We are well into the era of the engaged consumer. By now, many companies have recognized that traditional selling tactics like advertising and discounting only take them so far. Consumers want deeper connections, and companies ranging from Amazon and Apple to Spotify and Zappos have been happy to oblige. Using predictive algorithms that prioritize consumer preferences, these companies are finding inventive new ways to engage customers with games, stories, and sharing tools sent to their mobile devices.
Pharmaceutical companies should be doing the same thing. But many of them aren’t, or aren’t doing it well. For 16 years, I’ve witnessed their halting efforts to engage consumers from my vantage point as the cofounder and president of a cloud technology company that helps life science organizations better design, manage, and execute clinical trials.
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