Jim Lefevere | Digital Strategy | Marketing and Measurement

Digital is Disrupting Diagnostics...Calling All Intraprenuers

2015-02-10T08:42:00.000-05:00

Please read my column from November 2014 at PM360.com. Will all intraprenuers please stand up?

http://goo.gl/sEgQC0

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Digital is Disrupting Diagnostics

2015-02-10T08:36:00.004-05:00

Please check out my latest column over at PM360. If you are in leadership you are in the change management business.

PM360

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The Cognitive Dissonance of Rx/Dx Digital Marketing

2014-06-10T08:33:00.001-04:00

In the past I have referenced a few of the reasons why I think social media for Rx/Dx organizations have lagged other industries. However, in my search for the true underlying reasons aside from legal and regulatory hurdles I think I have determined the real reason:

Cognitive Dissonance is a psychological term to explain the tension that can be caused by having conflicting thoughts.

From Science Daily:

In simple terms, it can be the filtering of information that conflicts with what you already believe, in an effort to ignore that information and reinforce your beliefs.

Why is that important? Because that is exactly what is happening relative to digital marketing across the Rx/Dx industries.

The theory of cognitive dissonance states that contradicting cognitions serve as a driving force that compels the mind to acquire or invent new thoughts or beliefs, or to modify existing beliefs, so as to reduce the amount of dissonance (conflict) between cognitions

Cognitive dissonance is why people aren't buying hybrid cars, drink water out of plastic bottles and don't use solar power for their homes. We don't change until we are staring a threat squarely in the face.

Every piece of research you read and have read for the last three plus years indicates that digital is the right thing to do yet due to cognitive dissonance it has yet to become a primary method of engagement and marketing. So let's be clear, in combination with many of the reasons I have laid out in the past, Rx/Dx organizations will not fully move to digital and social media until they absolutely have to; until it is so patently obvious that it is what they should be doing to reach and engage with people.

That's a shame, because by then it will be really too late (see my post on Push or Protect). The opportunity to show that you have interest, to demonstrate goodwill and build ongoing relationships, particularly when it comes to social media, is long before you have to. That's why I think the chasm that is widening in marketing from the product/ brand to the customer and is becoming harder and harder to bridge.

At least now I figured out the reason why....what do you think? Leave a comment.

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Digital Health: The Opportunities, the Challenges and the Emerging Global Ecosystem of Connected Devices

2014-06-10T08:33:00.000-04:00

The wearable heart monitor that helps a heart-bypass patient send continuous vital sign reports back to his doctor after surgery.

Smart Pills with sensors the size of a grain of sand that can send out or a caregiver a text message when a dose is missed.

A tele-health platform that allows elderly patients to have face-to-face appointments with their physician without dealing with the challenges of distance or travel.

The portal that enables a person to wirelessly send their test results to an app on their phone and to a portal that shares results with their doctor – who can make therapy adjustments remotely.

Such innovations in medicine would have been hard to imagine even just a decade ago. But as the developments of cloud capabilities, device inter-operability and data informatics have converged with the health care and life sciences industry, Digital Health has emerged as the future of health care.

The influence of technology and innovation in the industry has been significant and is poised for a period of unprecedented growth. According to recent figures from the DeloitteCenter for Health Solutions’ report, “mHealth in a mWorld” says the market will rise from $1.2 billion in 2011 to $11.7 billion by 2018, at a compound annual growth rate of 39 percent.

Technology is Shaping the Future

The Digital Health revolution that is taking place due in large part to worldwide access to technology, the proliferation of mobile devices and increased use of the Internet every day. We are moving from a point-of-care to a take anywhere health process through mobile devices, apps and dynamic web portals that help people.

Healthcare is one of the last industries that have not been fully transformed by technology…until now. The growth of digital is global, exponential and permanent and it is inevitable that with this unprecedented amount of access, people will use this technology to track and better manage their health.

Economic Forces are Shaping the Future

It is more than just technology that is driving the growth of Digital Health. Economic forces, as we all know, are forcing governments everywhere to find new, more efficient ways to deliver healthcare.

So what does this mean for diagnostics companies? It typically represents an evolution to core business of developing medical devices and it can also mean unprecedented opportunity. This change will not always be easy but smart organizations are positioning themselves to complementary services and solutions to meet the evolving needs of the markets, patients and health care professionals. This will create new opportunities for businesses and enable business models that are not yet clearly known. Diagnostic companies must be able to embrace this change and continue to deliver innovative products in 2014 and beyond that complement core offerings.

Pharmaceutical and diagnostics companies should be embracing this digital health revolution through ongoing strategy and roadmap development, active participation in industry consortiums, building open partnership models and actively working towards solutions to positively impact the ongoing diagnosis and care for health conditions.

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How Large Corporations Are Playing to Win Against Start-ups in the Digital Innovation Game

2014-06-10T08:25:00.003-04:00

In game of digital disruption, are large corporations doomed to lose?

On the face of it, it would certainly seem so. Forrester Research released a study showing that the emergence of digital platforms and digital tools allowed innovation to speed up radically in every sector—creating 10 times the number of competing innovators. How? By lowering the cost of market entry to 1/10 previous levels, using tools that were 100 times more powerful than previously available. Add to this a healthcare industry that is on a global drive to lower cost, maximize “big health data,” and increase direct patient engagement and you have the perfect opportunity for smaller, more nimble competitors to disrupt markets with new, patient-centric technologies.

In spite of these facts, many large companies are starting to realize they don’t have to be the “disruptees” when digital disruption strikes. They already have the tools to win, if they choose to use them. Their vantage point in their industry gives them capital to invest, easy access to talent, and the digital infrastructure and “boots on the ground” to get products to market faster than their start-up competitors. In fact, some experts estimate that 30 percent of major corporations now have some kind of innovation center set up for quick development. The key to success is learning how to innovate quickly, fail fast, and learn even faster.

