Ad re-targeting doesn’t phase most people anymore. When we search for something online, we’re used to seeing ads about it elsewhere. And we’re not concerned when the ads follow us across our devices. We trade privacy for convenience every day. We all know privacy has been dead for some time.
How is this assisting marketers now?
Consider the earliest applications of AI in marketing for Amazon, the humble recommendation engine. This alone still accounts for 35% of Amazon sales. Eularis have applied this in pharma sales many times using these engines to offer the sales rep the best messages to discuss with an individual physician at that call based on an analysis of their online activity.
I will not spend time on Covid-19 and how that hastened digitization. That was long overdue and a little embarrassing that it took Covid-19 for the industry to digitize!
So what else is going on? In no specific order, let’s examine some of the areas.
1. Omni-channel next best action modelling (also called context marketing or ‘moment’ marketing ) based on predictive AI .
Not to be confused with the large numbers of rules-based personalization marketing tools on the market today, is another application poised to be a game changer with a few key AI companies offering winning versions of this. Pharma are already using this in pockets, and this will soon be the norm for most sophisticated marketers. Eularis completed a project using this for a client who needed modelling of next best actions /context marketing (so that means the right content in the right channel in the right sequence at the right time, by individual) for numerous brands over 30 countries a few years ago. I believe it was the first time this had been done in pharma, but I do know others have done it now and I expect this will be the norm with all pharma very soon.
2. Voice Recognition (a type of AI)
Chatbots and voice recognition are being used successfully in numerous healthcare areas. We all know applications of Alexa and Siri for care of the elderly and many healthcare related applications. The technology is there, but as always, how you execute campaigns is critical to ensure a good customer experience.
For example, a friend of mine is not happy that her phone acts like it is spying on her. At least that is how she explained it. Someone she knows recommended a particular brand of hiking boot to her in conversation. My friend has never gone hiking, nor ever bought a hiking boot. Yet when she went to a website, she was served up ads for the boot her friend mentioned, including where she could get the lowest price closest to where she lives. She did not like that level of personalization for something she didn’t request or even have an interest in. It made her feel like she was being spied on, and that is definitely not the feeling we want to engender in our customers.
This is an example of good technology with poor implementation. The system should have looked for more buying signals before it started to get clever with the offering. If my friend had googled the brand or had some other indication of interest, she may have been happy to get the recommendations and advice. I have even seen Google do campaign executions that make people feel the creepy factor on a few occasions, which I have written about previously.
But poor execution aside, these tools are very powerful for pharma marketers who want to offer strong customer service at the point the (consented!) customer wants it. The technology is there to really personalize the customer experience, keep the customers more engaged and make the interaction more fun. And since they can be integrated into multiple social media platforms, they offer the chance to reach a wider audience.
From gauging the applications of Eliza in the 90’s to Siri in the 00’s, and to Erica and Amy in 2015, and now Amelia 4.0 today, these type of applications become more impressive, with far greater capabilities every year . Soon they will be able to predict our needs and make decisions for us based on data it already has on our preferences and behavior.
Cross-app integration brings some of the most exciting potential with digital humans and voice activated assistants. This would provide access to impressively useful data and transform these tools from reactive to predictive. Instead of merely researching users’ interests and advertising to them, the bots will able to predict the users needs in advance and serve up the right information at the right time.
This cross-app integration linking with Internet of Things (IOT) will create a marketer’s dream environment. Stronger psychological connections from emotional analysis combined with these data sources will empower new approaches to reach current and existing customers. It’s a brave new world for marketers!
3. Generative Adversarial Networks (a type of AI)
Although not new in AI terms (invented in 2014) If you think about GAN (Generative Adversarial Networks) – which is what is used to create fake videos like this one of President Obama. Click here to see President Obama give an amusing speech, unlike any others he has done. This approach in AI was invented in 2014 but the numerous applications of GAN today (on top of fake videos) are extensive. I am still pondering using this more widely in rare disease data. I can see how it would be useful but just need to confirm how much training data we would need!
4. GPT-3 (a type of AI)
Another area that is even more recent (less than a year ago) but extremely powerful is GPT-3. It is a new version of NLP (Natural Language Processing) that can learn to write as well as a human. There were some earlier AI writer versions that could do your research and write a first draft of an article for you thereby saving you time. But GPT-3 raises the playing field dramatically so that it doesn’t need to be a draft – it can be your final copy!
Eventually AI will power pretty much everything! We already have a hotel run by robots that uses face recognition software for room keys, and health check systems in a cube that replace both GPs and lab test results for many conditions (see https://cue.me/#inflammation). We have also already seen experiments showing AI beating lawyers in legal matters and beating Pathologists in diagnosing progression of tumors.
The future of this and its applications are truly awe-inspiring. In fact, it is predicted that by the 2030’s, Artificial Intelligence (non-biological intelligence) will be a billion times more than biological intelligence. However, after that – possibly in the 2040’s – humans should be able to increase their intelligence a billion-fold by linking wirelessly from their neocortex to a synthetic neocortex in the cloud.
5. Wearables and the Internet of Things
Wearables and the Internet of Things tackle aspects of chronic conditions at earlier stages. Take the glucose sensor contact lens developed by Google, the glucose sensor temporary tattoo developed by UCSD, and the electronic chip in a pill from Proteus. mHealth will eventually revolutionize health outcomes.
