Industry Executives Discuss the Uniqueness of Healthcare and Life Sciences Marketing

Summary by Maggie Peck

2023 Masters of Science in Healthcare Management & Kelley Certificate in the Business of Life Sciences Candidate

Introduction

On Friday, February 21^st, the Center for the Business of Life Sciences hosted The Uniqueness of Healthcare and Life Sciences Marketing Conference in downtown Indianapolis at the One America building. Individuals from all backgrounds within the Life Sciences Industry were in attendance, along with current CBLS students and fellow Kelley alumni.

The day began with a keynote speaker discussing marketing in a heavily regulated industry, followed by a panel discussion over impactful marketing in the Life Sciences industry. The afternoon started with a luncheon keynote presentation on mass media marketing in the United States and its relation to prescription drug demand. The conference concluded with a panel for creating influence among consumers in healthcare and medical products.

Keynote Speaker

The keynote speaker, Mike Sauers, Senior Director in Eli Lilly’s Global Regulatory Affairs, kicked off the day’s events with a conversation about communication in a regulated industry. Mr. Sauers previously worked for the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Office of Prescription Drug Promotion and has experience in marketing products that are heavily regulated. He currently works on marketing and promotion for Eli Lilly. While regulatory and legal often are “killers of marketing dreams,” there are ways to operate effectively in a regulated environment, especially when promoting your product. Mr. Sauers posed three recommendations: listen to and rely on the experts, think beyond the regulatory requirements of your product, and communicate with integrity. The FDA will take necessary action regardless of the size of the company, the product, or the marketing campaign. Mr. Sauers reminded the audience that government workers are people, too and they are always working even if it seems they are doing so at a slower pace. View presentation

Panel #1 – Impactful B2B Marketing in Healthcare

Moderated by Dan Peterson, Vice President of Industry and Government Affairs with Cook Medical Group, panelists started the conversation by discussing their perspectives on B2B marketing through their roles and experience in the life sciences industry. Neal Lambert, Senior Director of Pricing and Value strategy for the US Oncology Biosimilar portfolio at Pfizer Oncology shared his thoughts on how marketing has changed over the last 15 years. He explained that value marketing has always been difficult for healthcare, and there are business and clinical implications. Mr. Lambert discussed 3 key rules in healthcare marketing he has found over the years. The first is the main purpose of marketing in this space is to improve patient care and outcomes. Next, understanding what matters to the patient helps you market your product or services to them. Finally, make sure you can summarize your value proposition in a minute or less.

Jordyn Wells of Eli Lilly & Company’s Integrated Healthcare division shared next. Ms. Wells currently leads a team that is servicing one of Lilly’s new service groups, healthcare organizations (HCOs). Integrated healthcare is a new method of delivering patient care through vertical integration. Her advice on making an impact in healthcare marketing: “be brilliant at the basics.” She believes that it is important to educate the team internally and share knowledge among all departments. The better understanding your, legal, regulatory, or data analytics team has of your product, the better the marketing campaign due to their increased knowledge.

Eva Marquez, Indiana University Health’s Executive Director of Marketing, reiterated Mr. Lambert’s statement at the beginning of the discussion, that marketing in healthcare and the Life Sciences industry is complicated due to all the stakeholders in healthcare. There are patient and clinician relationships, clinician and insurance, and insurance and patient, and this list can go on; the combinations are endless when you also consider employees and employers. Mrs. Marquez believes that an organization should communicate to their customers, in this case, patients, with one voice. This is difficult due to the different needs, goals, and challenges that each individual carries. She suggests speaking to the human that is ultimately making the decision to choose your organization for care, they are a patient somewhere with a story that should be heard. View Presentation

The panel concluded with Roxanne Brendel, Global Director of Cook Medical’s Marketing for Radiology and Critical Care & Pulmonary specialties counting down her top 10 favorite marketing conversation starters. View Presentation

• 10- Value is not value unless the customer agrees; your product may be of value to you, but it needs to be of value to the customer for it to be a success.
• 9- Regulatory is marketing’s best friend.
• 8- The pandemic ripple is painful.
• 7- Sites of care are changing, with more hospital procedures being done in outpatient facilities.
• 6- Human v. digital touch points are evolving.
• 5- People prefer to buy from those they trust.
• 4- The healthcare pie is finite.
• 3- Compliance is marketing’s best friend and companies should use this more to their advantage with their marketing strategies.
• 2- Data rules the future.
• 1- Patients are at the center of everything that these efforts are going towards. It is important to remember who your client is to ensure you are communicating with them effectively.

