Lessons Learned in Pharma Modular Content Adoption
Today, many pharmas still create individual content assets from scratch. The industry is moving toward a modular approach to speed up omnichannel content creation, review, and approval. At Veeva Commercial Summit, I sat down with Marty Kovach, content strategist at Merck. He shared his perspectives on the modular content journey and the value of this approach.
Allie Reynolds: You’ve been at it for 10 years. How did you get started with modular content?
Marty Kovach: About 10 years ago at Merck, some visionaries said, “Things are changing, and this isn’t going to be sustainable in the future.” So, we had the opportunity to think about what the future value proposition could look like. We thought, “What if we could create content and reuse it?” We didn’t call it modular content at that point. We thought about what’s in it for the agencies, physicians, and sales reps and created our foundation for modular content.
Reynolds: How does technology enable people?
Kovach: Our goal was simplicity for internal users and external creative agencies, allowing for flexible processes and standardized technology integrated with Veeva Vault PromoMats.
Reynolds: In terms of value, what have you seen?
Kovach: There’s financial value. We see markets use standardized design templates to expedite their reviews. We use a concept called “Story Cards,” using atomic-level components to express a single idea in campaigns with an expiration date that we create in Vault PromoMats. The time difference between a Story Card versus a complete iPad or even an email is much shorter, so that’s a big win.
Consistency of the brand is also a huge win. Disconnecting the layout from the content, we can create it once and get it approved. We see savings because the agency isn’t creating multiple website screens and emails for the same content. We have a proprietary tool that is showing compound savings year on year. Data is also key; you can show content reuse, savings, click-throughs, email opens, and more.
In one of our mid-size markets, before investing in modular content, they had invested in costly email campaigns with agencies. When they adopted modular content, it allowed them to double the amount of email they could create. Once they started to do that, they also saw a 15% increase in click-throughs.
Reynolds: When you’re handling approvals at the local level, are you approving the module and pieces?
Kovach: In certain markets, they translate content into their local language and create their own modular content library for reuse. They get global Story Cards translated and approved regionally and then apply them to local standardized design templates.
Reynolds: What are you seeing with creative agency budgets as they reuse more content?
Kovach: In the beginning, the cost goes up a little bit because the agencies are catching up with how modular content is working. Then the cost goes down per module. The big idea is “Create more content with the same or fewer resources.” You can create more relevant content based on data. As you reduce agency costs, maybe you can use more specialized agencies and connect agencies with Vault PromoMats. You own the files and can repurpose the content without paying the agency again.
Reynolds: What does the future look like?
Kovach: Hyperpersonalized content is the evolution from modular. For example, if you get three headlines, charts or graphics, subheads, and calls to action approved, you can create many assets out of one module. For us to personalize content, be more relevant, and work with data, you need options.
Read more about lessons learned from a customer’s modular content journey.
The elements presented here are the views and opinions of Marty Kovach and do not necessarily represent those of Merck.