On 12-13 December 2011, Across Health China, led by Francis Chay, organized the first-ever digital marketing workshop in life sciences in the Swissotel in Shanghai.
China's pharma market in a digital future
February 2012
China's pharma market in a digital future
"A unique opportunity for innovative marketing, sales and medical education staff in China."
On 12-13 December 2011, Across Health China, led by Francis Chay, organized the first-ever digital marketing workshop in life sciences in the Swissotel in Shanghai.
Keynote presentation, Peter Hinssen, 12 December
The invitation-only VIP keynote presentation was delivered by thought leader Peter Hinssen, Chairman Across Technology, and focused on key trends in "The New Normal", ie, the period in which digital is no longer seen as innovative, but part and parcel of daily life. According to him, we are "halfway there", and he illustrated this with telling examples, the "limits of the New Normal" and the impact on healthcare. His one-hour keynote was attended by close to 70 senior pharma leaders and was very well received.
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Digital marketing workshop, Fonny Schenck & Bernard Depaepe, 12-13 December
The keynote presentation was followed by the first-ever 2-day "immersion course" in digital pharma marketing in China. The presentations & workshops were led by Fonny Schenck, CEO, Across Health, and Bernard Depaepe, MD Asia, both very experienced workshop leaders and trainers. This dedicated part drew 25 delegates who got detailed insights into the digital landscape today & tomorrow in China, ROI and impact measurement, digital readiness and change management, as well as strategy formulation and best-practice key tactics, didactically illustrated with examples from China and other regions.
In addition, we shared the first-ever Digital Barometer survey results for China, which measure the digital readiness of pharma, the spend level on digital as well as key bottlenecks. Interestingly, the situation is quite similar to Europe, with low spend (8% of marketing budget), and ROI, lack of digital strategy, regulatory issues and lack of internal knowledge as key bottlenecks. The overall satisfaction level with digital was only 26%. The infochart can be found here.
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Last but not least, Across Health reported the results of a marketing mix assessment survey with IM specialists in China. The survey uncovers Chinese physicians' reach, impact & quality assessment across offline and online channels, including third-party channels and pharma stakeholders and was benchmarked against our unique 4-year multicountry, multispecialty database.
In line with Across Health research in other markets, medical offerings outperform marketing-led channels, but the high impact and reach of pharma websites and third party medical websites are unique to the Chinese market. Important also is that the "patient rep" channel is very prominent in China: almost 70% of physicians see patients who try to influence them, versus around 65% who see reps. Channels like teledetailing, smartphone apps and tablet detailing are starting to emerge, but reach fewer than 10% of physicians for now. The Chinese results served as a key input for the interactive workshop on day 2.
The feedback was consistently positive. As a result, Across Health is planning a second open-course seminar in Q2 2012, combined with company-specific on-site workshops and training sessions. In addition, a Linkedin group was created to stimulate networking and best-practice sharing at China Pharma Digital Future.
We look forward to connecting with you online as well as supporting you in designing & executing your digital strategy with high ROI in 2012 and beyond.
Best regards,
Francis Chay
Managing Director Across Health Greater China
Across Health
francis.chay@a-cross.com
+86 186 218 311 35
