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Tag Archive for 'innovation'

leigh.householder

Inspired By TedMed: How 14 Leaders Would Change Healthcare

Published by Leigh Householder on October 27, 2011.

This week is the annual TEDMED conference in San Diego. It’s where the world’s most creative minds meet healthcare’s most innovative science. Where public health meets personal care, and where today’s theory meets tomorrow’s technologies.

We’ve been watching the tweets and snippets from the floor of the conference and they’re inspiring a lot of great conversations around our hallways for how we could fundamentally improve healthcare – what are the barriers to take down, what has great promise, and what could we rethink – and recreate – to bring better health to more people:

“When we think ‘patient,’ we picture a person in a gown being shepherded through the system by healthcare authority figures. Newsflash: Patients are consumers–more demanding, more informed, more unified than ever before. Today, the physician’s opinion is only part of the decision. With less authority, we must find new ways to influence.” – Marcee Nelson, The Well

“Inspire and reward wellness through people’s wallets: have insurance companies create quantified wellness structures that deduct cost from premiums. Clearly outline attainable goals and associate a cost deduction with each accomplishment– i.e., hit the gym three days a week, $x off; no smoking $x off; BMI in check, $x off; plant based diet, $x off; and so on. Enroll in the program and get validation/documentation through annual check-ups at the MD. Maybe this way we can start having positive conversations with physicians and payers instead of arguments, trepidation, confusion and avoidance. Better behavior. Better healthcare.” – Christina Blosser, Accounts

“I see a vicious circle that involves healthcare, co-morbidity, and digital behavior. As pressure for productivity on healthcare providers increases, the result is less time to provide ‘whole body assessments.’ All while non-infectious diseases (such as diabetes, hypertension, etc.) continue to rise and are now coupled with depression, obesity, and anxiety. The result is an under served patient. In addition, most healthcare materials provided to healthcare professionals are wordy and time consuming and do not reflect the manner in which people consume information in a digital age.” – Leah McDougald, Engagement

“Make it mandatory for food/beverage industry to make/market their retail products following stricter nutritional guidelines (i.e. must not exceed 500 mg of sodium, 10 g of sugar, 20 g of carbs). What if we could dedicate more than one aisle to health/organic foods in grocery stores like Kroger, Giant Eagle?  Model all grocery stores to be more like Whole Foods, Trader Joes.” – Dawn Marinacci, Communications

“Focus more attention to healthy food education and access. Something like fair balance on food packaging. I know, it seems a bit socialist but right now the packaged food industry is out of control.” – Sean Cowan, Digital

“Adopt a European approach by offering and mandating 8 weeks of vacation time annually to all full-time employees, which will help to relieve stress, foster better well-being and overall happiness, and lead to a more energized and more positive society. Make cigarettes illegal. Provide a “well-being credit” on your annual tax return for having an annual check-up and receive additional credits for staying within all specified laboratory ranges for diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia.” – Kevin Stone, Accounts

“Coin operated elevators, escalators, and moving walkways (with passes for those in need of assistance).” – Joe Daley, Leadership

“A simple change that we can make to dramatically improve the health of our nation is to shift the nation’s paradigm in regards to healthy eating. One example is to develop more “farm to dinner table” support initiatives to provide affordable natural/organic alternatives to fast food. Food is the new pharma!”  – Jude Divierte, Innovation

“Expanding health care options while reducing the red tape generated by payer groups. Some HMOs/PPOs do recognize the benefits of traditional eastern medicine, but aren’t structured to accommodate their holistic, long-term approach. And ease up on denying newer treatments and calling them out as “unproven” – if the doctor feels it could benefit their patient (especially when it comes to life-threatening illnesses) then they should be able to move forward with it.” – Alex Bragg, Planning

“I think one of the biggest challenges facing healthcare will be reducing cost. Hospitals, physicians, and other providers will have to squeeze every penny out of their operations, including renegotiating contracts with suppliers on everything from food to medical devices and pharmaceuticals. This will mean increasing reimbursement pressure, with physician practice models beginning to adapt and Pharma will be more intensely restricted in its marketing activities.” – Christine Crooks, The Well