While many large organizations are just starting to embrace digital disruption, there is much to learn from other companies that have made digital innovation a long-standing, central part of their culture. Here are some of the ways companies have been taking some lessons from the entrepreneurial playbook, and using them to win:

Innovation Divisions

To succeed in Digital Innovation, large corporations are creating stand-alone innovation divisions—creating space within their organizations to innovate, test, fail and learn quickly. For instance, software company SAP has created an Innovation Center with healthcare being one of its primary product areas. The Innovation Center, with two German locations in Potsdam and Walldorf, combines SAP’s programmers with students and research academics from their partner institutions, The Hasso Plattner Institute for Software Systems Engineering, the Berlin Universities, the Fraunhofer Institutes, Stanford University and The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Much of the output of the center focuses on managing big data in healthcare, such as a new patient management analytics platform and data explorer, in addition to a proteome-based Cancer diagnostics tool, as a start.

Investment Funds & Entrepreneurs-in-Residence

Janssen is well known for Janssen Labs, which provides an accelerator space for new companies that are exploring new drugs and treatments for disease. Entrepreneurs get advice and use of Jannsen’s lab space, while Janssen gets early access to potential investment and acquisition opportunities.

Even naturally innovative companies like Google and Dell have hired their own Entrepreneurs in Residence, experienced entrepreneurs who can help the company get plugged into the startup scene and identify which new companies are on the rise.

Many companies have set up specific venture funds specifically targeting startups. Microsoft’s Bing Fund is an incubator program funding companies in the mobile and web experience spaces. Computer Manufacturer Dell even put up $100 million in financial and scalable technology resources for start-ups as part of its Dell Innovators Credit Fund, to help new companies get on their feet. American Express announced last year they would invest $100 million in digital commerce start-ups.

Innovation Prize Programs :

While most people often think of prize programs as a challenge companies offer to external world—such as Qualcomm’s QPrize Competition for digital entrepreneurs-- some of the most successful innovation prize competitions are for company employees only. Hewlett Packard’s Flashpoint 2.0 program, for instance, attracted 152 employee teams of 3-5 people each, all competing to address specific strategic business problems HP was facing. The top 3 teams advanced to the finals, where their work was judged by venture capitalists, business professors and top HP executives. The prize for the winners? $200,000 in seed capital to advance their new business idea in the organization, and paid attendance at MIT’s one-week Entrepreneurship Development Program.

When consulting company PwC (Price Waterhouse Coopers) ran a similar program, they expected 100 ideas to come through on the first round, but instead were overwhelmed with 779. They awarded $100,000 in seed funding to their winner. But the real prize for the company was program engagement levels at 60 percent for their 30,000 employees internationally. Ideas generated from the program included a whole new service line for the company and a cloud based “idea refinery” where employees worldwide can collaborate on new ideas throughout the year.

While many corporate innovation programs hover around $200,000 or so a year, it is not unusual for companies to invest up to a million dollars in similar employee-based innovation initiatives.

Hackathon Events:

Sometimes internal innovation thrives best when a large group of people come together with a tight deadline. Take, for instance, Facebook, which has sponsored 30 different Hackathons over its short history. During these events, Facebook puts together a large group of its programmers for a day or two who collaborate intensively against a set of stated corporate goals. The Hackathons have produced many service innovations over the years, the iconic “like” button being one of them.

Corporate Culture Mandates:

Microsoft’s innovation strategy is more relaxed. Their corporate campus has a 60,000 square foot innovation garage where employees are encouraged to hang out together after work to collaborate on any new ideas they might have. 3M is legendary for its commitment to employee innovation, drafting a “Bootlegging Policy” requiring that all employees spend about 15 percent of their time working on ideas that are completely new. This process has spawned many innovations for the company, including the now indispensable Post-It Note.

And that, in the end, is why large corporations are stepping out of their comfort zone, and into the new and unusual partnerships that come with the Digital Revolution. It’s just good for business.

________________________________________

Check out these great resources from around the Internet

"Six Lessons for Corporations Building Innovation Accelerators"

This terrific piece from Insight explains how other major corporations have dealt with the bumps in the road that come from building innovation practices, and have changed their innovation organizations to suit.
"Digital Transformation: Why and How Companies are Investing in New Business Models to Lead Digital Customer Experiences"

This report from marketing think tank The Altimeter Group talks broadly about why digital innovation is important to companies, and what they have been willing to invest to succeed.

"From Digitally Disrupted to Digital Disrupter"

Get a cup of coffee. This might take some time. This comprehensive, 124-page report from consulting firm Accenture offers a thorough look at the Digital Innovation process, and what large companies have to do to turn their size into their advantage. A great discussion of the digital innovation management challenges with concrete, CIO-level detail on which steps to take to proceed.

"The New Corporate Garage"

Harvard Business Review took a broad look at innovation in large companies here, even venturing beyond just the "digital" disruptive technologies. In order to view and download this report, you have to register with the review. The link above will take you to a page where you can enter your information for a download.

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My eBook: How to Leverage Social Media in Pharma / Life Sciences

2013-11-14T21:47:00.000-05:00

I have had the pleasure of being able to connect with many people in health care, digital marketing and digital health over the years and it has brought multiple opportunities to share ideas, best practices and discuss how to best leverage social media in regulated Pharma/Medical Device and Life Sciences industry.

I recently had the opportunity to author an eBook with NextPrinciples and it was my absolute pleasure to partner with them. Everyone at NextPrinciples is great to work with and if you are looking for a platform to help you manage your social media campaigns, identify key influencers that also integrates easily with third-party applications I would encourage you to take a very hard look at NextPrinciples. It's a very good platform.

I should note that I was not and have not been compensated in any way for this. I believe in marketing automation as a concept and believe it is absolutely the best way to effectively manage social media and digital marketing campaigns.

Read the eBook here and please share as often as possible.

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The Future of Digital...More Content, Less TV...

2013-03-24T21:39:00.002-04:00

I had the opportunity to contribute to a new PM360 article detailing some thought leaders perspectives on upcoming trends. I would recommend that you take a few minutes to read - there is some very good thinking.

Image via Lee Odden.

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2013 Update - The Patient Uprising: A Revolution is Here

2013-01-29T17:00:00.000-05:00

Update: 2013

Increasingly you are seeing the predictions that I put forward in 2009 coming true. Particularly when you look at how the power has shifted towards the "e-patient" and innovation is being driven at the consumer level that is being adopted by industry. I think this will only continue and crowd-sourcing ideas and incorporating them into development plans will only increase. The real nirvana for patients will be if they can set aside individual efforts and form a collective to really leverage their strength. In my view that is loosely coming together, but I would expect given the sheer passion of these individuals that it will start to being more organized very soon. I see this already in a whole host of initiatives that have been taking place in the industry.

