Populus Media transformed the pharmaceutical marketing industry by recognizing that a significant shift was happening with regard to the way that people would receive virtual personalized healthcare from the comfort of their own homes. The company began prior to the pandemic by offering educational content and advertising opportunities within telehealth consults, while a patient waited for their physician to join.
When the pandemic hit, Populus was already perfectly positioned to support patient care and provide opportunities for companies to more effectively reach the most highly targeted patient audience possible. The explosion of telehealth during the pandemic allowed the company to grow rapidly and begin offering additional services and opportunities.
The company offers two ways of engaging with patients, through placement of advertising within existing virtual care consults as well as a program that sends patients directly to a physician consult through existing traditional and digital media.
From a media perspective, Populus targets individual patients based upon their condition through multiple modalities in virtual care, whether it be video, contextual or text-based, with sponsored educational content that supports both video and display advertising. Patients sometimes wait up to 10 minutes prior to their physician beginning a virtual consult, even if they have a scheduled time. By providing valuable information to the patient as they wait, it enhances their experience with the telehealth provider, educates them on their condition and allows pharmaceutical companies to reach the most targeted audience possible just prior to the patient beginning a consult with their physician.
After launching its unique and innovative media network within virtual care, Populus went on to develop the very first methodology of driving patients directly to a physician consult and ensure patient acquisition and prescription fulfillment on behalf of its pharmaceutical client base. Through its Custom Connect offering, individuals can click on an ad banner and get connected immediately into a physician consult to learn more about their condition, potential therapy and receive a prescription delivered directly to their home.
Through the use of QR codes, people viewing an advertisement in print, out of home or even television can also be connected to a physician consult immediately from any location. Not only can a patient be connected to a virtual care consultation, they can also begin the intake process for a live consult, schedule that consult and be provided with reminders to ensure that they attend the in-person visit.
From an industry perspective, according to McKinsey and Co., telehealth use overall has stabilized at levels 38 times higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic, ranging from 13% to 17% of visits across all specialties, and though usage has dropped slightly since its peak in spring 2020, patient and physician attitudes toward telehealth have improved.
About 40% of surveyed consumers said they planned to continue using telehealth moving forward, up from 11% prior to COVID-19. It is predicted that the number of telemedicine users will continue growing through 2025, rising to 104.7 million U.S. adults or 38.9% of the population. Populus Media and its clients are uniquely positioned to drive proven return on investment by leveraging the benefits of virtual care.
Fast Facts
Company address: 211 College Road East, Suite 101 Princeton, NJ 08540
Year founded: 2020
Employees: 30
Website: populus-media.com
Sample clients: Evofem, Bayer, Janssen, Seagen, AbbVie, Amgen, GSK, Vichy, Sanofi
New business contact: Ray Rotolo, [email protected]
Social media info: facebook.com/populusmedia ; linkedin.com/company/populusmedia ; Twitter: @populus_media ;
instagram.com/populus_media
From the March 01, 2022 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media