6. Digital Twins
I have written about digital twins before. They were originally invented by NASA as a digital replica of the space station so they could replicate issues and find solutions. Then GE started using them to create twins of their plants for the same reason. Now we have them in healthcare where digital replicas of human organs are created. One use of digital twins in healthcare is monitoring health. Eventually we may all have our own full digital twin so drugs etc can be tested on the the digital version of us rather than the human version.
7. Non-Traditional Players’ Disruption of Healthcare
When I suggested this back in 2012, people laughed and said I was taking it too far. No more. We are already seeing massive disruption to Healthcare in so many ways with Google, Apple, Microsoft, Fujifilm, and Samsung already now playing in this space. Google is already a pharma company, while Amazon are deep in healthcare now and Microsoft could also be argued to be a healthcare company now also.
8. New Business Models Coming
Uber, a car company with no cars and AirBnB’s, a BnB company with no property, will become the business models of the future. How can this be applied to Healthcare? In many many ways. Pharma are digitizing but sticking with the same business model but I urge pharma to think laterally on this area as those that do will win big in the coming years. If you boil down disruption, it is creating a company around the customer and the customer experience. Let’s look at a few well-known disrupters.
1. Netflix>Blockbuster
2. Uber>Taxis
3. AirBnB>Hotels
4. Zipcar>Rental cars
5. Amazon>Barnes and Noble initially but soon everything
6. Apple > IBM
7. Tesla>Other car companies
In every case, the difference was giving the customer an amazing experience. Taking out the hassle or frustration and almost like pressing an ‘easy’ button. Pharma talk about customer first but we do not live it like companies such as these. Pharma need to really think this through and throw out the old thinking.
9. 3D Drug Printing becomes more common
We already have had the first 3D printed drug approved some years ago. Aprecia’s drug, Spritam, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and uses the company’s trademark ZipDose technology – i.e. 3D printing. Soon this will be commonplace but will require massive changes in Pharma processes if they want to compete.
10. Blockchain will begin to Transform Industries
Blockchain is a protocol that allows for secure, direct, digital transfers of value and assets (so maybe contracts, money, etc). It is what powered Bitcoin. It has the potential to revolutionize many industries with applications using it, including insurance, business transactions and IT. Some pharma are already using blockchain for supply chain management and it is also being used for patient data so that the patient owns the data and actively consents to its’ use.
11. Nanobots
Nanobots (Nanotechnology Robots) will be replacing much of the current medical technology as early as the 2020’s. In 2012, Nanotechnology was already able to mimic a dog’s olfactory system so well that it could detect explosives and other substances with the aim of making portable, accurate explosive sniffing devices.
This technology was made possible from the merging of mechanical engineering and chemistry. Other uses being currently explored are to improve the human digestive system and even eliminate our need for food and eating. The nutrients individuals need will be able to be tailored for that person and delivered via Nano Replicators.
This would go some way to alleviating the obesity epidemic; however, I doubt taste will be replicated as well initially. Maybe, eventually, that also can be built in as in the movie ‘The Matrix’, and you will be able to get a satisfying, amazing taste experience without real food. Whilst on Nanobots, it is also likely that in the coming decades we will be able to make almost anything we want out of thin air and create any object we wish.
12. Driverless Cars and Autonomous Vehicles (Electric of course) will be the Norm
I am sure that in the near future, driverless cars will be the norm and humans will not be allowed to drive themselves on highways to reduce road traffic accidents. Almost all automotive companies are developing driverless cars, including Google, Apple, Audi, BMW, Daimler, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Volvo, Tokyo, Tesla, Bosch, Baidu, Delphi, SAIC Motor, Mobileye, Nissan, Renault, Scania, Tata Elxsi, Yutong and Uber. That shows where things are heading. No doubt soon pharma will be using driverless vehicles in our supply chain as well.
12. Value Disruption throughout Healthcare
Pharma need to really understand value and what value is to whom? Pharma companies are beginning to realize now that they need to change from clinical to value-based propositions, but to do this they need to understand what value is to each of their customer stakeholders in each applicable context. This will be different for different customers at different times. However, understanding how to personalize the value for each customer and context will be a combination of: using strong Artificial Intelligence based analytics, strong products, strong pricing models, and strong valuable, relevant services and communications bundled around these.
13. Customer Experience Competition
Customers (patients, physicians, payers) have so much choice for both information as well as drugs. This means that competition will move from the old product based competitive advantages to new value added differentiation. Customer personalization and customer intimacy are key to ongoing success. And when they get customer experience right, the winners will ensure that there is consistency in delivering that strong customer experience. The companies providing the best customer experiences will be winners. This echoes some of the points I made with new business models. The success models of today all put the customer experience first.
14. Competing More Strategically with Data
I still get amazed at how low level so many Pharma are in their use of data and analytics. Speak with innovators and you will find that they are using data and analytics well – in most cases. They value data, they spend more money getting it, they utilize strong analytics on it, and they derive value from their data. But part of why many in pharma are not getting value is the fact that the commercial teams do not understand what is possible and speak a different language to the data science teams.
15. Innovation becomes more mainstream
Innovation is critical in today’s Pharma environment. The old behemoths that don’t innovate will die a slow (or fast), but certainly painful, death. Companies need to reward innovation. Not all innovation will be successful, but no innovation will certainly lead to failure.
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Conclusion
I could go on and on as this is the tip of the iceberg, but the fact is that we are living in a fascinating time of change. The changes themselves and the speed of these changes are remarkable and constant. The future is here and many more advances will be coming soon…so try your best to stay on top of these changes.
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For more information, or to discuss our proven approach for innovation, please contact the author, Dr Andree Bates abates@eularis.com.
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