Sanofi: Omnichannel Excellence Across
HCP and DTC Marketing

“Ultimately, we’re trying to educate physicians on our products and their efficacy and then have patients go to those physicians and ask about that therapy,” says Stephanie Douglas, director, omnichannel media at Sanofi.

More productive conversations – and better patient outcomes – take place when both patients and HCPs understand the benefits of potential therapies before they meet. While a unified strategy between HCP and DTC marketing can increase the likelihood of this happening, there is often no process or strategy to link these efforts. At Sanofi, access to the right data sets, a unified creative strategy, and a collaborative way of working are helping teams successfully create a more cohesive approach to HCP and DTC marketing and achieve omnichannel excellence.

Advancing omnichannel strategies

Most biopharma marketing teams are activating some type of omnichannel strategy. However, seamlessly executing these strategies across both online and offline channels can be challenging. Douglas believes that excellence happens when you fully understand the customer journey, which is not always linear. “You have to understand where your customer, albeit an HCP or a patient, is in their journey,” she says. “Then you need to be prepared with the kind of content they need at that moment and serve it in the right channel.” This means constantly going back to the overall message map to see how to achieve that throughout the year. “Making sure everything is consistent across messaging, branding, and the call-to-action is a critical piece for success,” she says.

Four components for delivering a better omnichannel experience

Understanding the interaction and connectivity between HCP and consumer initiatives is key to more effective marketing. Douglas attributes four essential components for delivering a better omnichannel experience to both audiences.

1. The right data

Data can serve as the common currency across HCP and DTC campaigns and connect marketing to health outcomes. It also allows teams to see what’s working and what’s not. This helps them be agile and pivot to change campaign tactics or components if necessary. “With Veeva Crossix we have data and insights into both our HCP and DTC campaigns so we can make optimizations across channels,” says Douglas. The teams at Sanofi are constantly analyzing, monitoring, and optimizing these campaigns to ensure they’re being as efficient as possible with media investments.

2. Collaboration across HCP and DTC stakeholders

Internal teams often work independently and with different agencies, but to have a unified strategy, teams need to work together and share information. For example, both HCP and DTC teams need to understand what message each is delivering to their respective customers. This not only creates awareness but also ensures there’s a common thread that pulls everything together across both types of campaigns.

3. A unified creative strategy

In addition to consistent messaging, unifying creative under one brand strategy can help establish connections across DTC and HCP campaigns. This not only boosts impact but also increases efficiency. A single brand identity across both types of campaigns can also lead to better conversations between HCPs and their patients.

4. “Everyone is a consumer” media mindset

“Using media effectively all comes down to understanding your target audience,” says Douglas. Data, whether from audience segmentation or market research, can help teams find what media channels influence and resonate. “Serving that audience the right creative in those key environments can make a difference,” she says.

Douglas points out that technology has expanded the ways to reach and influence not only patients but also HCPs, especially when it comes to the various video channels. “Now that the technology is there for us to target advertising at the NPI level in a connected TV and streaming environment, I think it makes sense to test these capabilities,” she says.

In addition to these four components, Douglas believes a measurement framework and plan are non-negotiable. “This becomes your holy grail,” she says. “It holds us, the client, accountable for what we agreed to and holds the agency accountable for achieving those goals.”

Executing omnichannel successfully takes coordination of many moving parts, starting with strategy and moving down to tactics. Taking steps toward bringing teams from the HCP and consumer side together, keeping data close, and applying key learnings make it more achievable each time. In addition, a unified view of the impact of marketing on health outcomes across both HCP and patient touchpoints can help teams better plan and optimize omnichannel campaigns.

Watch this this video to learn more about the power of connected data to improve omnichannel marketing.