“Incentivize good health through lower taxes, for example; the rationale being that healthier citizens are less of a burden to the resources of the community and so should be rewarded for the decisions they are making that not only help them but also the health of the greater good.” – Todd Hodgman, Strategy

“Our disengaging use of language. For example, patient, compliance, adherence. Tape adheres; prisoners comply. From the moment a person is diagnosed with a chronic illness, healers and the people they treat must persevere: steady persistence to create a state of well-being, especially in spite of stigma, barriers, or low health literacy.”         – Kathryn Bernish-Fisher, Engagement

“I would incorporate shorter work weeks to allow a third day off. This country’s current state of 50, 60, 70 hour work weeks is coming at a price. We spend less and less time with our families in order to put in our time at work and make our money. Life is too short to have work be the central part of our lives. Our friends and families are ultimately what we’d all love to have more of. I believe this re-shifting of priorities will make us and our children healthier…physically and emotionally.” – Cheryl Foley, Medical Director

“The labeling we’re putting on processed foods is good – more transparency from the companies and an incredibly simplified way for consumers to weigh their options. I hold a processed food next to a natural food and can easily answer the question: is it worth it?” – Ben Harben, Innovation

Categories: New ideas and approaches
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dstout

Gaming for good health

Published by Danielle Stout on September 19, 2011.

So lately the buzz has been healthy video games (which in the first UP:ROOT shows how there is a big market for this too). Okay, okay, I’ll be honest. My particular obsession with Call of Duty: Black Ops is far from healthy, but there are many other options in both mainstream and healthcare gaming that provide unique ways to promote wellness. Here’s my take, as a part of the 26% of female gamers, on some of the coolest advances in gaming for health and wellness.

Motion gaming minimizes sedentary play

Even though motion gaming has been around for quite some time (remember stepping as hard and fast as you could on the old Power Pads for Nintendo’s track and field games?), motion gaming as we know it now with facial, spatial, body and, for some even voice, recognition still  has a lot of exploration and growth happening. This is prime time for medical marketers to find solutions on these platforms as the early adopters have helped identify holes in the games first made available. These types of systems and all of their intricacies that have yet to be fully utilized hold a huge potential, but  for now my recommend best use of this platform in healthy gaming is Your Shape Fitness Evolved for Kinect.  Besides utilizing full body scanning for customizing arm and leg span and making movements and positioning more accurate it also helps you rack up Gamer Points as you burn certain amounts of calories which is a huge motivator especially for those gamers who like those additional bragging rights on their Xbox Live account.

Virtual reality gaming can help patients escape from painful treatment

In Fallout 3—one of the usual, not-so-healthy games—your character finds a group of people escaping the harsh reality of a post-apocalyptic world through virtual reality. Well, that theory is not just for video games now, mostly. Firsthand Technology teamed with research psychologists to build a virtual reality game that reduces pain related activity in burn patients undergoing painful therapy or treatment.

Gaming can mimic physiological effects to deter unhealthy behavior

Forget about just trying to escape reality; instead try replacing a harmful habit in an entertaining (and much healthier) manner that provides the same effects. A team at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York are developing Lit, a smoking cessation game, which uses breathing techniques to simulate effects of smoking.  Rather than just asking them to attempt breathing exercises (which could get old fast), it gives them an interactive environment that rewards them and encourages continued use.

Click here to view, “Lit, a smoking cessation game.”

Gaming provides a fun format for learning

Had someone asked me to spend at minimum an hour every evening talking about military weapons I would have answered with a resounding “no.”  However in my habitual playing of Black Ops, I’ve pretty much done that. Thing is you don’t really realize how much you’ve learned until you are watching a commercial for TopShot and can name the equipment faster than the host can. Asking patients to read up on a disease or product may not produce results, but getting them to engage in a fun game with repetitiveness may have them retaining more information. So you don’t have to find such awesome ways to take advantage of the new modes of gaming, as I’ve shown. Even just a simple, yet fun, game that divulges information will do the trick. Now go play, and tell your loved ones it’s for medical research!

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brizzo

Therapy based on genetics–one step closer

Published by Brenda Rizzo on August 18, 2011.

