DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION SERIES - The power of the moment

Merhnaz Campbell recently interviewed Vanitha Venkatasbramaniam, Global Customer Engagement Strategy Lead at Novo Nordisk, on LinkedIn Live, as part of our ongoing Digital Transformation Series.

With over 15 years of experience in the pharma industry, Vanitha's mission revolves around making a positive impact on patients' lives with life-saving therapies.

Vanitha currently leads the omnichannel customer engagement workstream for the serious chronic diseases area, steering launch excellence using cutting-edge, innovative go-to-market commercial models.

As an advocate of collective creativity and human collaboration, Vanitha believes these pillars are essential for achieving transformative results. Outside of work, she enjoys globetrotting and immersing herself in diverse cultures!

Merhnaz first met Vanitha in Nice at the Reuters conference last year. She saw her speak on stage, but they truly got to know each other when they met in Dubrovnik in May at the NEXT Pharma Summit. They share a common love for experiencing history and culture.

Please note that these are Vanitha's personal views, not the views of her employer.

Tell me why CX is so important. What factors contribute to excellent CX?

CX stands for customer experience. Let's take a step back and consider the word 'customer.' At some point, we've all been customers. We have had a need to purchase something, and have searched for a product that fulfills our specific requirements. There are elements like product, price, marketplace, and promotion. What makes a product stand out for us? Accessibility plays a role. Then there's the promotional aspect. Why do we choose a particular product? It all goes back to the fundamentals of marketing. Half of marketing is taken care of when you have a great product.

Returning to the perspective of being a customer, what leads us to select a specific product is the customer experience. Delivering a customer experience that sets your organisation apart is key. Key enablers driving customer experience include mindset, toolset, and skill set.

The mindset is crucial; to meet customers' unmet needs, you need to put yourself in their shoes. What resonates with them? Ensuring everyone adopts this mindset is vital. You need to understand your customers: what they like and dislike. This approach worked well in the past when we primarily operated through a single channel. Using our sales reps to connect with customers was effective. The human element has always been a plus; they're not just selling products but building relationships with customers.

The emergence of digital transformation during COVID revealed the importance of engaging with customers digitally when sales reps couldn't maintain face-to-face relationships. This is when we realised the criticality of engaging with our customers digitally. However, for this to work, you need a digital toolset.

While having the right mindset is important, if you can't build a relationship in person, you need the right tools. You can have the best digital tools and the best sales reps, but if they don't know how to use those tools, it's as good as not having them. The convergence of these three elements leads to significant business impact.

What's the Power of the Moment, and why does it matter in relation to CX?

You and I initially connected over burrata. I think we were both excited to try something new and we were quite hungry! The ambience was fantastic and Dubrovnik is beautiful. We could hear the waves, we were sitting outside and were eager to try something new. We engaged in a conversation, getting to know each other. I thought it was about burrata. I even attempted to make it myself when I got home, but it wasn't the same experience. The moment that truly mattered to us went beyond burrata. It was about how we emotionally connected, and how our senses were stimulated during that conversation. This is vital when we communicate about products to our customers. We believe this is what they want to hear, but the reality may be different. This brings us to two-way communication. Regularly capturing the voices of our customers will help us create moments that truly matter to them. Burrata was an excellent example to teach us this lesson. Mehrnaz, you also created a moment that mattered to me when you mentioned practicing pronouncing my name before meeting me.

When it comes to content creation, who is responsible for personalising content? Is it the global team?

Personalisation is the responsibility of every person in the organisation who communicates with customers. From a mindset standpoint, everyone should recognise that one size doesn't fit all. Someone who is close to the customer, the local team, understands the nuances of the customer group, while the global team helps drive that mindset. They provide the local team with the necessary tools. Personalisation should be everyone's business, especially for those closest to the customers.

When you say "Everyone is responsible for personalisation" and "We all own the customer relationship." How does that work practically, considering company processes and the need for accountability?

To make personalisation a reality, you need to get everyone on board with the idea that it's essential. Practically, you need to ensure people understand why it's necessary. If people believe in the vision, they'll be more open to adopting complex tools and digital processes. You need to have the right mindset and toolset in place and then educate your team on how to use those tools to achieve personalisation.

What future mindset and skillset is needed for the field force and the marketing department of the future?

Marketers sitting on the global team should excel at turning data into insights and formulating strategies. They should know how to use data effectively, prepare questionnaires, and understand how to ask the right questions to inform their strategies. For future marketeers, the skill set should include the ability to connect the dots backward by using data. Instead of relying solely on sample data, I'd like to see marketers tap into their data resources to connect the dots backward.

How important is storytelling when communicating with HCPs?

Patients don't always comprehend the jargon or technical terms we use. The way marketers narrate information to our customers should equip them to communicate with their patients in a language they understand. When we communicate, we need to do so in a simple and emotionally engaging manner. We all need to master the art of storytelling; it's a must-learn, a life skill.

What mindset should marketeers have when it comes to data?

Sales reps/MSLs excel at building relationships in person. For instance, I was recently speaking to an MSL who uses data to communicate with cardiologists. Sales reps should be motivated and inspired to use digital tools to have more empowered conversations with customers. They can record the insights they gather on the ground so that marketers can incorporate them into their strategies. We need to capture these moments and store them.

Let's open a can of worms - agencies! Who is the brain behind the strategy and the artist behind the creativity? The global team, the brand team, or an agency?

This is indeed a complex issue. I believe the global team is the owner of the strategy since they are the ones with insights and do significant work related to market research and understanding the customer's voice from an early stage.

Agencies are like the sandwich fillings; they make the sandwich truly delicious, preventing it from being dry. But, are agencies onboard with what we're trying to achieve? I'm not sure if they genuinely support our goal of creating a communication narrative and moments that truly matter.

I haven't worked in an agency, so I can't fully understand their mindset. Every day, I strive to inspire the agencies I work with; I believe in being a partner rather than just giving them a brief. I like to keep it personal and practical, connecting with our broader vision of success.

Five years ago, we established a content factory to own our data and insights. It was a significant effort. Five years later, we need to consider what we can do next. We should use agencies that can be genuinely creative. When it comes to tactics, we must ask whether creative tactics or effective tactics are needed. We need to think about the end destination for our tactics. It's the platforms they sit on that matter. We can have the best-looking platform, but it must work. We need to evolve into a multi-agency model, leveraging each other's strengths. We're all human; we can't do it all.

Conclusion:

In the world of digital transformation, Vanitha's passion for data-driven, personalised marketing shines through.

Having the right tools and processes is essential, but without enabled people with the right mindset, these tools remain idle. Digital transformation is a journey, and it's crucial to provide field teams with the necessary tools and training. Breaking down silos and working as one team, embracing personalisation, and engaging hearts and minds are essential steps toward achieving transformative results in the pharmaceutical industry.