Digital transformation takes time and is risky: only 10% of transformation projects fully succeed (ZS Associates 2022). So, how is pharma faring in this space? In its annual (14th!) 2022 Maturometer survey, Across Health takes the pulse of pharma’s efforts and ambitions in the digital & omnichannel space.

Biopharma digital budgets are levelling off while satisfaction is going up

It has taken the industry 7 years to double their budgets for digital initiative, with a strong (and unsurprising) ramp up during C19 (+42%). By 2022, the budgets seem to be levelling off again. But is this level the RIGHT level? Other B2B industries spend over 50% of their marketing budgets on digital…

At the same time, pharma’s satisfaction with digital is increasing significantly (although in absolute terms it remains at a lowish 26%), while the dissatisfied segment drops from 56% in 2010 to 10% in 2022. Interestingly, though, “neutrals” now form the (big) majority. Are these the “hopefuls”, who believe their new digital efforts may pay off one day…but not just now yet? Did they fail to define clear KPIs upfront to assess the business impact of their increased spend? Did they spend it on low-impact channels? Did the strategy execution create issues? … Or maybe it’s a bit of all of the above?

Capability to change remains low despite being considered highly important by pharma

Simply increasing digital budgets is no guarantee for business impact. Indeed, many other factors can jeopardize success in the omnichannel space. The top right box features the most important drivers with the relatively biggest gap in performance.

The below chart - comparing channel impact estimates by pharma (Maturometer 2022) with those of physicians (Navigator365 2022) - illustrates the burning platform for “well-trained” nicely: even after C19, pharma continues to overvalue the impact of F2F channels vs strongly underestimating several digital channels.

Where from here?

In terms of future focus, the top 3 priorities illustrate that biopharma is squarely centred on omnichannel and customer-centricity; mix experiments and upskilling programmes complete the top 5 focus areas.

In summary, pharma is continuing its journey towards customer-centric omnichannel engagement; the pace of change arguably dropped after C19, but digital transformation remains high on the agenda. And indeed, pharma has to continue this effort, as HCPs – and other pharma stakeholders, like patients & payers - are increasingly expecting pharma to serve them “anytime anywhere”. We are at the start of an exciting new era in life sciences. The time to act is now!

The full report can be found here.

Last update: January 2023

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