The next question is who is going to seize item 5 "Communities Define Future Products & Services" and truly define products based on input from the consumer AND bring them to market? Who will license or develop solely based on this feedback? Bigger risks usually yield big rewards and if done properly, I think you could tap into crowd sourced knowledge and loyalty that will be difficult to unseat.

Seth Godin was the keynote at the conference I attended and he had one line that jumped out at me and made me want to dust off this post.

"Revolutions wipe out the old before the new is created."

I had never thought about it in that context but it is true and connected health, e-health, empowered health, whatever you prefer to call it is facing a little bit of an existential crisis, because it is clear the revolution is occurring but the new is definitely not fully formed.

I could more fully flesh the concept that I put forth over 3.5 years ago, but that would gilding the lilly to a certain extent. Sure, I'm more enlightened now then I was then and have had the opportunity to really learn from a great number of people, but the fact is that the premise is still true and well on its way.

Perhaps the biggest thing from my perspective is that the empowered patients, bloggers, patient advocates, etc. haven't yet realized how much power they wield. They are rocking that boat, but when they realize the collective power they hold when they organize - watch out.

********

I have talked in the past how health care and technology is the 10 year trend. I won’t retell that story, but you can see my thoughts here. It is truly a topic where the reach consistently exceeds the grasp.

Technology once again plays a big role in the Obama health care reform plan with the multi-faceted goals of modernizing the system to lower cost and improve quality while also working to improve prevention and management of chronic diseases which (by many estimates) accounts for 80 percent of total costs. These are very lofty goals.

Technology plays a vital role in driving efficiency across the entire continuum of care. The major players driving this “reform” are many and including your usual suspects of government, corporations, policymakers and the requisite lobbyists and special interest groups.

It seems hard to fathom that something so large and unwieldy could bring about an immediate and lasting change that led to consumers getting better care faster.

The fact is that despite best intentions, untold sums of money will be spent to put a band-aid on an axe wound. The pace of change required to make a difference doesn’t happen organically and despite best efforts to move an immovable mass it will only happen as quickly as the fastest mover; the government is not known for being quick. I think it will continue to occur in fits and starts and not be the solution that it could be for a number of years. And by solution I mean a true end-to-end process that is best described here.

With that as a backdrop, as I survey the scene from high atop the hill (the figurative hill not the literal Hill in D.C.), I see a void so large that you could drive a truck through it regarding where I think real change is occurring and will continue to come from.

Revolutions Always Have Beginnings

A revolution is not about you, it’s about the collective. The hallmarks of a revolution are a few daring individuals who are angry about how things have come to be and challenge the status quo and create a cause or culture with like minded individuals. Typically very intellectually thirsty, these individuals have strong convictions and question the current status. They connect with others and commit to making a change. The model for a revolution can be seen over and over again in history and I think we’re in the beginning stages of a healthcare revolution that could uproot and change the current health care delivery model.

The Shift

The missing part for me in all of machinations of these huge grinding gears and sausage making in the current health care system is the patient. The Internet and social media, which by now we are all familiar with, is having a seismic change on how people interact, share information and connect with each other. Social media has enabled the consumer to have a voice and demand two-way dialogue and this is a change that is happening everywhere.

I am confident that real change is happening and will continue to come from the consumers who are empowered and are talking and sharing and that no company, insurer or doctor has direct influence over more than is absolutely necessary to either write the prescription or pay the bill. Common bonds and information is spreading and building entire networks of people, who are banding together across all conditions and disease states to share, learn and support each other in their health. The internet allows that connection and it is real, powerful, empowering and often more informative than any doctor can provide in a 10 minute visit.

The leaders of this new revolution are you, me and your neighbor.

The Internet and social media is leading a form of health management self-service that is still small today by most standards but will grow to be a large and a very disruptive force. There is an official term for this and it is called Health 2.0.

Healthcare whereby patients have the information they need to be able to make rational healthcare decisions (transparency of information) based on value (outcomes over price). In the Health 2.0 paradigm, everyone in the healthcare process is focused on increasing value for the patient.

We will move more into the semantic web and this consumer led movement clears the way for collaborative groups to join together through enabling technologies to find, share and combine information. The notion of the wisdom of crowds and crowd sourcing are concepts that have yet to really take off in health care, but combine the idea of the semantic web and crowd sourcing and you have the beginnings of a grassroots-led populace as a driving force that can have an impact on managing health and more specifically a disease or condition.

Forrester Research analyst Jeremiah Owyang has written about the future of the social web and talks about the 5 different eras of social media.

The Five Eras of the Social Web:

1) Era of Social Relationships: People connect to others and share
2) Era of Social Functionality: Social networks become like operating system
3) Era of Social Colonization: Every experience can now be social
4) Era of Social Context: Personalized and accurate content
5) Era of Social Commerce: Communities define future products and services

The change that I foresee, which will have the most impact on health care is that of colonization and context. Where the collective is bonded together by enabling technologies, theme, cause or condition and they find, share and combine information to support each other without the need or aid of an institution.

I think this type of social functionality and social commerce will have far-reaching impact on the health care industry. The current reform and policy work is forcing function and is really an acknowledgement of a long standing problem that translates technology into process efficiency — wringing waste from the system. However, it doesn’t look like it will have a measurable impact on improving care.

Instead, companies will have to begin to face up to the fact that the era of “consumers” simply consuming what they create is nearly over. The tables have turned and companies will begin to deliver what you the consumer actually want and need. This is of course already happening and has been going on for quite some time in software development and other industries. In doing so, I think it will begin to apply to how people self-diagnose, treat, and use information to manage their health and condition; the products they choose, down to how, when and why they see a doctor.

Amy Tenderich of Diabetes Mine is on the leading edge of this in her role as a leading Health 2.0 expert and Patient Opinion Leader for the diabetes community. The community and those on the periphery look to her and respect what she has to say. In some cases, I believe that she is more trusted to her readers than a doctor. She also recognized very early on in the Health 2.0 movement and that she could have a voice and an impact. She started a design contest that has created energy and movement in the diabetes blogosphere while also bringing good consumer product design to medical devices.

