Archive for August 2008

This week saw us pushing the boundaries on training (reps, pharmacists, other HCPs etc). When dealing with a new client, we grappled once again with the limitations of paper-based training or the ‘usual’ ShockWave Flash. Both are fun and interactive, we explained, but struggle when you have anything that requires more than a simple question and check box answer.

With this client, it’s not an option financially to bring everyone in for a conference or a regional meeting series. So we brought in some of our technology friends and got thinking. What emerged, and what we are proposing, builds upon what geeks know as gaming and us marketeers know as just plain cool.

While our version is still in development, I discovered that Virtual Worst Case Scenarios are being used to great success already. They are gameware-like programmes increasingly used to train emergency medical staff in the US. In one worst case, a freight train derails near a heavily populated train station and releases cyanide into the air. Victims pour from the station and the player - as medical commander - must set up a triage area and sort through the patients as quickly as possible, making sure proper treatment is administered. It’s been very successful at making participants develop real time decision-making skills, under realistic and pressured conditions. It forces the participant to act on their feet, make snappy value judgements and succeed in the chaos that ensues.

Can you imagine how far this kind of thing could go in our industry? And all without ketchup and actors…

Kieran wrote a post a couple of months ago called “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got”. This phrase keeps coming back to me. I have just read another post by Bill Taylor at Harvard Business review which expresses very eloquently the thing that was hounding me.

Bill refers to the concept of “Vuja De”. Credited by Bill to George Carlin, it seeks to explain the need for a different approach. Déjà vu is something we all encounter and are fascinated by; even in film The Matrix attempted to explain it. But in a business context, déjà vu is the dragging sense that we’ve been here before. How often do briefs ask the same thing over and over again? How often do we look to point out small differences that for prescribers, or more importantly patients, make little or no difference.

The art of competing in this increasingly complex, increasingly pressured healthcare environment requires us to be braver about how and what we are asking. More importantly, we need to refresh the ways in which we answer key questions. To stand apart we must be brave enough to be apart. We must approach the same problems with completely different ideas, taking inspiration not from what has gone before, but from what has not. As Proust says “the real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes”. Looking at the same thing from a completely different point of view - hence “vuja de”.

We need to look outside our restrictions and ask what we should do, rather than what we can do. To our minds this means it’s about “who should we talk to?” rather than “who are we allowed to talk to?” As Kieran says, this sort of thing brings risk, but aren’t the risks higher if you keep running with the pack?

From the excellent holiday read Wikinomics comes a great case study for field personnel living the brand. Geek Squad is the answer to the layperson’s techno-phobic prayers, devoted to keeping technology running smoothly in the home and office. It is also among the best branded services out there.

What I read, gave rise to many questions about our as role as marketeers in enabling our most important resource to thrive.

Geek Squad is a rich source of learning for those of us who consider the healthcare field force an underused tool. The geeks on patrol are not only unified by the company’s branding theme - they are the brand. Each is dubbed with a title like “Special Agent”/”Covert Operator” (depending on duties) and is dressed to fit the part. Q: How successful are we in healthcare at engendering unity amongst our field-based colleagues?

Geek Squad’s mission is to “alleviate the world’s computer problems, educate people to fearlessly embrace technology and practice the art of human interaction.” And although their core business is PC troubleshooting, a little over 10% of their calls involve helping those who are having problems with other technicalities - such as setting up an iPod or putting the clock on your DVD recorder right. Q: What additional services could our reps perform that would contribute directly or indirectly to our bottom line?

Team members are encouraged to share their day’s tribulations with anyone, air issues and ask for help from peers, quickly and efficiently. Have a problem with a reboot or difficult customer? Up to 10,000 other agents are available to review your issue, comment and offer support, advice and fixes. Q: What do we have in place to facilitate best practice - or even best communication - between team members? How successfully do we facilitate dialogue across all corporate levels?

Answers on an e-postcard to the usual address…

It had been a few months since we worked with a client running a competitor Wargaming session. Finishing one this week reminded us of a great way to get a team of multidisciplined experts aligned and agreed for a common purpose.

Wargaming can achieve a number of different outcomes. There is a conversion of data and information (e.g. on market or competitors) into actionable intelligence that adds real quality to the strategic planning process. It also delivers a result that could not be arrived at by any individual present alone. It demands collaboration and a fresh perspective. Role playing brings colleagues closer together, juggling insights and skills. It’s a productive day’s work for the whole team.

You can achieve a lot in a planned and well-paced day. Spending the morning getting under the skin of your foe, planning their launch, and agreeing the likely story to the market can not only be fun, but really sharpens the mind in preparation for the afternoon. That’s when you plan your defence and the activities you can do to protect your equity.

And another thing: wargaming provides your agency with an opportunity to show you creativity that’s not restricted to an A4 page.