Customer experience (CX) has always been an area of growth and innovation. But, the past year has seen an accelerated evolution of CX within healthcare--as patients, physicians, brands, and sales teams became more reliant, if not dependent, on digital connectivity.
I recently had a conversation with Brooke Fleming, Head of Omnichannel Marketing & Digital Enablement at UCB, to explore how she is helping to optimize digital omnichannel marketing strategies in order to put the customer front and center--now and in the future. We also discussed why "data drives everything" and what she envisions for omnichannel as the CX evolution continues.
The full text of our conversation is below.
Edith Hodkinson: You joined UCB in 2019 to help lead solutions for multichannel marketing, and were quickly promoted to U.S. Head of Omnichannel Marketing & Digital Enablement to lead a digital transformation for UCB’s brands. Can you share your vision for digital omnichannel marketing at UCB?
Brooke Fleming: I have a pretty expansive vision for our group, as well as the experience we are looking to create for our customers. We want to apply technology differently by optimizing for the customer experience. We will be able to address the customer’s needs holistically, allowing them to turn to us as a trusted partner. How this will happen is being thoughtfully and carefully planned. We will align intent to impact and evolve as the needs of our customers evolve. UCB is in the midst of an exciting digital business transformation, where all of our technology platforms and strategies are elevating how we show up for our customers and deliver for our patients. We are excited to elevate our omnichannel maturity through this digital transformation!
EH: Through this pandemic there has been a boom in digital health, forcing patients, physicians, brands, and sales teams to rapidly adopt digital communication. What do you see as the greatest opportunity for brands in this new digital health world?
BF: The greatest opportunity is for pharma and healthcare to start catching up to where the customers are. With more comprehensive data capture across channels, we can progress towards effective solutions to deliver the next best customer experience over time. Engagements with our customers can now be driven by predictive, real-time analytics! That’s extremely exciting.
EH: What are some key ways in which an omnichannel focus translates to how marketing strategies are executed, and how does that differ from marketing plans of old?
BF: Now, we are designing all of our plans for maximum impact through all channels, both personal and non-personal. It is important to base decisions on current customer pain points or priority opportunities, to establish where an interaction can provide the most efficiency and/or add the most value. Plans of old were based primarily on a list of tactics that teams knew they wanted to complete, with very limited personalization and needs-based strategy.
EH: What are some of the challenges you are facing?
BF: With any kind of evolution and progress there are growing pains. The day-to-day of many functions will change and require much closer coordination across functions and capabilities. Having nimble teams, supported by strong governance, will be critical to allowing the expertise to drive a new way of working.
EH: How is integrating non-personal promotion efforts with personal promotion strategies impacting your efforts?
We will align intent to impact and evolve as the needs of our customers evolve.
BF: The connectivity and harmony of non-personal and personal channels provides a true customer-focused experience. It allows us to give our customers options and engage with them on their terms. We’ve moved from promoting our value proposition to providing an experience based on the customer's perception of value.
EH: What role does data play in UCB’s omnichannel vision?
BF: Data drives everything. Data/insights inform how we target, the channel mix we select, and how best to personalize the brand journey. By using data to understand the depth of a target's knowledge, we can better deliver experiences that match the target’s attitude and propensity to act. In addition to data and insights, we consider all channels and narrow down based on the specific brand strategy, actionable media objectives, and KPIs.
EH: What does success look like for omnichannel?
BF: I want to ensure we enable a feedback loop in all our communications, so that we are hearing from our customers about their preferences and experiences with us. Success for me would look like our ability to hear and quickly respond to our customers with relevant and meaningful content where and when they need or want it.
EH: Where do you see the omnichannel vision taking UCB in the future, and what might that require of digital marketing teams and strategies today?
BF: The future looks like the development of an extensive customer 360 data repository capturing sales and marketing interactions. The future will have campaigns driven by predictive, real-time analytics using HCP behavior and interactions. We will have responsive and coordinated communications covering all sales and marketing channels! All of this will require changes in thinking around customer centricity and constant discovery of unmet needs. We can no longer do market research or customer surveys once a year. It will need to be an ongoing activity to learn, listen, and optimize as customer needs evolve.
About Brooke Fleming, UCB
Born and raised in Atlanta, Brooke honed her advertising/marketing chops in the NYC, Atlanta, and Chicago markets. With over 15 years of marketing and advertising experience (12 in the pharma space), Brooke has helped launch seven pharmaceutical brands in the U.S. and three globally.
Her traditional and digital acumen covers a wide spectrum of pharma-specific audiences including HCPs, patients, payers, caregivers, and advocacy groups.
Her therapeutic experience spans oncology (solid tumors and hematologic malignancies), immuno-oncology, immunology, neurology, virology, dermatology, cardiovascular, and rare diseases (orphan status drugs), to name a few.
In her free time, she likes to cook, travel, and spend time with her family.