The Outcome

Take this idea a step further along with an increasingly evident power shift from organizations to individuals and subsequently communities and the scenario that I see developing is an energized group of people with a particular condition or affinity inflicting real change at a grassroots level. Combine the need for personalization, Health 2.0 advocacy, the semantic web and enabling technologies such Open Social, Google Friend Connect and Facebook Connect and crowd sourcing capabilities and it is easily within sight that communities can and will collectively develop ideas, use cases, preferred specifications and even designs that would serve as next generation products that would meet the exact needs of the communities.

The next step is this community coming together as a powerful semantic disease condition co-op and using their collective influence, power and force.

How could this manifest itself? I see a few simple ways:

Develop and license community designed “product” to a company and use that company as a manufacturing arm for the product they designed. The company gets a licensing fee and the community gets a royalty of the sales that goes back to participating members.
Development of a Non-Governmental Organization NGO such to sponsor, lobby and develop mechanisms to conduct independent research outside of institutions for cures to common chronic diseases, subsidizing care and cause related efforts.
New interoperable and social application development to manage health and chronic disease.
Set pricing for products and services.
It’s the ultimate opportunity cost situation. What will manufacturers have to give up in order to gain?

What will the impact be to providers and payors? I think there are some questions that don’t yet have answers, but I do think there is significant interest to preserve the system in place, but I also think this could be the revolution where the institutions will have to adapt to the groundswell rather than the consumer adapting to the institution. Or, in the least, there will have to be some middle ground found to equalize the current system and satisfy the collective. People really don’t like insurance companies.

When I think of Connected Health, the above scenario is what I think of, which leaves the groups in the “reform” debate today, well, not very connected.

***A big hat tip to Jeremiah Oywang who provided the insight from the Future of the Social Web for me to piece together my thoughts on the groundswell I think will be coming with consumer health care.
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Let's Avoid Hitting The Mobile "Wall"

2013-01-29T14:45:00.001-05:00

Over three years ago I wrote a post for Mobihealthnews.com about the growing mHealth. Here is part of what I wrote (I do recommend that you go read the whole post).

But for those with short memories, the Internet has been a year away from revolutionizing health care for over a decade. Yes, a decade. It’s almost as bad as waiting for the year that mobile advertising takes off, but I think we’re actually getting closer to that year.
That’s not to say that I don’t think we’ll get there. I think we will, but I don’t think it will come immediately or easily. There are a number of issues left to resolve before we get closer to technology fully enabling health care, remote patient monitoring and mobile health.
I do not want to oversimplify what is really a complex issue, but I do see some major stumbling blocks to full-scale adoption in the near term.
Technology — Let’s call it technology standards for device interoperability. It’s not there yet. It’s coming, but it’s not there yet.
Products — In order to have health care you need an end-to-end solution for multiple disease states. Take chronic disease as having the highest burden on “the system” and you need to have a suite of products available to have a solution.
Privacy — If you’re 50 years old or older you probably have second thoughts about storing all of your medical records on Google let alone let someone access them.
Reimbursement — Unless a doctor gets paid to do it, I can assure you that he/she is not going to spend his time on it-until forced to.
Fragmentation — There are still far too many one-off, one-way and proprietary solutions available. Just Google “EMR” and tell me what you come back with. Enough said. There has to be financial incentive for a company to move to a common standard and until a solution is proved you will see lurkers but no real movement. That puts an end-to-end solution years away.
Adoption — consumers have to embrace and demand it. Doctors need to get paid for it.
The Last Mile — This is a term that was originally used to describe getting connectivity such as telecommunications or cable to the end-user. Same is true here for the doctor who needs to implement it or the patient who needs to use it. It’s hard for a multitude of reasons. As I search for the metaphor in this I see health care delivery as a marathon. This is the marathons of all marathons and that the last mile is absolutely the toughest. I’d say we’re at around mile four.

As I evaluate the state of the industry today on 2013 and look back on the words I wrote in 2009 I can say that I see progress. However, for some of the key questions, I don't think we're moving quickly enough at all. Across all of the stumbling blocks, we're frankly, stumbling.

Unfortunately, I don't have as many solutions as I do questions but I like to look back occasionally at where we have been in order to understand where we need to go. And where we need to go is to still address the above critical questions but we're in mile eleven now and need to avoid hitting the wall.

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What Disney Movies and Digital in Rx/Dx Organizations Have in Common

2012-11-14T22:20:00.000-05:00

I was a Journalism major and at various points in my life I aspired to write screenplays. I printed screenplays from favorite movies, studied them, bought books on how to write a script; and I still have the tattered and dog-eared notebook filled with nuggets, kernels and half-baked ideas that I hoped would eventually turn into the million dollar screenplay. However, I quickly realized that writing is a craft that requires practice and I am not gifted with an overwhelming amount of patience or natural writing skill; so I tabled that fleeting ambition and moved on to other ideas.

I am a father of two young kids and have watched my fair share of Disney movies over the years. On my way back from a recent trip to Walt Disney World, the happiest place on earth, I thought on the plane ride back about how completely satisfied I was with the trip and how Disney turns their stories so effectively into an experience. I think the storytelling, believe it or not, has similarities to the current state of digital marketing in the Rx/Dx industries.

All movies have a plot structure and some are definitely better than others, but Disney movies in particular often follow a similar plot structure that can be categorized as the heroes journey.

This structure could be further distilled down into the following steps:

1. Everything is Good

2. Something Bad Happens!

3. A plan is developed to fix the bad and everybody lives happily ever after.

The similarity to what is going on in Rx/Dx organizations today is that for marketing has largely been the same for the last 20 years. The marketing channels were known, you developed your marketing messages and you blasted with reach (number of people) and frequency (how often) your message.

In a story or plot structure that is the "everything is fine" part.

However, the rise of digital and social media has thrown a wrench into marketing planning. This is the "something bad happens" that the industry is in the midst of managing through.

In the future, digital and social will take a central role in marketing while traditional marketing becomes ancillary to the new digital and social engagement models.

