Navigating clients through strategic imperatives for patients and HCPs requires all of us to think “bespoke.” Data can help to deliver that thinking — from targeted, customized experiences to commercial teams equipped with the next best step.
During a MM+M sponsored podcast, editor-in-chief Larry Dobrow sat down with Rico Cipriaso, SVP of digital strategy at Pixacore, to discuss how data signs and signals are ready for us to take and aggregate as well as the importance of being nimble and agile today.
Using data to strategize
As a result of the pandemic, companies “have turned to Pixacore in the context of how to improve themselves,” Cipriaso stated, kicking off the discussion. It is “an opportunity” to understand “how to adjust and be ready for whatever comes next.”
That has translated into “greater alignment between sales and marketing” on data usage, Cipriaso said. WIth “the way things are changing,” it is more important to “eliminate that silo.” Today, the goal is not to “just talk about the brand” but to create “the presence of the brand” in order to “be a driver to whatever the next best action is for your field force,” he added.
“It’s not about one team doing what they’re supposed to without the knowledge of the other team,” Cipriaso said. Brands need to “think about how to aggregate all of the data signals that are happening inside of the marketplace” to inform “both marketing and sales teams.”
“Data is the signal that we collect that makes us nimble to whatever circumstances that come,” Cipriaso explained. That data can then be used to “prepare teams to react appropriately to what’s next or what they need to do to be better,” he said.
For Pixacore, the key is to “listen to and prepare” clients rather than “pitch them” and tell them “to be prepared and be nimble,” Cipriaso said. “We can provide relevant pathways, solutions and answers,” he added, with the “appropriate data” and by “asking the right questions and collecting the right answers.”
Empowering brands through listening
When engaging patients that are “undergoing something very specific, that may be traumatic or chronic,” it’s important to listen, Cipriaso advised. It’s not simply tactical listening to questions such as “’are they looking at or clicking on or interacting with something?” he said. It’s really about listening to “what and how they’re doing” as well as “what we’re not providing during this time.”
“All of those data points can give us the chance to prepare,” Cipriaso explained. “We need to make sure that we’re ready to answer any question a patient has” and help “move them from one step to the next.” To do that, a brand needs to “deliver the relevant experience to” a patient so that they are “aware of who the brand is and what they can do for them.” The key is “creating connections” and “customized messages so that they can go from one step to the next,” he said.
To Cipriaso, “the discipline of making sure that sources are vetted properly” is critical. “The magic happens” when “we have a full understanding of what information is being collected and how it’s being used and how to convert that insight to action,” he added.
Delivering a personalized experience
Pixacore is “not necessarily tied to a singular platform” such as Adobe or Salesforce because its “job is to integrate with any platform and have the same vigilance about the data” for its clients. Whichever infrastructure Pixacore recommends is “relevant and appropriate to the business today, ready to scale tomorrow and ready to integrate when the good things happen,” Cipriaso explained. “Preparing for success is how we look at things.”
There are “multiple pillars to specifically consider” when addressing “the strategic imperatives of clients,” Cipriaso said. At Pixacore, the work “is seen collectively and holistically. Strategies revolve around “how to implement technology stacks, capture data on an enterprise level or an individual brand level, and prepare that business to scale upward,” he said.
“We’re like the best mechanic that you can ever work with,” Cipriaso said. “We get your car to run faster, more efficiently” or in the case of data, ensure that “the big tech stacks are working the best they can.”
The goal is to “provide fact-based information to the target” so that they can make “the most appropriate decision,” he said. It’s important to connect with the “human being that is emitting all those signals” and “to listen and determine what’s best to do.” In the end, data allows for “that connection” and an “understanding of the audience journey,” he said.
In the future, branding will be “a balance between being proactive and being reactive,” Cipriaso concluded. The good news is “signals or data can be done in such a way that you can take full advantage” and work “proactively,” so that “we’re not reacting to things that we should have been prepared for.”