Luncheon Keynote – Dr. Andrew Ching, How does mass media marketing drive prescription drug demand?

Dr. Andrew Ching joined the conference virtually to explain his research on direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) and the demand for prescription drugs in the United States. He is currently a Professor of Economics at the Carey Business School & Bloomberg School of Health at Johns Hopkins University where he researches marketing, economics, and consumer behavior. DTCA was introduced in the United States in 1997, causing an increase in pharmaceutical demand over the years. There are many effects of this that we see today, such as having more doctors see patients to prescribe the medicine, and patients are encouraged through marketing advertisements to ask for a specific drug that they have seen promoted. Through his research, Dr. Ching has found that publicity plays an important role in market expansion and interacts with pharmaceutical detailing in a subtle way. He believes that the impact of publicity varies on the context of a product’s marketing, and the more details that can be provided to the consumers, the better. View Presentation

Panel #2 – An Inside Perspective Creating Influence Among Consumers of Healthcare and Medical Products

After the luncheon, attendees listened to a panel of professionals who currently focus on marketing efforts at their organizations. Each panelist gave their thoughts on the uniqueness of marketing in healthcare, how the new age of information affects current and future marketing efforts, how medical technological advances will impact healthcare and the Life Sciences industries, what their companies have learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, and overcoming public distrust.

Courtney Jones, Executive Director of Marketing and Brand Positioning for Community Health Network, shared her experience of the current efforts the organization is doing to reach its surrounding population’s needs. A podcast was launched by Community Health Network focusing on the social determinants of health (SDH) that involves their marketing and communications teams. She encourages the use of real stories from real people, not from the marketing team. Ms. Jones believes that organizations should focus on internal campaigns, making sure they are speaking to the internal culture to help aid in talent acquisition.

Customized messages encourage patients to participate in conversations with the companies and identify gaps. Doug Wilson, Senior Director, Portfolio Strategy and New Product Planning at Pfizer focused on technology and its impact on the marketing of products. We can now predict patient response to medication, making it easier to see the impact on the consumer. With the world using TikTok to access health information, technology will make an even bigger impact on marketing in the future and how patients consume information regarding their health.

Andrea Blesdoe, Director of Integrated Digital Marketing at Boston Scientific shared her thoughts on senior-leadership buy-in. This is extremely important, especially when it comes to the promotion of your product or service. Ms. Blesdoe encouraged the audience to actively participate in sales calls, to understand how selling the product works and what the clients are looking for. She further explained that it is necessary to understand the risk associated with your product and the marketing behind it and encourages these teams to be proactive when developing the marketing strategy.

Humana is making efforts in marketing to their audience, individuals 65 years old or older and those enrolled in Medicare. Jill Soderquist, Vice President of Customer Experience and Transformation talked about the efforts Humana is making in reaching their market and data collection. Insurance agents are going into customers’ homes to see the medicine they are taking, as well as have a better understanding of their socioeconomic status and living situation. Humana is rethinking how they collect their data, and it has helped increase enrollment and ensure they are receiving the adequate care that they desired.

Conclusion

After an exciting day filled with discussion on Healthcare and Life Sciences marketing, the conference concluded with a Happy Hour on the 35^th floor of the One America building overlooking sunny downtown Indianapolis where attendees were able to discuss new insights they learned and network with individuals all over the Life Sciences industry.

*About the IN Life Sciences Collaboration Conference Series

Since 2006, the Center for the Business of Life Sciences (CBLS) has provided a forum for various players in healthcare and life sciences to consider, discuss, and debate key business strategy issues. In presenting the Indiana Life Sciences Collaboration Conference Series, CBLS brings together key players from industry, academia, government, and economic development communities to share ideas and expertise.