Traditionally, in advertising we tout the benefits of a new drug to market by the results of their phase 3 clinical trial, reporting on the efficacy and safety of a given compound. In some cases the clinical trial might be set up to compare against the “gold standard” therapy, but most often it is compared to placebo. Depending on the size of the affected population most studies are expected to be large, multi-centered, and patient’s are evaluated for an appropriate length of time as dictated by the condition being treated. In a few studies “responder rates” are reported which describe what percentage of the population actually responded favorable in comparison to those that the effect was not significant.

Individualized drug therapy allows us to identify populations that based on genetic variants, may be higher responders, or may have higher propensity toward an adverse reaction. This new science, called Pharmacogenomics identifies how potential gene drug interactions can better predict a patient’s response to therapy. This could eliminate having to endure a course of therapy that may not work, before the next level of intervention is considered. This type of assessment could help to target therapy to the individual that will best respond. In a recent Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) article they described Pharmacogenomics as a decision support strategy that will allow physicians to individualize drug therapy, maximize the likelihood of response, and minimize risk for adverse reactions.

But can we afford to determine every ones specific genetic code before any therapy decision is made? Who will be paying for this expense? Clinical adoption of this science will be influenced by regulatory recommendations, and third-party payment. Until a cost/benefit story can be told, use of this science universally will be slow. However, with the transition to electronic medical records (EMR) there are more opportunities to look for trends and discoveries with different treatment categories across populations. For example in the Asian culture, there is a gene variant that is strongly associated with a very debilitating skin reaction when given certain seizure medication. Identifying population based responses can help us to predict response and avoid serious adverse events. With EMR there can be better follow through and record keeping of an individual’s response to therapy and sensitivities that might apply across categories. There may also be an opportunity to share patient experiences among clinician’s so trends can be observed, and population variants can be identified.

So what does this mean in advertising? Well responder rates might become one of the pivotal messages of our communication platforms. Drugs that are efficacious across a broad range of patients will become an important component of early adoption. And looking for trends with serious adverse events might help the clinician to determine which population to avoid using this medication in, rather than blanketing their concern toward every potential patient.

This is going to be a new and exciting frontier for medicine and for individualizing therapy. As is often true in science, sometimes the data collection does not answer the question but helps to identify where further exploration needs to be developed. This is a new and exciting time for more exacting pharmaceutical treatments.

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dmarinacci

Will you (or your organization) be a Change Agent in 2011?

Published by Dawn Marinacci on January 4, 2011.

Hello, 2011. It’s been quite the year. In the stampede to set New Year’s Resolutions, our natural tendency is to zero in on the areas of our lives, both personal and professional, that have been dragging us down or driving us nuts. If 2010 can be described as a pinnacle of change, we need to make 2011 about how to be an agent of change.

Let’s start with the definition of a change agent: “An individual recruited prior to implementation of a change; must be representative of the user population, understand the reasoning behind the change, and help to communicate the excitement, possibilities, and details of the change to others within the organization.” Another definition that struck me as more straightforward: “A change agent is someone who engages either deliberately or whose behavior results in social, cultural or behavioral change.”

Today, the pharmaceutical marketing landscape is evolving so quickly that we’re still not sure how to approach this new era with complete confidence or conviction, much less how to be a change agent. But one thing we do know is that there will be change; there will be more responsibility, accountability and pressure to succeed and outpace the competition. I know there’s no formula for how to be a change agent – but I thought it would be fun to jot down a few resolutions to reflect on as we help our clients and our clients’ brands accelerate their mission and elevate their game in 2011.

So without further ado… As a pharma marketer in 2011, “I will”…

  1. Resolve to change, continuously. It’s been a common theme over the years but it holds true more than ever before. The industry is changing every day. There’s more information to share and more channels in which to share it and it’s only going to grow. Be open to it. See it as an opportunity to create new ideas.
  2. Recognize that inaction is not an option. It’s time to face reality that unless we’re part of the solution, we’re part of the problem. If we don’t take action, we’ll get left behind.
  3. Be engaged. (And I don’t mean find a spouse). Real-time engagement involves using experience, insight and analytics to engage consumers in conversation. Call it the big buzz word for 2011, but engagement a must in our environment today.
  4. Forget about quick fixes. Instead of squandering your valuable time on finding one perfect solution, invest in finding the right mix of solutions. Quicker isn’t always better. It’s easy to get overwhelmed but remember the big picture: if you want things done well, do it right…and that’s going to take time.
  5. Be curious. If we don’t continue to learn and keep up with the trends and changes in the industry, we will get left behind. Read industry blogs, follow key influencers. Make it a regular habit.
  6. Push the envelope just because. We’re all too familiar with med reg and uncertainties around lack of FDA guidance on use of social media, but that shouldn’t keep us from exploring the big ideas.  Big ideas don’t come easy. Push for what you believe is worthy.
  7. Integrate and collaborate. It’s the most efficient, effective way to work these days. In order to keep pace and deliver quality work, it pays to have a solid team who can work across multiple disciplines and skill sets.
  8. Learn to love technology. Because it’s here to stay and it grows faster than a Chia pet. The potential for amazing innovation lies with technology.
  9. Become part of the conversation. It’s one of the most important ways to stay relevant in a crowded marketplace. Share your insights, develop a point of view and be an advocate for how you and your audience can create a meaningful dialogue about common interests.
  10. Embrace the Millennials. Yep, I said it. There’s a generation gap across the spectrum of our work force but we must work together to bridge that gap so that in the end, our clients reap the rewards of a diverse team.

And finally, I read an article in Harvard Business Review by Bill Taylor, cofounder of Fast Company magazine called The 10 Questions Every Change Agent Must Answer. It’s a great read with my favorite question being the last one: Are you learning as fast as the world is changing?

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edavis

There are days I wish I worked in Indonesia. Or Singapore.

Published by Eric Davis on November 22, 2010.

Those emerging markets are the next frontier in idea-creation.  Combine the creative firepower growing in these regions with the more lax regulatory structure, and you can see why the best pharmaceutical advertising is coming from these countries.

Categories: Break-through advertising
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areinbolz

A feast for the eye

Published by Andreas Reinbolz on July 8, 2010.

Imagine you invite a customer to dinner: four courses, with filet mignon and a bottle of Bordeaux on the side, all served on wooden plates. That’s the modern world of tablet PC detailing: content is becoming ever more refined, not to mention interactive. Unfortunately, some of the machines on which this content is being presented still look like the tools mechanics use to reset your ignition.

It’s high time for a revolution. Slimline new tablet computers such as the Apple iPad don’t just look smart: these new devices have finally swept away everything that made the old touchscreen laptops so awkward to use. No more wobbly screens that have to be lifted up, rotated and closed; no more poking at the display with a fiddly plastic stylus. Multi-touch screens are operated with intuitive fingertip control. The new tablets are all about seamless functionality. They open up totally new operating concepts and make sales dialogue more fluid. In the wake of the Apple breakthrough, the second generation – based on Windows and Google’s Android mobile operating system – is already on the starting blocks.

A word of caution: no matter how stylish the tablet may become, it is only the crockery on which our dishes are presented. An overcooked filet mignon will still be hard to swallow – even if it is served on the finest china.

Written with: Arno Bock

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mnelson

The What-Ifs vs. the Buts.

Published by Marcee Nelson on July 7, 2010.

The list of can’t-dos in our industry is getting longer and longer. As brand builders and marketers we must look for bold new things we can do. The need for true innovation is greater than ever. That dynamic makes it easy to get caught up in round after round of the What-Ifs vs. the Buts.

We’ve all witnessed this face-off in conference rooms, in hallways, in brainstorms, in strategy sessions, in brand reviews. It usually goes like this: someone lobs up a big What-If idea into the room where it twinkles like pixie dust in mid-air for a glorious moment while everyone visualizes it and then POP! It explodes like a clay pigeon. Shot down by a But.

Well, you might argue, not every What-If is a good What-If. Some What-Ifs are unconventional, implausible or downright crazy. Yes, that is true—like when Tamiflu partnered with the Warner Brother’s movie, Happy Feet: unconventional, implausible. And crazy? Like a fox.

Just think. Every time we can reduce the But-to-What-If ratio, we can tilt our teams toward can-do innovation. So, to that end, since there is no med-reg slapdown for negative thinking, now there is the But Citation:

But Citation

Feel free to download as many But Citations as you like and hand them out to offenders, especially those you work with who are on Auto-But.

And if you have any other ideas to keep the can-do going in your team, please share!

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edavis

I hate pharmaceutical advertising

Published by Eric Davis on June 14, 2010.

Why? Because it’s just not good. Or at least 97.694% of it isn’t.

You can see for yourself. Flip through the journals. Does anything you see really stop you? Surprise you? Move you?

Very little of it is daring. Or mysterious. Or original.

It doesn’t speak. It just … exists.

It clamors for attention through garish brand colors, ridiculous metaphors, and trite portrayals of the human experience.

Of course this can be said of most current consumer advertising, but pharmaceutical advertising is a notorious repeat offender of these crimes against creativity.

Then why am I here?

I love a challenge. I’m not just saying that because these golden handcuffs are surprisingly comfortable.

Honestly, I’d rather force change where change is needed most.

Countless art directors and copywriters share the dream of someday working for a revered ‘creative-driven’ client like Apple or Nike or Harley Davidson. Someone who ‘gets it.’

But what is ‘it’ really worth? Personally? If every creative shares that same vivid dream, how many actually get the opportunity to live that dream?

I’d rather work for the Crispin Porter of pharmaceutical agencies than one of the myriad consumer shops that simply ape CPB ‑ for better or worse.

I’d rather innovate sales tools and messages in an environment where direct selling is still the preferred method. (When was the last time you bought anything from a door-to-door salesman?)

I’d rather bring new technologies, platforms, and strategies to a world where it takes 10 or 11 months to produce an eight-page brochure. (Let’s be honest about what a sales aid really represents.)

I’d rather change the future of a business unable to mutter the word ‘future’ because of the omniscience of the FDA. (Does the world really think physicians are that dumb?)

At least here, the opportunities to shift the focus, change the dynamic, and move people profoundly are plentiful … and will be noticed.

Sure I hate pharmaceutical advertising for what it often is.

But I love it for what it could become.

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leigh.householder

Advice Dan Pink gave me

Published by Leigh Householder on June 1, 2010.

I saw Pink speak at an Innovation Summit last week. He was telling a story about how forgetting carrots and sticks (and just about everything else we think we know about motivation) can create radically more productive and inspired workforces. The story went something like this -

The yearly turnover at call centers in nearly 100%. It’s a dreary job. You’re on the phone, you get a call, it’s typically a complaint. You hear the question or complaint, and you type key strokes and you get a script. It’s routine and rule-based. You’re almost always “housed” in a windowless room. When one call is finished, another automatically comes in. You’re judged by how quickly you complete the calls and how few calls back. Job satisfaction is abysmal. And, from my own experience on the other end of that 800-line, I’d say customer experience isn’t so great either.

And yet there’s a company called Zappos that does things differently. They say to their call center employees—no script, no timing of calls, no monitoring calls. Solve the problem anyway you want, just get it done. Take action; be creative. It’s almost heresy in the call center world. And yet Zappos has among the best customer service ratings of any company in America – one that actually rivals the Four Seasons. And, it’s an online shoe company (not a five-star hotel!)

The stories do make sense. Right-brained, creative people aren’t motivated by carrots and sticks. They’re motivated by these three new ideas: autonomy, mastery and purpose. (Read more about those on another Pink post on WYDiQ)

But, how? That led me to ask Pink: Wait a minute, this all makes sense when you’re talking about a company that was founded with these values. My company has it in their DNA. But, how do you change a carrot-and-stick company? How, for example, would you introduce these ideas into a sales culture that was built on the carrots of commission?

Let’s talk about a company that actually did that, he said. A sales organization that got rid of commissions: Red Gate Software, a firm based in Cambridge that makes development tools for programmers.

They established a commission structure. The sales reps figured out how to game that system by pushing sales into the time period most advantageous for them, by underselling one month to show a bigger gain the following month, and so on. All the natural human response.

