JHL Digital
Ushering in a Fresh Approach to Healthcare Digital Advertising

Gone are the days when Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs) were focused strictly on the scientific aspect of the pharmaceutical spectrum, and uninvolved in the business side of the industry. Today’s MSLs are expected to staff launch teams for complex specialty drugs, manage and support investigator-initiated trials, and possess in-depth knowledge of pharmaeconomics—tasks that were previously restricted to sales representatives. Similarly, sales reps have no option but to be proficient while introducing and selling new concepts and classes of drugs, especially in specialty areas such as oncology and neurology. The tasks of MSLs and sales reps have begun to overlap and there are fewer boundaries between their respective functions.

In the existing landscape where sales reps need to be as efficient and on-target as possible during their time-strapped conversations with healthcare professionals (HCPs), Veeva CRM has emerged as the industry standard platform to track and manage HCP engagement. Designed specifically for pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, Veeva CRM helps pharmaceutical firms manage sales, control operations, and maintain compliances. However, getting the most out of the platform is easier said than done.

For the last few years, JHL Digital—Australia’s first and only Level 4 accredited agency for Veeva CRM—has been aiding its pharmaceutical clients to get the best out of Veeva. Bolstered by a squad of in-house developers who constantly fine tune the platform with unique interfaces, multimedia, and animation, JHL Digital hasn’t held back in its quest of pushing the boundaries of Veeva.

It appears that the digital advertising agency is just scratching the surface with its innovations.

The New Wave of Sales Reps-HCP Engagement

This year, JHL Digital is upping the ante and taking the Veeva CRM platform to a whole new level, with a groundbreaking value proposition. The Australian company is preparing to launch the world’s first Alexa Virtual MSL/sales rep designed to provide insights to MSLs/sales reps in their engagement with HCPs, while also enabling HCPs to interact with the Amazon Alexa virtual assistant. “We designed this product with the goal to help healthcare firms get a share of voice that is independent of a sales rep. The idea is not to eliminate sales reps but to give life sciences companies a platform to handle a vast number of inquiries.

Instead of being sold into buying something from MSLs/Sales Reps, doctors can explore and test the product in their own natural environment

This will also free up sales reps and allow them to focus on critical tasks,” explains Dr. Nghia Le, managing director, and digital strategist, JHL Digital, a digital advertising agency that specializes in healthcare.

Fully integrated with Veeva CRM, the Virtual MSL/sales rep utilizes all four aspects of the Veeva Platform—Veeva Approved Email, Veeva Engage, Veeva CRM MyInsights, and Veeva CLM—to initiate the user journey. Developed independently from Veeva CRM, the virtual assistant allows HCPs to ask questions and get answers independently, in addition to providing true insights on doctors. “While Veeva CRM helped us with technical documentation for integrating our solution with their systems, the product is 100 percent our intellectual property,” says Dr. Le.

As revealed by Dr. Le, there are two routes that HCPs and MSLs/sales reps can adopt to initiate the user journey. In the first method, the sales rep contacts the clinician via email (using Veeva Approved Email) with a link to a Self-Exploratory electronic sales aid (eDA) that consists of basic product data. Upon opening the link, the clinician can ask Alexa specific questions on the product. “For example, if the clinician is on the efficacy slide and wishes to know about a clinical trial, they can simply ask, ‘Alexa, ask the company (e.g. Sanofi), what’s the primary endpoint for this clinical trial?’ Through these engagements, information is layered atop of each other to augment the Self EDA,” explains Dr. Le. Since every question asked by the clinician is recorded in Veeva CRM, the MyInsights Dashboard details past engagements and provides the ability for the MSL/Sales Rep to plan future interactions. “This way, sales reps can look up the records and prepare for their next sales call,” adds Dr. Le.

The second route is where the clinicians can ask Alexa to contact the MSLs/Sales Reps directly if they wish to interact with an actual person. Dr. Le believes this route will remove biases involved in MSLs/Sales Reps interacting with doctors. “Instead of being sold into buying something from MSLs/Sales Reps, doctors can explore and test the product in their own natural environment.

This will give companies multiple insights and they can make an informed marketing decision.”

Currently in negotiations to launch a pilot, JHL Digital has received tremendous feedback from several clients on early demos. Still in the process of refining the product, JHL Digital expects to onboard a client before the end of August.

Community Conscious, Fueled by R&D team

Meanwhile, JHL Digital is actively doing pro bono work for the community, but without the desire to claim awards. “We want to genuinely help organizations that want to digitize their business but can’t afford the services,” says Dr. Le. The only caveat? The companies must give back to the community in order to avail the services of JHL Digital.

On the flip side, JHL Digital’s R&D team uses such projects to test their new digital strategy methodologies with hopes of pioneering new design language and optimizing user experience within the digital space. “We gather all our insights from the pro bono and R&D projects and follow it back to the commercial aspect of the company, which basically entails serving the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare clients in their digital marketing efforts,” elaborates Dr. Le.

The initiative, Dr. Le believes, will help JHL Digital establish its position in the market as a company that is not restricted to just the commercialization aspect of the business. “We view it as a strategic investment program where we usher in products that are well ahead of the market.”

JHL Digital’s R&D team is the heart and soul of the organization. Ever since a group of disgruntled ad agency professionals—convinced that digital marketing/advertising needed a shot in the arm—came together to form JHL Digital, the company has empowered its R&D team to no end. “From the beginning, we gave our R&D team the freedom to push the envelope. Rather than strictly working for clients on projects, our R&D team is constantly building innovative solutions,” says Dr. Le, before emphasizing that his background in healthcare advertising gives JHL Digital an added benefit. “Since we understand the regulatory challenges of the pharmaceutical industry, we can balance being highly innovative while also meeting compliance requirements. This ability to juggle between the two makes us unique.” In fact, unlike other ad agencies which preclude art directors and strategists from speaking with clients, JHL Digital functions within an open-ended culture. “We don’t believe in hierarchies. We try to break down traditional barriers that hinder the agile development of projects.”

Driving forward, JHL Digital will continue to position itself as a specialized agency that offers innovative digital solutions to a select clientele. “It’s tough to push the envelope if you’re not agile, that’s why we are selective about who we work with,” concludes Dr. Le.

JHL Digital will launch its Alexa Virtual MSL/sales rep later this year.