The question is do organizations recognize how quickly this shift is occurring and are they moving fast enough to develop the plan to fix the bad and ensure that everyone lives happily ever after?

I have been blogging here since 2008 and have been focused solely on digital, social and connected health topics. In those three years, and particularly the last two years, I have seen the pace pick-up very significantly. So much so, that I think in some cases I think we'll look back in years to come and wonder why so much time was spent on whether Rx/Dx should move to social media or not when the real conversation is why are companies and brands not moving more quickly to social media but why aren't they sprinting there because they are in the sheer fight for relevance.

Those that realize that they are in a fight for relevance and proactively move to showing their human side, connecting, engaging and providing real value will be much better off.

There is no amount of reach and frequency that can overcome irrelevance.

Image via toptenz.net

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What's Your Why?

2012-11-12T12:25:00.000-05:00

It's no secret that I like to soak up as much information and knowledge from as many places as possible. I often go to TED for such things.

This video from Simon Sinek, is focused on leadership, but the underlying point is so much more interesting to me. The question is, what is your why?

People respond to underlying causes and according to Simon there is science behind this. Intuitively, this makes complete sense so why aren't more Rx/Dx marketers discovering what their why is?

Wouldn't that drive marketing rationale, social media and purpose?

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Pharmaphorum Interview

2012-11-08T09:34:00.002-05:00

I was recently featured in a Pharmaphorum feature. Check out my thoughts on digital marketing in Rx/Dx.

http://goo.gl/MCPHn

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The Patient Uprising: A Confederacy Begins

2012-08-08T17:00:00.000-04:00

This is to accompany the recent re-post of Patient Uprising.

Last year I wrote a post called the Patient Uprising: A Revolution is Coming. In that post I put forth my thoughts on how social media and how the Health 2.0 movement was changing the game for pharma and diagnostics. Nothing that has happened over the last 12 months has changed my opinion of this Health 2.0 movement and in fact it’s exciting to see some of my predictions coming closer to reality.

I recently was privileged to participate in an event that brought bloggers, online community leaders and patient advocates together with leaders from a prominent association that has the mission to prevent and serve those living with a chronic disease. What I observed left me convinced more than ever that the patient uprising will not only occur but is already underway and accelerating pretty quickly.

The conversation flowed freely and the passion to lead and help fight for the cause was clearly evident by all parties in the room. The question that came to my mind, is not how bloggers, community leaders and patient advocates become more plugged into the status quo and play nicely in the proverbial sandbox, but how do you harness the power and passion this group of people brought together by a common disease to develop a confederacy that can really work together to make a profound difference? How could they develop a bottom up, grassroots, groundswell of change?

What I surmised in my Patient Uprising: a Revolution is Coming post last year was that this group over time would eventually form a tighter bond and connection and turn the tables on industry and begin to have an impact on how industry thinks and behaves. This could apply to developing not for profit organizations to help fund a cure to forming an NGO (non-government organization) that serves as the link to this loose confederacy (in this case when I say confederacy I mean loosely bound communities and there is no direct or indirect reference to the American Civil War. Please don't comment on my word choice) of bloggers, community leaders and patient advocates. With this organization they could begin to band together to take their fight direct and not necessarily fight the fight of the large association. Tactically speaking, they could direct their energy, passion and resources to the areas that mean the most to them versus the larger associations who may fund research with long lead times and not so evident or visible results. This would be something analogous to instead of donating to the United Way, which distributes money to many hundreds of not-for-profits; you create your own not-for-profit that focuses efforts on your specific cause and passion.

The rally cries that I kept hearing from the bloggers, community leaders and patient advocates was, “how can we do more?” and “how can we become more involved?” Now, the “establishment” is attempting to understand the perspective of the bloggers, community leaders and patient advocates. In turn the bloggers, et al. are trying to understand why the establishment is not doing a better job of involving them in the fight to find a cure. After all, they are on the front lines and are “of the people, for the people” and interact daily with the very people that the establishment is trying to reach on a daily basis. It seems like a perfect pairing, but it’s not quite that simple.

In all revolutions, there is a small uprising of people with a common objective rising up against the establishment. While industry and bloggers, et al. are now finding ways to work together and work toward that common objective, I do foresee the day that they stop looking so directly to industry for leadership and start looking to each other. I think they are beginning to realize that they have the locus of control.

When that fully happens, which I think is sooner than later, they will have realized the full patient uprising. The results, I believe will be long-term and profound.

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Meaning to Be More Meaningful

2012-06-28T21:55:00.000-04:00

Interesting TED talk about making medical data more meaningful. If you can help extract meaning out of data it can have a very, pardon the phrase, meaningful impact on outcomes.

It kind of reminds me of the Papa John's ad slogan, Better Ingredients. Better Pizza.

Medical Data: Better Data. More Meaning. Better Outcomes.

In fact, if you apply better data to battling chronic disease it can have a significant impact. It goes back to the adage of data turns to knowledge turns into action.

If people could only figure out that action requires incentive....

Regardless, I think that we're finally on the edge of the mHealth boom. It's been a long time coming, but the combination of smartphone proliferation, accessibility and development of tools finally brings us to a point where it can get some traction with the end user. I still think there is a long way to go on the function and value of many of the health apps out there today, but it will Darwinism at its finest to see who can adapt and survive.

Image via: Cambridge Consultants

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It's a game of inches.

2012-06-21T20:35:00.000-04:00

Even Jesus Loves Football

I have always thought that life is never a big decision, but it is a series of small, seemingly insignificant decisions that lead you down the path. Life is a game of inches.

Here is Al Pacino, in 4 minutes of his best work.

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Everthing I Know I Learned Moving Furniture

2012-06-21T09:19:00.000-04:00

I moved furniture for a summer back in college because at the time it was paying top dollar for a summer job--$7.00. I learned a lot that summer besides a more colorful vocabulary and in hindsight a lot of it applies to life and work today as it did to moving furniture on those hot summer days.

If I heard it once I heard a half dozen times that summer from honest, hard working guys that cut a living from moving stuff from place to place and it was, "stay in school."

I did stay in school and I look back some 15 plus years ago and think about some of the lessons learned that summer hauling furniture around Northern Indiana.

1) Respect those in front of you.
There is a pecking order and you are at the bottom.

