Can You Reach Us Now? Mobile Connections A Must For OTC Sales Growth In Digital World

OTC drug marketers seeking a place in the emerging field of mobile pharmacies should have a multimedia digital platform that includes a strong mobile presence with an emphasis on holistic health, says Grey Healthcare Group, which assists firms in reaching health care consumers.

OTC drug firms need a solid multimedia presence that includes a mobile platform and encourages a holistic approach to health care to grow sales as consumers rapidly increase their use of mobile devices to select and purchase products and services.

Grey Healthcare Group executives Lynn O’Connor Vos and Erin Byrne, during an interview, discussed opportunities for OTCs in mobile health, a new frontier in health care that some industry experts expect to reshape the health care industry. The New York-based communications agency assists marketers in developing campaigns to reach consumers.

Mobile health – using smartphones to fill health care product and service needs – grows as consumers assume more financial responsibility for their care, adopt more tools to guide self-care and turn increasingly to community pharmacies, rather than their physician – to treat ailments.

“The point of entry is making sure all digital content is mobile-ready” and that companies “create the consistent experience across all devices.” – Erin Byrne, Grey Healthcare Group

A recent survey by Pfizer Inc. with more than 2,000 US consumers found 64% feel they could be making more decisions about their health and wellness and 88% are confident in their ability to take responsibility for their health (Also see "Before Lipitor Switch Final Exam, Pfizer Survey Studies Self-Care" - Pink Sheet, 11 May, 2015.).

“If we increase communication with pharmacists and support so they can provide better targeted information, there are enough drugs and OTCs that pharmacists respect and they’re available 24/7 in a lot of communities – I think in fact you can treat so many things right there,” said O’Connor Vos, Grey’s CEO.

Pioneering the mobile health trend are retailers like Walgreens, which is trying to be a “holistic caregiver” for its customers through community pharmacies that are “driving customers to their phones” with apps that help them manage their specific health needs, noted O’Connor Vos.

Both retailers’ apps feature “refill by scan” of Rx drugs, pill reminders, access to coupons and customized ads.

Grey expects that although OTC firms still do not know their role in the new health care paradigm, they will be better positioned to move into the fray if they already are connecting with consumers through mobile devices, either through their websites, mobile advertising or branded apps.

“The point of entry is making sure all digital content is mobile-ready” and that companies “create the consistent experience across all devices,” said Byrne, Grey’s managing partner and chief engagement officer.

“The multi-platform behavior is really strong, so people will be on their phone and will follow up with a tablet search,” she said. Movement from a firm’s webpage, for example, should be seamless between a mobile phone, desktop computer and tablet.

While maintaining a streamlined message for webpages across platforms, companies should understand each media platform is used differently. For example, consumers are most likely to use mobile devices when comparing two products in a store, but they are more likely to research side effects of a drug from their desktop.

According to digital media analytics firm comScore, mobile searches, which include queries conducted via apps and mobile browsers, account for 29% of all digital search activity. In its March report on 2014 digital media, “US Digital Future in Focus,” comScore also found that as searches increase on mobile devices, they are declining “marginally” on desktops.

Mobile advertising is booming, especially among young adults – 21% of millennials only use mobile devices to go online, according to comScore.

Helping Clear Path For ‘Self-Care Journey’

Once a streamlined multimedia platform is established, companies can look to add value to each platform with a message and technology that helps consumers on their self-care journey, rather than focusing on product sales, Byrne suggests.

There is a “significant mobile monetization gap” between desktop and mobile online shopping, Mobile purchases of consumer packaged goods account for 60% of digital retail engagement but only 13% of spending. – market researcher comScore

“If a company develops an app that is about their OTC product, it is utilitarian to them. But if you look at the [product] category, and you have an app that is customized to how they feel, what their health situation is and add value beyond, you can create an experience that has meaning to the consumer,” she said.

An example is the “Sit or Squat” smartphone app from Procter & Gamble Co.’s Charmin. By Byrne’s criteria, if the app alone existed to tout the brand’s toilet paper, consumers would have had no reason for it. However, the app also helps users locate clean bathrooms and has collected a strong following, especially among women, with 100,000 downloads.

Designing an app consumers will download remains a challenge, however, since most have only enough storage space on their smartphone for a handful of apps, comScore noted.

ComScore says although mobile commerce is growing at more than twice the rate of desktop online commerce, there still is a “significant mobile monetization gap.” Mobile purchases of consumer packaged goods account for 60% of digital retail engagement – defined by time spent shopping – but for only 13% of spending, according to the market researcher.

“To date, not enough conditions have been met for mobile commerce to realize its full potential. But with the continued uptick in smartphone screen size, improved connection speeds, and apps and mobile websites better optimized for conversion, we should see more smartphone users become comfortable with converting on their phones,” according to comScore.

Digital sales of consumer packaged goods grew 21% overall in 2014, according to the company.

O’Connor Vos and Byrne also discussed technology on the horizon for consumer packaged goods industry, such as “geofencing” capabilities that could result in customized alerts delivered to a consumer’s mobile device.

For example, if a person’s phone features geolocation services, that ability could be paired with updated weather data to deliver “high UV” alerts to encourage sunscreen application, or alerts to allergy sufferers that they should take their antihistamine if the pollen count is high, noted Byrne.

As a side effect of increasing mobile commerce, brick-and-mortar retailers are concerned with loss of sales and are making the in-store shopping more pleasing to attract more consumers.

O’Connor Vos said digital technologies have a role in that, too, because many consumers still feel overwhelming “clutter” in store aisles for OTC drugs and other products.

“If you go to buy an antihistamine, you are bombarded with boxes of different names and a real mess in the aisle,” she said. However, retailers and vendors will benefit when the aisle or product selection is transformed into an educational experience through digital methods that better serve the consumer.

O’Connor Vos expects that as digital technology progresses, more stores will implement technology to interact with mobile devices and send customers information as they shop.