Mar28

What Health Marketers Need to Know About Google’s Knowledge Graph

Posted by Anthony Danzi from Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide - Parsippany, North America

By Anthony Danzi from Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide - Parsippany, North America | Published: March 28, 2013

Tiger_ADDo you know Tiger Woods’ real first name? It’s Eldrick. How about his middle name? No, it’s not Serial Philanderer, it’s Tont. As a weekend hacker and golf enthusiast, I knew about Eldrick, but I had never heard Tont before.

I came across this little nugget when I did a Google search on “Tiger Woods.” In fact, if you do a search on any celebrity, historical figure, artist, movie title, geographic location, etc., the right side of Google’s page will likely display a mini bio of facts, images and links to related information.

Lipiator_AD

Google implemented this feature, which it calls the Knowledge Graph (KG), in May of last year, and it has slowly been evolving to include other verticals. At the end of November, Google got the attention of healthcare marketers when it began including brand and generic drug information into the KG, or what some in the industry have relabeled as the Medication Knowledge Graph (MKG).

MKG results are populated from three primary sources—the FDA, the National Library of Medicine, and the Dept. of Veterans Affairs—and any brand whose drug label information is sent by the manufacturer to the FDA is eligible for inclusion.

The info you’re likely to find will be:

  • Indication
  • Side Effects
  • Warnings
  • Drug Class
  • Related Medications or Related User Searches

Interestingly, there is currently no option for removal or exclusion from the MKG. And while the implications to marketers may at first seem negative—having side effects, warnings and competitor information positioned prominently against your brand—there may be positives as well. For example: the indication, which is always a challenge to present against a brand name because of fair balance requirements, is now being displayed for you. Your brand may show in the MKG of a competitive brand. Some MKG listings have a “May Treat” result, containing potential off-label uses for that drug.

As I mentioned, the format is evolving.  As users become more familiar with the MKG format, and more trusting of the info being provided, the greater the SEM/SEO challenge becomes to gain visibility in the all-important search space. Creative pharma marketers will find ways to complement or feed off of the MKG results. Those who ignore this new format will likely miss out on qualified website traffic.

And no, while we don’t yet know all there is to know about the impact of the Knowledge Graph, we do know that we need to stay in the know—know what I mean? So keep on it, I gotta run—my wife just called and said she got a provocative text message from some guy named Eldrick. Yikes!

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Also posted in Data, Digital, Healthcare Communications, Marketing, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment
Mar26

SXSW 2013: Empty Information Calories

Posted by Brad Davidson from OCH Behavioral Insights - NJ, North America

By Brad Davidson from OCH Behavioral Insights - NJ, North America | Published: March 26, 2013

Cloud Image“We are drowning in information and starving for knowledge.”

– Rutherford D. Rogers, Deputy Librarian of Congress

I recently presented at SXSW, and while there attended a number of other talks and presentations. One, given by a Buddhist nun, made me think in a new way about what it is we do as healthcare communicators. We create a lot of materials and services for people to consume, in essence “feeding” them healthcare information—but are we feeding them well?

The presenter used the concept of cheap nutrition as a metaphor for the modern habit of consuming low-value, high-turnover products and services without ever feeling full or knowing why. Everything, according to her, has the potential to become fast food, easily consumed and without real nutritional value:  the things we own, the entertainment we watch, the achievements we rank and catalogue…all of it can be had in a low-cost, transactional way, and it is all empty calories, taken on board without consideration and without satisfaction. The more you eat, the hungrier you get. To be fulfilled, we need to do more than consume—we need to connect, and to engage. I’m not a Buddhist and I like fast food as much as the next person, but as a metaphor for information available on the Internet, especially healthcare information, “empty calories” is as good as any.

Patients and caregivers seeking knowledge find a sea of information, often without context or a frame of reference to know if it is good information or bad, relevant or irrelevant, connected to their immediate need or concern or not. The information is readily available, it is designed to be easily digested, and rarely if ever does it leave us feeling that we know all that we need to know about whatever it is that ails us or a loved one: we sit at a keyboard, finding bite-sized information nuggets, and eat and eat, and remain hungry nonetheless.

The nun was right. Gorging on information will never truly make us full; what we need is information we can use, that can guide our actions in a meaningful way. Knowledge requires that we pay attention in a way that consuming information does not. Knowledge comes through deep interaction, through a relationship between the knower and the thing known.