2) Show up, shut up and hold your end up
Simply, be on time, don't complain and carry your weight.

3) You don't stop until the job is done
It may be 5 o'clock somewhere but you don't finish working until the job is done and there isn't a dinner break.

4) Leadership is everywhere.
There were crew leaders and guys I now think in hindsight were very good leaders. They kept it light, kept you laughing, worked you hard when they needed to, showed up well to the lady of the house and were the first one to hand you a beer after a long day.

5) Have a strategy before you start
Big house jobs would have a lead guy who surveyed the house and made the calls on when and how the furniture would go on the truck. Sometimes these were cross-country moves and you would have to get an entire house into half of an 18 wheeler. I had never seen spatial reasoning to this degree it really is something to behold and it wouldn't work unless there was a strategy before bringing the first dresser on to the truck.

6) Build a solid foundation
You don't fit an entire house of contents on a foundation of book boxes. Always start with a good foundation and you can always build on top of it.

7) If it doesn't fit, try it from a different angle.
If something doesn't seem like a good fit, try looking at it from a new or different perspective and see if that helps clarify the situation. It helps every time.

8) Always, I mean always, hold up your end.
It was a cardinal sin of sins to drop a piece. If you are carrying a heavy load like a loaded dresser you cannot under circumstances drop your end I don't care how tired you are.

9) Sometimes the easiest looking jobs are the hardest.
Usually the crew leader was responsible for the loading the truck. He didn't necessarily carry all of the furniture but he had to make sure it got on the truck safe, sound and arrived at the destination in the same condition. Not the hardest looking job, but it was the hardest.

10) It's easier to pull than push.
Work smarter not harder. These guys had all kinds of tricks to save their backs, time and effort.

All-in-all a good summer, I made some money for school and in hindsight learned a whole lot more.

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Fate, Luck and Chance...

2012-06-07T23:18:00.000-04:00

I am a little random today, but playing catch-up on some reading.

I like Gary Vaynerchuk not because I am a wine guy, like my brother, who is the proprietor of Goodgrape.com, but because this guy talks such a good game and really has made a name for himself. He could sell ice to Eskimos. I pick something up from him every time I see a video. He is absolute living proof that charisma and hustle can take you pretty far in life. Or a favorite quote of mine is, "fate, luck and chance favors action over inaction."

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Keep your goals to yourself | Video on TED.com

2012-05-17T16:04:00.000-04:00

From TED, interesting notion for quietly pursuing your goals. Not only do I think you should have constant reminders of your goals, but that little decisions and everyday behavior lead down the path to your ultimate goals.

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It's Easy to be Awesome, Just be Awesome....

2012-05-03T21:44:00.000-04:00

Interesting article at AdWeek about crowd sourcing ideas for marketing. I am a big proponent of this type of approach for Rx/Dx companies. Companies like Communispace and many others enable organizations to test ideas and get feedback very quickly from their target audience. Often this is more cost effective and much faster than traditional research.

Judy Hu, GE's global director of advertising and branding, on stage at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference last week, discussed a new effort by GE to crowdsource ideas for how to "avoid the lame and embrace the awesome" in digital media. Over the next four days, GE collected 60 suggestions, ranging from ideas for ad campaigns to product concepts.

The effort is the latest example of a worldwide brand testing the crowdsourcing waters. The move has put the spotlight back on the ongoing debate about the value of such efforts -- including to creators.

For several years now, companies large and small have experimented with using the wisdom and labor of crowds for creative services from ads to logos to product ideas. To its proponents, these are merely early efforts at using far-flung digital collaboration to democratize the marketing world. But detractors see a wolf in sheep's clothing as companies seize an opportunity to get spec work done on the cheap, along the way commoditizing the backbones of the ad world: creativity and ideas.

Or as the company ZipCar says, "It's Easy to be Awesome, Just be Awesome."

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Twitter Tips, Tricks and Tweets

2012-04-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

I had the chance to tech edit this new Twitter book by well known author Paul McFedries. The foreword is written by Pete Cashmore one of the founders of mashable.com.

I was pleased to be able to edit the book and excited that I got a sneak peak and was able work on it while it wasvery much still in progress. Paul Mcfedries has a writing style that is very easy to read regardless of where you are on the learning curve and he has unearthed some great Twitter tips.

I consider myself pretty savvy when it comes to social media, but I am by no means an expert. I always feel like there is more to learn and the mutations happen so fast that you really have to be on your game all of the time. I can tell you that I learned a lot reading this book.

As the title suggests, it is packed with tips and tricks on how to maximize Twitter to its fullest. Whether you are a newbie or an advanced user I assure you that you will learn something about Twitter in this book.

If you think you know everything about how to maximize Twitter--think again and check out this book.

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Why The FDA Will Give Rx/Dx Digital Marketers Enough Rope To Hang Themselves

2012-04-27T10:23:00.000-04:00

UPDATE: 4/27/12
Can any reasonable Rx/Dx digital marketing person still use the FDA as an excuse?

The word on the street is that the FDASM guidelines will be released within the next ten days - at least according to Fabio Gratton of Ignite Health a.k.a. @skypen on Twitter.

I wouldn't doubt it at this point as it is in line with their previous guidance that the release would be pushed to early 2011.

However, I want to remind readers to not put too much on the release of the guidelines. I wouldn't expect anything revolutionary in terms of thinking, but the FDA will more likely to stay focused in on the message and not the medium, as I noted previously. That I don't think will change. What will be more interesting to watch will be whether this provides the necessary "green light" for companies who have been waiting for guidelines to press onward or whether the anticipated lack of clarity will keep pushing social media further down on the agenda because of lack of guidance provided by the FDA, perhaps lack of a champion in the organization and the effort required to push guidelines through legal and regulatory?

I suspect that the companies that have a strong champion are already trying to push forward in this area so those that have not ventured very far are likely to be left behind. Engagement is built over time and with repeated and consistent actions. I think it will be very tough for someone to enter the space and think they can instantly turn on their social media efforts. Particularly for Rx/Dx organizations where there is a natural and frankly healthy skepticism anyway.

Anyway, see what I had to say on the topic previously, I haven't changed my stance.

UPDATE: 10/25/10

So the rumor mill has it that the FDA will release their guidance in December, which I am looking forward to reviewing. There was one paragraph at the end of the post that jumped out at me.

However, the guidance documents issued by DDMAC will not be platform-specific. Abrams said that guidances for promotion of products on specific Web sites, such as YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter will not be issued. The FDA views these as fleeting, changing technologies and the guidance documents on social media are intended to be general, broad-reaching, and applicable to multiple areas, regardless of platform.

I think what this really says is what I wrote in my original post below about the guidance. Nothing has changed in the past few months to make me change my mind and in fact this reinforces my point a bit. In the end, I think what I said then applies just as much now.

>>>>
As an Rx/DX industry insider and an observer, I have been watching the continued shift to digital and social marketing. I’ve seen it up close and personal for nearly 10 years (egad, I’ve been at for almost a decade) and I have been blogging around digital and the healthcare industry since late 2007. So I feel like I am relatively qualified to speak about the regulatory requirements of digital marketing in the Rx/Dx industry.

I have seen first hand the process, documentation and rigor that is required to develop marketing in a regulated environment that seeks to ensure safety, quality and legal marketing. It is certainly not trivial.

I also watched the FDA hearings last November and saw expert after expert and presentation after presentation bring forward cogent and nearly consistent thoughts on how the FDA should best develop guidelines for managing digital and Social Media in the future. Most importantly, the discussion revolved around how to keep patient safety at the forefront of digital marketing yet allow effective outreach to patient communities of all types.

Since that time, we have learned that the FDA will likely present their findings in Q4 2010—one full calendar year after the hearings. Based on what I've seen over the last year, it seems that many people are counting heavily on the FDA to provide strict guidelines on what can and cannot be done going forward. Some companies, I am sure, are using the lack of guidance as a crutch to not move forward.

The recent Novartis situation and the FDA warning letter has certainly put a scare in some marketers for using the Facebook share functionality on their Tasigna website. There are some perspectives on this that you can view here and here.

We also know that the FDA plans to beef up their monitoring of this space with the first step in hiring a Director of Communications, I briefly touched on this here.

All-in-all, this has created the opportunity for some conversation, navel gazing and for some hand wringing while everyone waits with bated breath to hear from the FDA--I think there are going to be some people sorely disappointed with the findings and it will certainly not provide conclusive guidance that is black or white for how to proceed.

What I think it will provide is a summation that digital is important, interesting and permanent (if you’re reading this, you know that) and it will focus on keeping patient safety information within easy reach of the patient. This means balanced information, risk information within 1-click and ensuring that products claims can be substantiated. Beyond that, I think people will be left disappointed with what is not defined such as Adverse Event reporting guidelines or procedures specific to digital and social media. There will be alot of gray area and if you are a digital marketer certainly enough rope to hang yourself if you're not careful.

We know from other sources that the FDA is most concerned with the message and not necessarily the medium, so my question is why does there seem to be an over-reliance upon the FDA and the guidelines?
In any other circumstance, they do not tell you exactly what to do so I am fairly confident that they won't when it comes to social media either.

In my view, it comes back to crafting strategies that are patient-centric and are from the outside-in versus the inside-out. Every disease and therapy is different so it’s hard for me to talk patient insights for everything under the sun, but I do know that when it comes to social media that if you focus on what’s important to the customer (engage, start a conversation, be an arrow pointing to resources) versus what’s important to you (broadcast) then you can circumvent many of the risks and fulfill the patient need.

My New Favorite Quote

2012-04-26T21:05:00.000-04:00

I am a fan of Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, for a number of reasons. I read his book, Straight From The Gut, with great zeal years ago and stumbled across this quote from Jack Welch via the blog Customer Experience Matters

Deal with the world as it is, not how you’d like it to be.

Let's face it, this is stupidly simple stuff, but it is a great reminder and applies to all facets of life and business. It's easy to get caught up in perfect and perfect is rarely achieved.

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Real World Lessons from the Frontlines: 10 Things I've Learned About Pharma Social Media

2012-04-20T23:37:00.000-04:00

Working for an actual company in the industry gives me real world perspective about Pharma and Social Media. It is exactly this real world and realistic perspective that I see missing from the discussion. Rather than wishful thinking from an ivory tower or the same topics rehashed in the echo chamber that Twitter is becoming, I can tell you many real reasons why social media has not taken full root in the industry. This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive list or inclusive to all of the reasons why, but it does outline a few of the issues as I see them.

Most of these are covered elsewhere in my blog, but for your handy reference I've compiled the thoughts here into a list. This is in no particular order, but in keeping with what seems to generate discussion I've compiled a Top 10 list with some bonus coverage.

10. Social Media has just taken root in Pharma organizations. That means in most organizations that the knowledge, understanding and realization that Social Media is a paradigm shift and is in fact changing how marketing and communications functions is about 18 months old. Granted that is a broad assessment, but I estimate that it has only been since late in 2008 and early 2009 that Social Media really got traction. 18 months by most accounts is young, very young in Pharma organizations. Social needs time to develop and grow. It's certainly not something that causes organizational change within 12 months.

9. Social Media understanding is largely generational and most Pharma leadership is not of that generation. Therefore if you can't prove it, quantify it and show that it's better than tactic X, Y or Z it is hard to move it beyond a simple component of a campaign.

8. You get the behavior you reward. If Executive Leadership doesn't define Social Media as a primary business opportunity then goal setting will be focused on areas that attain defined business goals, which lead to individual goals, which are tied to compensation. Therefore, people aren't spending time on it in the quantity that brings substantial change.

7. To drive new initiatives that aren't already planned and of the magnitude of Social Media requires Executive Leadership buy-in, which requires the buy-in of multiple layers of leadership, which takes time, knowledge transfer, case building and collaboration. That can often be in short supply when trying in a bottom line business climate that is under pressure, which is basically all of Pharma. Further, in order to understand Social Media you have to practice Social Media. Many Executive Leaders are not doing that. Their kids are though, which doesn't translate to them as an activity that requires deep attention within their business.

6. Most Fortune 500 organizations budget on an annual basis. Seems trivial, right? But planning occurs 6-9 months ahead of time. If you don't make the window to be in the budget cycle you don't have resources to drive Social Media. It will likely move to "phase 2" or be the first thing that gets cut if there is scope creep of any kind.

