What's next for mobile? The pharma industry wants to know. At today's opening session in Philadelphia, viral-video-hero-turned-consultant Kevin Nalty of Janssen-Cilag gave a powerful presentation chock-full of statistics and predictions. Here are key takeaways:
- In the Wild West that is the current health app marketplace, it's likely one of two things will happen. One, Nalty said, managed care will begin to incent physicians to "gently nudge" patients to use apps, with the goal of improving adherence and self-care. If health apps are potentially as powerful as their creators believe (and as patients are finding), then healthcare providers (HCPs) are going to need to get familiar with the best ones. Insurers will gladly reimburse physicians for the consulting time, if it leads to better healthcare outcomes and fewer hospital admissions
- On the other hand, Nalty predicted that within the next couple of years, consolidation will leave us with only a half dozen app "brands" to choose from. In the same way that consumers visit WebMD, the Mayo Clinic, and About.com for the majority of their online health content, a few leading brands will likely emerge in app stores. This scenario is already playing out for physicians, for whom the ePocrates app has captured the vast majority of market share. Healthcare marketers may spend less time building their own apps and more time developing content for the leading ones
- As this blogger has reported on multiple occasions, QR (quick response) codes should still be considered "sizzle" in the United States—no steak yet. An audience member from Augme Mobile, a technology vendor, reported that most QR programs his company launches also include a texting component. Because relatively few US consumers scan the quizzical QR graphics, having a texting option makes it easier for the majority of people to participate
- Given this uncertainty, maybe apps and QR codes aren't the way to go after all. Nalty shared a study that found that most people use their mobile devices for e-mail and search. (He was going fast, and I missed the source. But oft-quoted data from the Pew Research Center largely corroborates his statement.) Life science marketers, then—particularly those with consumer audiences in mind—must extend their online analytics and search programs to mobile devices and tailor their programs based on learned insights. Do consumers search differently on their PCs versus their phones? When they search on their phones, do consumers find your content? Does that content display correctly? In a nutshell, if you're marketing on the Web, you're marketing on mobile devices
- Finally, now that I've all but proclaimed "Apps are dead," if HCPs are your intended audience, then "Long live apps!" Another quick-moving slide from Nalty presented a sobering picture for the pharma sales rep: In rough numbers, physicians engage with their mobile phones about 11 times as often as they do with reps. It's reasonable to say, then, that partnerships with mobile vendors like ePocrates and the creation of HCP-targeted apps will emerge as key line items on pharma marketing budgets in the coming years
Jeff Greene
Director, Digital Strategy
HealthEd
Wow you made me sound smarter than me are. Thanks.
Posted by: nalts | 11/05/2011 at 02:22 PM