We are healthcare communicators—what sort of food are we creating? Do we push ourselves to ensure that information is more than just digestible, and even correct, but is also presented so that people want to, have to engage? Do we truly think about the end user and her needs or experiences? Do we create “disposable interactions” that just help feed a need for consumption rather than a need for usable knowledge? Helping people acquire knowledge is our job, not just giving them access to information. I challenge us all, then, to create more than the next informational Twinkie.

Check out OCHWW’s other SXSW 2013 blog posts:

SXSW 2013: Small Data in a World of Big Data

SXSW 2013: How Zombies Are Helping Us Get Fit

SXSW 2013: BIG Data and Personal Technology at SXSW

SXSW 2013: The Mobile Healthcare Revolution

SXSW 2013: Bad Behavior – the Saga of SXSW
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Also posted in behavior change, Data, Healthcare Communications, Patient Communications, SXSW Interactive | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
Mar8

SXSW 2013: Small Data in a World of Big Data

Posted by Buddy Scalera from Ogilvy CommonHealth - Parsippany, NJ

By Buddy Scalera from Ogilvy CommonHealth - Parsippany, NJ | Published: March 8, 2013

KPI-originalMore than ever, modern marketers are using data to drive decisions about strategies and tactics. Clients are asking us to back up “what we think” with real numbers about “what we know.”

The rise of “big data” is a hot topic at this year’s SXSW conference. Thought leaders are sharing their insights on how to interpret and act upon this growing pool of information. Pay attention, since this stuff matters.

But at the same time, we run the risk of ignoring “small data.” That is, if the numbers we have do not hit a certain threshold of massiveness, should we throw it away? Of course not; let’s discuss why.

Aggregate Shmaggregate

A few years ago, economist Steven D. Levitt and writer Stephen J. Dubner released an important book called Freakonomics. This book addressed some interesting ways data can lead to improper and unfortunate conclusions. Specifically, big data can make you think that 1 + 1 = 3. (Note: It doesn’t. I checked.)

Freakonomics revealed that sometimes big data, when combined with unrelated external events, can confuse even the smartest, most experienced researchers. Add to that the idea of “unintended consequences” and things can get downright confusing for people who put all of their faith in big data.

There’s nothing technically wrong with big data. I love big data. Send it over and I will have my big-data brains dissect it. Big data = good.

The problem is twofold:

1. Big data is overwhelming to many people. They draw incomplete conclusions based on their limited view of the numbers. It takes a well-trained, experienced data professional to extract smart marketing insights from gigantic data sets. When a well-intentioned but inexperienced person analyzes data, he or she can easily misinterpret the insights.

For example, if tons of people are landing on a particular page on your website and then leaving immediately, you might conclude they are “bouncing.” We hear this a lot.

But what if they simply found what they needed and left? What if this bounce was really a conversion?

This leads directly to the second problem…

2. Weak KPI mapping. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are designed to help you understand the relationship between your content and the target user. Specifically, how well your content satisfies their needs and moves them along your relationship continuum.

All the data you collect means nothing until you set KPIs and other goals. KPIs give you context to the data. Without this context, you will get data for data’s sake. And really, who wants that?

KPIs need to be an agreed-upon measurement that guides content creation, traffic drivers, and analysis. (That’s it. Please reread that sentence aloud to the whole class.)

And Now, Small Data

So, what’s the takeaway? Well, it’s about how you should be interpreting your data, both big and small. It’s a new mindset that you need to bring to your team, who are probably building a bonfire and chanting, “big data, big data, big data” the week after SXSW.

Big data matters. I completely agree. It’s just not as simple as it seems. You can’t just look at a giant bucket of data and make a snap conclusion (e.g., kittens are popular, hence we need kitties on our website to sell our product).

But small data matters too. Yes, you can learn a lot about the time of day your site is visited. And yes, it can be extremely significant to chart this over a two-year period.

Small data, however, can tell you different things about your target. It can tell you if the user is getting information that influences their decision or engages them  in your resources. Small data can tell you if your content is properly linked within your website and expanded brand footprint.

For example, a “thank you” page at the end of a transaction page may be a KPI. If you’re only looking at the big-data picture, you may not really understand what people are doing to reach this page.

You may not even know how they got to your site to get to this KPI. Search? Banner? Email? Sure, you know how they got to your website, but do you know which channel delivered the user who converted? In too many cases, the answer is “no.”

Everyone from the copywriters to the designers need to know your KPIs. Your SEO team and your media-buying team, too. Everyone needs to know your KPIs, most of which are not part of your “big data.” KPIs are often part of your “small data.”

Looking forward, make this year the one that everyone is measuring data consistently. Understand and optimize your website—and every other tactic in your campaign—according to big data AND small data.

And skip the kittens.

