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Curing pilotitis in digital marketing among life sciences companies
Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing,
11
(2),
164-175
(2023)
Abstract
Across the various sectors of the life sciences industry, companies have used a variety of digital tools to support the marketing of their products and services. Many, however, find themselves struggling with ‘pilotitis’: a persistent condition that prevents them from scaling up their digital marketing efforts by keeping them stuck in small-scale experiments. Pilotitis stems from a lack of clear purpose and direction, fear of failure, lack of digital literacy, low investments in data and measurement and other factors. As this article will show, companies that want to break free from pilotitis must embrace digital as a strategic priority, invest in data and measurement tools, build skilled digital marketing teams, train and educate their leadership, and have the courage to take calculated but substantial risks. By doing so, they can unlock the full potential of digital marketing to reach and engage their audience more effectively and stay ahead of their competition.
Keywords: pilotitis; digital marketing; omni-channel; pharmaceutical; biotechnology; diagnostics; healthcare; digital transformation; change management
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
David Davidovic has been involved in the commercialisation of products and building global, best-in-class, innovative commercial capabilities in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries for 40 years, including more than 24 years at Merck & Co., where he led brands, franchises and multiple marketing operations functions, and eight years at Genentech and Roche, where he was Vice President and Global Head of Commercial Services. Over the past ten years, he has led pathForward, providing strategic, advisory and on-demand expertise to life science organisations of all sizes and stages, as well as start-ups and nonprofits focused on healthcare. David also serves on several company advisory boards and is a member of the board of directors of Clinica Verde, a nonprofit healthcare organisation designing and operating sustainable community health hubs in Latin America. David holds a bachelor of science and a master of business administration degree from McGill University.
