EU regulations on personal privacy are strict, and almost all European countries have added their own particular nuances. Despite this, there are many things that pharma marketers can do to communicate with their patients in the EU, but, to date, very few are doing much of anything.
Yes, the regulations are tight and there are big penalties if you cross the line. Because of that fact, many marketers seem to shy away from attempting to get closer to their patients; they shouldn’t, because that is doing both their company and their patients a disservice.Many studies show that getting closer to your customer or patient always pays dividends. According to Deloitte and Touche, “Attracting a new customer is five times more expensive than retaining a current one, and retaining an additional 2% of customers annually can reduce operating expenses by 10%.” For consumers, it is in the measure of better health outcomes; for life science companies, it is measured by increased awareness and retention of patients who need better or more optimal treatment. These factors add up to increased patient compliance and a better return on any marketing investments you make (the ‘Holy Grail’ for life sciences marketers.) Some brands are doing it, but many others, even within the same organizations, don’t know anything about it. Sometimes marketers even collect the right information yet don’t do anything with it.
Why has there been so much deliberation about personal privacy issues throughout the last decade? Why is there a staggering amount of regulation surrounding personal privacy? And how does the increasing amount of new legislation change the reality that many companies must now address?
Relationship Marketing
With many pharmaceutical companies implementing disease awareness advertising campaigns and patient relationship marketing programmes, it is imperative that we understand the rules as they relate to personal privacy. Before we do this, let’s first define relationship marketing (RM.) RM is a strategic approach that allows a company to develop a long-term relationship with its most valuable customers, nurtured by frequent,relevant messages. The key question is: how can you have a relationship with anyone unless you know who they are? This brings us to our first topic: what steps are necessary for a company to take in order to build a long and mutually beneficial relationship? The first step is getting into a position to both collect and act on information. There are three types of information that need to be collected for relationship marketing to be effective:- Required information such as name and address, or opt-in information to become a lead for mailing or emailing.
- Demographic informationsuch as date of birth, suffering status.
- Profiling informationsuch as segmentation, channel preferences,disease conditions.
Many companies, including Pfizer, Novartis, Serono and UCB have already started down this path and have been very successful. While many of the initiatives have concerned disease awareness advertising, with requests for more information, data is quickly becoming one of the most important corporate assets for today’s innovative marketing companies, and pharmaceutical and biotech companies are no exception. Data is necessary for informed decision-making and for building long-term relationships and corporate value.
Overcoming Privacy Issues
With the expansion of computer technology and software development, huge volumes of detailed personal information can easily be collected and analysed, but many individuals want control over records containing information about them. Marketers need to be proactive in understanding privacy guidelines and in diffusing all privacy issues upfront. They need to review their local country privacy and safe harbour guidelines and discuss with their internal medical,legal and regulatory colleagues to present a clear plan on what your objectives are,why you want to communicate with patients and what you will be doing with the information once you collect it.
In 1995,the EU passed a Data Protection Directive to better protect personal information and to harmonize the various privacy laws among its member states.The EU Directive on the Protection of Personal Data prohibits the transfer of personal data to non-EU countries that do not meet the European ‘adequacy’ standard for data protection. As a result, this Directive places important burdens on companies that collect personal data online.
The EU Directive requires the European Data Protection Commission (with representative(s) from each member state) to determine the adequacy of data protection in other non-EU countries, and to prohibit the flow of personal data to foreign countries with privacy systems not considered adequate.
Very stringent rules apply to processing sensitive data (that is, data relating to racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, and data relating to health or sexual preference). In principle, such data cannot be processed.
Clause 20 of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) Code of Practice for the Pharmaceutical Industry 2006, which focuses on relations with the general public and the media, states specifically that no prescription drug can be advertised to the general public. But clause 20.3 states that companies can work with patient organizations but must ensure that the involvement is made clear and arrangements comply with the code. The code defines three types of data requests: proactive, reference and reactive information.The last type, reactive, is the key one.The code defines reactive information as a response to a direct request. How are you to respond to a direct request unless you have a ‘mail-able’ address (either email or postal carrier)? Hence,“required information”(name and address) is the first and most important type of information needed and allowed for RM.
Implications for EU Marketers
When collecting information,make sure that you have a clear plan and specific measurable objectives about how you will be using the information:
1Be upfront and specific. Explain why the information is being collected,where it will be stored, how it will be used, who will have access to it,and how to opt out.
2Use accessible language, and include the ability to opt-out easily. Caution should be used when implementing bundled or broad ‘consent forms.’ Here, you should ensure that the language used is simple and clear and that you do not collect too much information that will never be used. All additional communications should also have a check box for consumers to ask that they do not receive additional information (opt-out).
3Review and execute strategically sound outbound marketing or ‘push’ tactics. These acquisition or opt-in tactics will enable companies to run outbound campaigns that are highly targeted and do not overwhelm the customer. Track every interaction to ensure a complete view and understanding of each customer’s experience. Close the loop on every communication to ensure continuous improvement on messaging and relevance.
4Ensure that all of your inbound-marketing tactics are fully leveraged. Inbound interactions (telephone calls, website data, etc.) occur with the permission of the customer, so ask a few profiling or segmenting questions.
5Once you master outbound and inbound contacts, you can begin to coordinate your activities across channels to create seamless customer relationships, and you can then enhance all customer interactions with strategically based marketing guidance. Therefore, each contact with your customers will be more intelligent — and more valuable.
Thinking about your RM programmes in this light allows personal privacy sensitivity to be managed in a way that provides a positive experience for both parties. The customers maintain the privacy they desire and you get the insight you need.