5. Within Pharma, marketing teams are often built by brand. Working across multiple brand teams, sometimes segment teams, corp. communications, and global functions, etc. to drive a new initiative that may not be well understood is a difficult, time consuming task. You have to build consensus. As a result you see some efforts in Pharma that are working but if you look more closely they are probably focused on a specific brand or reside in a certain part of the organization. Therefore, you don't see an integrated, spot on strategic approach that is patient first. You usually see a blended amalgam that is not great. This will be, as they say, "life-cycle managed."

4. Big ships don't turn easily. Social is one part of a total marketing mix. Heck, it's a channel within a channel. It's not THE mix. Consequently, it is currently getting the level of attention that it serves within the overall mix, which today is relatively small.

3. Legal and Regulatory is an issue, but it can be worked around.What may not be understood is GPP, AdvaMed, and FDA are real concerns that have to be developed and managed, which again takes time and effort.

2. Social Media in every Pharma organization needs a champion or champions who are strong willed, a leader, a cajoler, a consensus builder with an indefatigable spirit. Not every company has this person or persons that cares deeply enough, is of the generation and is at a level that has the skills to build consensus, cajole, and drive common understanding. If they do, Social Media is a component of their job, it's not their only job. This to will change.

1. Social expertise is hard to find. Most large pharma organizations work with large agencies that develop media plans for the brands. Frankly, I haven't seen a great deal of novel ideas specific to social from agencies, in fact, I have seen more bad than good from full-service agencies. If a brand team relies on an agency to make coherent proposals for incorporating social into their mix and the agency can't make the case--who's to blame? Sure there are many great agencies out there, but those with social expertise are not already qualified and ready to work for Pharma organizations.

Bonus Coverage...

1a. Change takes time. I'm not sure why Social Media is any different and the expectation is that it's supposed to transform large multi-billion organizations in the span of 12 months. That's either naive or idealistic, I'm not sure which. It took years for Web sites to get developed in the late 90s, why do we expect Social Media to be different than that? In the least, if you shave the time it took Web sites to penetrate Pharma in half you're still looking at a 24-36 month time line. As I stated above, from my vantage Social Media is only about 18 months old within organizations. It'll get there. Trust me on this.

1b. Bright shiny object syndrome/conflict resolution. There can be tendency for some to run to the bright shiny object and think that Social is a great way to pump up the brand. Bad idea. Real champions of social media want to do it the right way and fighting the urge and desire of some people to make it a brand platform takes effort and time. As Mark Twain said, it's better to remain silent and thought the fool, then to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Now I understand that this could sound like a pile of excuses, but I live in reality and reality being what it is, there are real reasons for why the industry is not further along. The easiest thing in life is to be contrarian or tell people what they should be doing. However, if you're pragmatic and dig a little deeper you can see there are challenges that are beginning to be overcome. It's going to take more time, but you'll see change, you'll see more advocacy, you'll see value add efforts and eventually relationship building and you'll see great social media from Pharma. There are many smart, passionate people in Pharma who want to do the right thing when it comes to social media but as I've said before in the past all revolutions start with a challenge to the status quo. That is happening. I've also said that technology and health care is like the turtle and the hare. Steady wins the race.

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Why Leadership

2012-04-19T22:26:00.000-04:00

Pretty self-explanatory. Leadership is what separates good from great.

Why Leadership

View more presentations from mhdbadr.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2012-04-16T06:00:00.000-04:00

One of the things that I continually am on the hunt for is good info on how to explain social media to people who may not read as much as I do. From a marketing perspective, I think it completely changes marketing as we know it today. And when I say that, I think the shift is well underway but most people don't realize it yet.

Davia Armano from Logic + Emotion is definitely a thought-leader in this area had a article in the Harvard Business Review and talked about developing a social media strategy much like you would when planning a garden, which I think is brilliant. It's a great way to explain social media and the need to temper expectations. This is a marathon and not a sprint. My concern is that many Rx/Dx companies will roll out social media initiatives and see no immediate return and kill the programs. My cotention is that marketing today is a conversation and the conversation is online. It takes time to build, nurture and yield results--much like a garden.

Excerpt below and check out the entire article here.

This underscores a fundamental truth to social media that many organizations underestimate--being social means having real live people who actively participate in your initiatives. It's difficult to automate and a challenge to scale, but it can also help move your business forward in ways that produce leveraged outcomes such as new/better products or services.
The economics of using social media in business require the participation of people to fuel it. It is not simply enabled by technology that maintains itself. One of the biggest lessons to be taken away from a social platform such as Twitter is that the ecosystem it's a part of if, is itself built on people who keep it humming along with not only content, but a seemingly endless stream of third party applications. This phenomenon is not entirely new--it's been referred to as end-user innovation (innovation by consumers and end users, rather than suppliers).
There are a few considerations every organization needs to consider when developing their blueprints for their own unique social media design. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, there are few things you can plan for as you review the many options before you.
Here are three to consider:
Seeding. As you plan your approach for designing your social system, take into account that you'll have to invest to grow your effort into a healthy ecosystem that can produce data, insights or even new ideas. People will be required in order to do this.
Feeding. Whether it's a community, Wiki or internal collaboration solution you've put in place, it will have to be fed with a steady stream of content. Some of this can be automated and some of it can come from your participants--but there has to be some editorial judgment made for every piece of content and functionality. People are required for that.
Weeding. A productive social business design will require efforts to prune and weed out material that can inhibit its growth (just like a garden). In some cases, automated moderation services can do this--but in others people will be required to ensure that interactions are productive. Weeding can also include creating a separate environment--for example, Nokia's "blog hub" encourages employees to vent freely internally (using anonymous aliases).You can bet that someone is looking at the data and analyzing it. If not, they should be.
It's worth noting that seeding, feeding, and weeding all take place after any social initiative has been launched. But not taking into account the manpower that's involved in these as you develop your social business design strategy can lead to a lack of adoption or participation--essential elements to any social initiative. Ignoring these realities will continue to propagate the myth that social media is fast, cheap and easy. As organizations look to grow or scale their current initiatives, it's proving to be anything but.

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