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Interview
“Internet of things”: open opportunities!
Paulo Amaral, the multichannel marketing director at GlaxoSmithKline in Latin America, defends that wearable intelligent devices like watches, glasses and clothes equipped with health-tracking sensors will be part of people´s daily lives. “Being present with these devices will aggregate value to both customers and brands” he points out.
During an exclusive interview to Top Team, the executive, a former journalist at Exame Group who has already managed digital operations for Merck & Co, RealNetworks, Inc. and International Data Group, comments about other digital trends, mentions which country is considered the most advanced concerning digital marketing in Latin America and which country GSK has focused their efforts on.
Paulo Amaral also talks about changes in the GSK relationship with healthcare professionals. “It is an unprecedented action for 2016”, says the executive, who has already lived in Silicon Valley, where he worked in the digital area and studied at the University of California, Berkeley.
Check out the main parts of the interview:
Which are the main digital trends in Latin America for the healthcare segment?
Due to easier and faster access to information we can see an interesting change in the relationship between stakeholders in the healthcare segment. The “Connected patient” arises within this context in Latin America. They do not accept a physician´s prescription without questioning. They do their homework before having an appointment or taking medicine. They see health matter as collaboration between physician and patient.
On the other hand, healthcare professionals demand qualified information delivered in an objective and balanced way, and preferably, personalized. They need quick responses, available whenever and wherever they need it. Over 85% professionals in Latin America already use digital platforms with professional goals and consume more information through the Internet than through the traditional printing press.
Which trends today might stand out in Latin America over the next three years?
The first aspect to consider is the unified digital experience, designed to meet the customer´s daily routine needs. It refers to multichannel integration so that the experience with emails, websites, webcasts, apps etc. becomes useful and information can flow according to their preferences. Not considering the layout of your website on a tablet screen or the act of reading an email on an intelligent watch will considerably decrease the potential of the message delivered to your customer.
Wearable intelligent devices like watches, glasses and clothes equipped with health-tracking sensors will be part of people´s daily lives. Being present with these devices will aggregate value to both customers and brands. Globally speaking, almost half amount of patients questioned state that they are willing to make use of wearable technology to store their health data. That´s the internet of things coming to stay.
That will lead us to customization of content and healthcare services. The so-called “one size” will no longer survive. Remember that even the most popular soft drink brands have found a way of customizing their customers´ experiences by selling packages that bring their names on the labels. Probably the “big data” will help companies understand better their customers´ needs and consequently serve them better by respecting the privacy of the individuals.
Which other trends will get stronger?
The social networks are another relevant trend in Latin America. Not only the great ones already established over the last years, but also other social networks and blogs that healthcare professionals build to exchange experiences. Having the ability to listen and interact with them through these networks will probably be more interesting than building the website yourbrand.com.
The main question is that the consumer today is the one who decides what to see on the screen. The corporate world does not control communication. All these factors contribute to increase transparency between stakeholders and to empower both patients and healthcare professionals in an unprecedented way. Opportunities are open.
Which is the most advanced country in the digital marketing today in Latin America?
Brazil is leading in several aspects, such as length and market complexity, total volume of investments, availability of human resources and interest in global corporations. It represents around 50% of the regional market.
Then, there is Mexico and Argentina. Colombia has grown in a fast and smooth way over the last three years.
To wrap up, in which country has GSK focused their efforts on?
We equally invest in all markets of the region, having our customers ranked first. We believe that the customer, wherever he is, deserves attention of the company and we need to have open channels to offer valuable proposals. The digital area is an excellent ingredient of this equation.
It is important to say that GSK has decided to promote an unprecedented change in their relationship model with healthcare professionals. The new model of the company, which will start in 2016, will expand and increase the access already available in traditional channels like “face to face” and live events. These elements will keep on being relevant for the healthcare professionals’ commitment, although we see a great opportunity to improve the most traditional efforts to implement digital channels through which healthcare professionals may access information provided by GSK.
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