Check out OCHWW’s other SXSW 2013 blog posts:

SXSW 2013: How Zombies Are Helping Us Get Fit

SXSW 2013: BIG Data and Personal Technology at SXSW

SXSW 2013: The Mobile Healthcare Revolution

SXSW 2013: Bad Behavior – the Saga of SXSW

SXSW 2013: Empty Information Calories

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Also posted in Analytics, Data, Healthcare Communications, SXSW Interactive | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Responses
Jan18

Consumer Electronics Show 2013 (3 of 4): What the Slew of New Tablets and eReaders Means for Pharma

Posted by Buddy Scalera from Ogilvy CommonHealth - Parsippany, NJ

By Buddy Scalera from Ogilvy CommonHealth - Parsippany, NJ | Published: January 18, 2013

Tablets-and-eReadersAs the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) ramped up, I’d sneak peeks on my iPhone to get the latest news. During the show, I’d read longer articles and reviews on my iPad. At home, I flopped on the couch and immersed myself on the iPad Mini.

So, yeah, three things: First, I am an Apple fanboy. Second, I love my tablets. Third, I also have a Kindle Paperwhite.

CES 2013 featured a flurry of new tablets and ereaders. At least some of the companies competing in this space are smart (not all of them), but all of them recognize the inevitable future of tablets and ereaders.

A year ago, I would have shared a statistic that validated the rise of ereaders and tablets. It would have justified the price or proved that more people were buying these things. This year, few people doubt that ereaders will become the medium of choice for many, if not most, of the nation. From the Kindle to the Nook to the iPad to the Galaxy, digital book readers are getting less expensive and more powerful. Sales of ebooks and e-magazines are booming.

What it means for pharma

A few years ago, the pharma industry was trying to understand what social media meant for healthcare communications. We struggled with blog monitoring, social media communities, and even open message boards. The learnings from those early explorations have defined much of what we do today.

Before that, it was the web. We tried to use this exploding channel for patient, caregiver, and healthcare professional communications. Again, trial and error taught us what works, what doesn’t, and how far we could push the envelope. It was a learning process, but we got there together (even if sometimes we were competing with each other).

Now many clients are taking a digital-first approach to marketing and communications. They understand that almost all of their targets have access to the web.

But the rise of ereaders and tablets has created a new challenge for our industry. We’re advocating—and in certain cases pioneering—responsive-design strategies. Clients recognize the value (and savings) of creating channel-agnostic content that adapts to devices, platforms, and channels. It just makes sense.

If you’re a brand already using responsive design, then the influx of shiny new mobile devices, tablets, and ereaders announced at CES simply means you need to test on new platforms. If you’ve only designed for the desktop, well then it probably means that your message and design will be breaking on even more platforms. Not good.

What to do next

In a few weeks, the dust will settle from CES 2013. We’ll have a better idea of which mobile devices will actually ship and which were just vaporware and prototypes. You’ll want to have at least two or three of the most promising, buzzed-about devices that actually ship.

Test your sites on all of these new platforms. Review how your message displays on these new screens. If your patients, caregivers, and doctors are using them to read your message, you need to know what their experience is like. Hold the device and pretend to be your target user.

If you’re not using a content strategy that includes responsive design, you should meet with your team to discuss your options. If you are, congratulations—now go test your messages on these new devices.

If you are a client (or want to be), give us a call to learn about the newest devices as they become available. We get most of these new devices, and we can show you how we build and test your sites. Or you can come by to play with them yourself.

Our industry can no longer be multiple years behind popular technology and new devices. Our target users include patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals…and many of them are already using this new technology. If you care about your message reaching your target user, then you need to know exactly what they will see when it reaches them.

Patient-compliance and education programs shifted to the web years ago. Unfortunately, those experiences don’t always deliver the right experience on a tablet or smartphone. If your patients and caregivers use tablets already, then you should be building experiences that reflect this (not so new) channel.

From the diabetic with dietary needs to the parent of an epileptic child, mobile health tools can be essential to prescription compliance. Pill-plus programs must deliver an excellent experience that integrates into the lives of patients, since tablets and smartphones are becoming an extension of everyone’s lives. The first step is recognizing that this technology is here to stay.

CES 2013 is a good excuse to bring up the topic of content strategy and responsive design to your internal stakeholders and agency partners. Schedule a meeting to get the conversation started.

It’s timely, relevant, and (if you think about it) will probably be received on a tablet device or smartphone.

CES 2013 Series:

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Also posted in Apps, Consumer Electronics Show, Digital, Healthcare Communications, Social Media, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment