Rebecca Willumson; Publisher of Fierce Pharma, has a discussion with Lindsay Reardon; Senior Director of Business Development with The Trade Desk, and Aaron Nahas; Director of Addressable Media with Matterkind. Mr. Nahas has a strong background and focuses on working with the media’s perspective with a sense of accountability given that he hones in on what every aspect of media outreach is being allocated toward, from who it is reaching, and why it may or may not be reaching some. Ms. Reardon has a specialty in leading sales teams across a variety of pharma organizations gaining another perspective on the industry. In this discussion, we ask these professionals to condense how they think customer and patient expectations have evolved in the current healthcare marketplace. We are first enlightened with the importance of technology and speed of information given that “today’s patient” is more used to using their own technology to gather insights about their health journey. Additionally, accountability is put on pharma and medical device companies, given that consumers have a certain range of expectations set for these companies to provide them with the brands and features they need to gather those insights. We then open the discussion to talk about how digital experiences and solutions are changing how pharma companies could potentially better meet the needs of consumers. We are brought to the understanding that there is an underlying importance of learning and identifying how consumers interact with readily-available data and how that looks across both patient and HCP health journeys. This leads our discussion into considering how this all connects to tailoring healthcare to the individual, from actual healthcare to the marketing of that care and beyond.
Rebecca Willumson:
Hi there. I'm Rebecca Willumson and I'm the publisher of Fierce Pharma and I'm here today with Lindsey Reardon, Senior Director of Business Development at The Trade Desk, and Aaron Nahas, Director of Addressable Media at Matterkind. Thank you so much for joining me today.
Lindsay Reardon:
Thanks for having us.
Aaron Nahas:
Thanks for having us.
Rebecca Willumson:
So before we begin, can you tell me a little bit about yourselves and your roles? And Aaron, we can start with you.
Aaron Nahas:
Sure. As you mentioned, Director of Addressable Media over at Matterkind. Addressable Media is essentially media that accounts for each person reached, who you're reaching, where the dollars are going and where everything is tracked.
Lindsay Reardon:
And at the Trade Desk, I lead a sales team working across some of the largest pharma organizations that we partner with.
Rebecca Willumson:
Very good. Glad to have you. So to kick us off, tell me how have customer and patient expectations evolved in the current healthcare marketplace?
Aaron Nahas:
I'll take that. So I would say it really comes down to technology and speed. Today's customer, today's patient, is so familiar with using some of their own tech devices in their pockets to track each step they've taken throughout their day, or not even as inconvenient as reaching in your pocket, it's on your wrist or on your head. So understanding their own sort of health journey is super important and understanding it instantly. And at the same time, they expect the same thing from the companies that provide them the brands that they need.
Rebecca Willumson:
Very good. So tell me, how are digital experiences and solutions changing how pharma companies can better meet consumer needs?
Lindsay Reardon:
I think there's going to be a little bit of a theme here in terms of engaging across a patient or an HCP journey, and the fact that there's so much data that exists today and the ability to really understand how your consumers, or your patients, or your HCPs are engaging with content across all channels; whether that be the EHR for the physician, or telehealth for the patient, or across connected television, or linear television, or their content that they're reading on CNN or WebMD. But really being able to understand where they are in their journey, how they're engaging with that content, and then utilizing the data to be able to message them in a way that meets the needs for where they are in that moment, and how they're engaging with that content.
Rebecca Willumson:
Aaron, do you have anything to add?
Aaron Nahas:
Yeah, really piggybacking on that, I would say it's about speaking to them in a language that they're comfortable with and making sure that we're accounting for what their lifestyle is like and what they're looking for. Nobody wants an ad that doesn't relate to them. It's always their time and we want to make sure that we're being relatable, and that we are connecting with them on a personal level.
Rebecca Willumson:
So tell me, how do your brands think about measuring ROI and what media channels do you believe drive the most value?
Aaron Nahas:
I'll take that. So when it comes to measuring ROI, it's really about what we're spending and how effective it is. Are we reaching the right people, and are we getting a return on our investment by reaching those right people? But when it comes to what media channels I think are most effective, I am a bit biased. I do primarily work on the digital end, and I would say that that's the one that's impressed me most throughout my career. I think the amount of data that we get is just so expansive and there are so many different ways to cut it and adjust it, to look at it in different ways. I think the wealth of different signals that we look at to make sure that we are reaching the right people, connecting with the right people, is just so expansive and there's always something new, which I love.
Rebecca Willumson:
Anything to add?
Lindsay Reardon:
I couldn't agree more with what he said. And I do think from a channel perspective, I think of it less of, "what channel is best", and more from, "where is your audience", and let's take that audience-first approach. Every channel I think plays a role in terms of helping to drive a patient forward or a physician forward in terms of taking action. But it's all about leveraging the data that you are talking about to find them across all of those channels, and that's what's going to give it the most efficient ROI and the best performance, and ultimately lead to the outcomes that we're looking for.
Rebecca Willumson:
Well, that's all the questions that I have for you. Thank you both for joining me today. This was great.
Lindsay Reardon:
Thank you so much.
Aaron Nahas: