I have no intention of this blog being a crapfest on pharma. Au contraire, I (and I am speaking on behalf of my team – we) want to bring truth and light to pharma…really. So, here it goes…truth and light. No one, I mean no one, has mobile optimized their sites, not brand, not corporate (OK, we did – go to oneeleven.mobi) – even the guys who have drunk the Kool Aid haven’t done it yet. One pretty smart guy I know reported that only 5% of people access his unoptimized site via mobile and thus he wouldn’t be making it a priority to optimize his site. His IQ dropped a few points in my mind. Um, if your site WAS mobile optimized, the people who do come via mobile – obviously their channel of choice, would be happy and clearly, more people WILL be coming to those sites, because smart companies/brands will ensure that their info is available no matter HOW people are coming to the site.
The moral of the story – build the content once and let it go across ALL channels – let your customer select their channel of choice and make it the best experience possible.
I just got a really big wake up call. We have been talking to most of the pharma companies out there about mobile marketing and for the most part, they are really excited about it – contrast this with the meetings at most of the major agencies. We had a meeting today where I thought we might need to bust out the defibrillator – I wasn’t sure these people were alive. And they sure as hell were not “getting” mobile – from the looks on their faces, I had to make sure I hadn’t accidentally started speaking in tongues. Of course, they pointed out that they had lots to think about regarding the print campaigns they were dreaming about.
Maybe the moral of the story is that I should be selling stuff that they know and “get” – like an eDetail…or maybe a podcast…yeah, that’s the ticket. We always say, “No one got fired for hiring IBM” but where is IBM now? Selling what you know is easy, selling the future is hard.
One of my colleagues at One Eleven forwarded me a link to an article from the New York Times – it had a quote from Barney Pell, CEO of Powerset (his company had been acquired by Microsoft) – In discussing mobile applications Mr. Pell came up with a truly beautiful observation:
“The small screen forces you to be even more ruthless and focus on usability almost like a haiku. Thatâs what happens with design for the small screen. You have to think about what the most important thing the user is doing is.”
I used this quote in a pitch today (yes, I sourced it – I thought using it made me look smart enough!) it really captures the essence of what mobile is all about – I have a feeling I’ll be using this quote again in my next mobile marketing pitch.
Link to article:
On a Small Screen, Just the Salient Stuff
I had one of those golden health care experiences this weekend. Of course, true to my family tradition, someone got sick on the holiday weekend. My 3 1/2 year old daughter has never had an ear infection, but she started yanking on her ear and complaining – when she announced it was time to go see the doctor, I knew she wasn’t kidding (”Mom, I need to see Dr. O’Connor, I can’t wait any more.”) Actually, Dr. Pytlak was on call – she told us to come to her home and she would see Ellie there. Less than 1/2 an hour later, we had a diagnosis, one dose of antibiotics in my daughter and enough medicine to get us through the weekend – and we were back home – the charge? A $15 co-pay, which I didn’t even have to pay on the spot. I don’t know about you, but to me, that is as good as American medicine can be – I wasn’t stressed, my daughter was already feeling better (she slept until 8 a.m. the next day!), and we all got a good night’s sleep.
I think a good part of what motivates me in business is coming up with new ideas that help make the doctors’ job easier – I do believe mobile will play a HUGE role here – and that in turn, the patients will have a much better health care experience.
My heartfelt thanks to Dr. Edna Pytlak – you are truly a fantastic physician!
