Jody Myers: The current state of m-Pharma is in flux. There is a lot of – the regulatory constraints waiting to see for many years whether or not mobile device would be classified as medical devices, privacy is an issue and all of the regulations to be able to even participate in this space is an issue. To just be invited to have a seat at the table, to be able to be on that phone is pearl number one. Pearl number two is actually providing things of use to the consumer. So if we are invited to be on this consumer’s phone are we even doing something that is worthwhile? And right now we’ve basically been centering around compliance.
So if the consumers on a medication that you need to take on regiment or prophylaxis we help with the tracking for that. If consumers are just trying to find out a little bit more about our products versus another one, they can Google and get information. But it is still very singular level stuff I don’t think we’ve cracked the nut to true innovation and true meaning with this customer through the phone. And I’m not sure if that is something we’ll ever crack, always going to be dynamic. But right now we are just participating at a very basic level, because the regulatory constraint, the classification of a medical device, privacy, and really struggling to give something of use to the customers. The feature I think is more the physicians, physicians giving them a tool and directory at their fingertips.
Interviewer: Okay. Well now we get to that question, where do you see m-Pharma headed in the future?
Jody Myers: I think if we can make sure – the future I think is priced through the integrity of the back end. Throughout there has been so much, almost daily news coverage of information being hacked. Credit cards being hacked from some of the largest retailers for example. It targets the big box stores where there is a sense of healthy and justified fear that our data is not going to be safe. If a patient does not feel his or her data is safe he or she is very limited to what – how they will engage on their phones in relation to healthcare. If we can secure the safety of that data, earn that trust, provide value where customer is really engaging in health care, I think that we can get that customer. Incidentally we know that variable technology, mobile is all about tracking.
So you are coordinating with an app, so customers have shown that they are extremely interested in using their phones and using device to manage their care, it is the way they are doing it. The question is what will make them make take the next step to the pharmaceutical level of care? There is a difference between running with a Nike armband and having some sort of sensor in your shirt that you know measures your heart rate which isn’t private. First there’s having all the details about your intimate care on a phone that could be stolen that – so it is really security is going to have to be an issue.
Interviewer: Okay. What kind of work have you done with mobile, what lessons have you learned and what would you do differently?
Jody Myers: The first – I was part of the primary team for mobile and pharmaceutical care with seven of my colleagues, we launched the very first branded app, disease state app in North America and Europe, second only to Asia. My experience of having launched two apps actually, one for hemophilia, one for multiple sclerosis that linked to the blood supply that went to product inventory that had information that could be sent to a doctor. That was the first 360 integrated app in the industry, branded app in the industry. What I would do differently is I would seek to have more meaning of which like it is really not the business, it is not the app side, I’m going backwards now, so technically we have to make sure that we are earning people’s – the security is there, the back end is there. But it is not so much the device; it is the strategy, it’s being really vigilant about uncovering the unmet need of the patient of which the device becomes an extension.
So it is very easy to say – to get very tactical only on the phone – we need to be on the phone, we need to put stuff on the phone. But you really need to take a step back and say, “What is that unmet need that just aren’t getting done, they don’t even themselves know what they need, and we are going to solve that for them. And once you understand that then you take a look at the phone and the device. So there is a lot of strategy measuring, I think the phone will continue to get more and more important. I think we will evolve into mobile as pharma no matter what the pace, whether it is fast or if it’s slow, it’s going to depend on really that thoughtfulness.
Also from an internal organization point it is very difficult to get upper leadership to fund initiatives for phone. That actually – we’re our own worst enemy. It’s very difficult, in order to have a successful mobile day strategy, you have to pay for it. And mobile based strategies require a lot of internal education, a lot of resistance; they don’t pay out either way. Because they are new you don’t have the critical mass that they are not immediately and largely impacting that P&L. Being able to have that internal executive sponsorship- executive champions. Mobile never even gets out of the gate and nothing becomes even discussable, there is no point discussing it. It is highest-level leadership championing versus sponsor, there is nothing to discuss with Mobile. Because how we address it, how we fund it, how we address security, how long we keep market, how we learn about it, the permission to even sit at the table and try to plan it is not possible, that education begins at home.
Interviewer: Okay. My last question is how can Pharma get away from one side of messaging and pursue patient engagement via technology?
Jody Myers: It again, the most critical piece of that is it goes into the customers’ segmentation, you have to understand your customer at a million – many, many more deeper segmentation points than you ever thought of. Because once you understand that customer, you will understand – the answer will be revealed to you. Instead of just saying, our customer is this age in a few demographics, or geographic, or age point, you have to know that customer over 118 different data points, psychographic, and then the next step is how are they consuming media; understand them. And then only then can you create something. If the customer uses it and if it becomes necessary, the customer can’t imagine his or her life without this program, it’s only because of that upfront marketing segmentation work you’ve done before the word mobile even comes out of our mouth.
And also again it is just the privacy. So make sure that you know your customer everything, anything, you are offering a solution that deeply meets his or her needs, helps articulate his or her needs, and then make sure that privacy is absolutely critical. And again get that internal – you have the resources, because if – the medical devices now, they are resources to put that device in someone’s hand have just exponentially quadrupled. Because you have to deal with FDA, you have to deal with staff; you have to go to your senior manager, your executive and say, “Could I please have $300,000 instead of $50,000?” “No,” End of story. But the deeper we know our customers – we really need to transcend the mobile, mobile will be replaced by something we don’t know we don’t know.
It could be the Google Glass, it could be wearable, the only constant is being in tune with our customers and how they consume their media. And then the devices will change, and right now mobile is hot, we are talking about mobile, then we talk about something else.
Interviewer: Okay. Great, thank you very much, Jody Myers.
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