So, the management made the commissions more complex. The sales reps figured it out again. They made it more complex… you get the idea. Eventually, both the management team and the sales force seemed more focused on the compensation system than on making great software and selling it to customers who needed it.

Neil Davidson, one of the founders, approached his sales team with the bizarre idea of getting rid fo sales commissions altogether and simply paying people a healthy flat salary. The response surprised him. The salespeople thought the move was a good one, but that other salespeople wouldn’t.

Pink said, Davidson explained it to Tom [not his real name] who said, “It sounds like a really good idea. But James would never like it. Remove the commission and he’ll leave.” James said, “Sounds great. But it will never work with Tom.”

Not only were commissioned sales not leading to better performance, it wasn’t even the arrangement salespeople themselves preferred.

In the absence of commissions, Red Gate’s total sales have increased. And while two salespeople left the company – uncomfortable with the new regime – most stayed and are thriving – including our heroes Tom and James.

Out of this story, Pink drew three big pieces of advice for change management:

  1. Challenge the assumptions of the orthodoxy (You don’t know what people really think until you ask)
  2. Know that other people are more like us than we think (We’re all motivated by surprisingly similar things)
  3. Start small (A little more about this last one:)

Pink talked about how Atlassian dedicated 20% of employee time to innovation projects – just working on what you want to work on. And, in doing so, created great new opportunities and products.

But 99% of companies shouldn’t go there, he said – it’s too risky, too expensive.

Instead, start small.

Do 10%. That’s an afternoon. Who among us hasn’t squandered an afternoon?

And don’t do it with everyone. Choose one department. And don’t do it forever. Just try 3 months.

But, do try it. Because the routine way most of America has been working is about to come to an end. (Read more about that on Advergirl in The India problem.)

At TED, Pink explained this new science of motivation:

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pbonneville

Conventional innovation

Published by Paul Bonneville on May 24, 2010.

Within the last year I’ve had an opportunity to attend four different medical conventions as part of the support team for projects we’ve created for our clients. Before my travels to these events, I’d spent most of my time behind the screen, programming the touchscreen kiosks and interactive stations that line the booths that are usually prevalent at these types of meetings.

Seizing the opportunity, at each of these conventions I made it a point to take in the variety of interactive experiences that were being used at all of the other exhibitor’s booths. Partway into the second convention, while once again taking in all the interactive attractions, it hit me. There was a lot of keeping-up-with-the-Jones’ going on between the various companies and brands but very little true innovation. Status quo was the norm and any unique or out-of-the-box thinking on how to engage conference attendees was rare if not altogether non-existent.

In recent years the industry has had to shift away from being able to hand out a bevy of marketing items that used to cause such a frenzy when convention centers opened there doors. The throngs of attendees turned temporary tchotchke-hunters were now being redirected back towards the original mission of these conferences: dissemination and access to value-added product information. In the wake of the fallen conference tchotchke market, it seems that all that remains are the ravenous sales reps and their clipboards, ready to dive upon any conference attendee that dares to venture into their exhibits. Well, the reps and their ho-hum touchscreens and video walls anyways.

It goes without saying that our industry has an extensive amount of legal limitations and FDA restrictions, but that should really not dictate how far outside the box that innovation is allowed to wander. It leads me to wonder how often ideas are squashed based on the assumption that legal will nix them before they have a chance to grow any legs.

Now is the time for innovation. As conferences and exhibitors are still settling into ever more stringent rules and regulations on what they can say and hand out, there is a massive opportunity to reinvent the exhibition booth that few companies are taking advantage of.

A lot of the opportunity lies in creating a toe-dipping experience for attendees. Engage them with self-guided interactive stations that are engineered to entertain and educate (otherwise referred to as edutainment) with interactive experiences that ultimately evolve into a conversation where the sales reps and product experts get involved.

In the age of the Internet’s anonymous access to nearly unlimited knowledge, creating booth experiences that can bridge the gap between self-guided product explorations that users are familiar with from Web surfing with the benefit of access to qualified experts that bring much more to the table than tchotchkes is where the opportunity for innovation lies.

With self-guided edutainment as a foundational concept for the exhibition booths of the future, let the brainstorming begin.

Categories: Healthcare marketing innovations
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