06 August 2008

Internet Marketing Initiatives in Pharma and Biotech Industry

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The advent of the Internet as a legitimate marketing tool has created the first traceable mass- marketing channel. Today, Internet marketing campaigns can capture even the most granular details of every interaction, which can then be stored for individual and aggregate analysis. Internet campaigns, unlike TV, radio, and print, need not rely on post hoc statistical surveys with their inherent delay, potential error, and cost.

Previous article
online media marketing for biotech & pharma industry is the first in a series that looks at the potential opportunities and challenges found in managing the pharma and life sciences Internet marketing value chain. The purpose of this article is to set a framework for pharma and life sciences Internet marketing. In future articles, I will delve deeper into each of the elements that comprise the value chain.

Following trends are driving change:

# Pharma and life sciences CEOs are demanding better accountability and ROI from their marketing investments.
# Target audiences are increasingly using the Internet as a key component in making healthcare decisions.
# New drugs targeting smaller populations make traditional broadcast channels less desirable.
# High-tech product branding and target customer very close to Internet.
# Branding, Service & product consumption pattern which is very much important for the pharma and Biotech industry.

Marketing executives are turning to Internet marketing as a more effective means to measure branding and sales impact, along with the promise of a greater ROI than traditional marketing channels. Marketers in big pharma companies are looking to better understand this medium of communication and use it to develop a direct relationship to the consumer.

The e- pharma conceptualize the strategic impact of new Internet technology in Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical firms. It shows that competitiveness of modern, agile Biotechnology businesses depend on their ability to create and commercialize new knowledge as much as on their ability to produce new products. Hence, knowledge production and intellectual property management provide a strong foundation for emerging, successful e-commerce strategies.

The e-pharma shows Knowledge Management (KM) plays a key role in determining organizational performance levels and value creation. Knowledge Management (KM) refers to technologies for processing information and generating and distributing knowledge, but also to organizational structures (such as virtual enterprise designs) that increase strategic fit and effectiveness of Knowledge Management (KM) implementations.

The Internet is seen as core technology enabling the creation of organizational networks (virtual teams, virtual customer-supplier communities). More specifically, this business segment devises a new classificatory framework that categorizes the strategic impact of Internet technology in the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industry, which is based on three key dimensions, converting information into knowledge, the redesign of the innovation process, and knowledge-oriented organizational structuring.
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The e-pharma extends their framework beyond the boundaries of the firm to include relationship with customers, suppliers, intermediaries such as specialist Biotech companies and healthcare professionals.