Upcoming Presentation at INFORMS NY Oct 5th

Analytics for the New Healthcare Relationship Marketing

Ira Haimowitz will describe how the healthcare landscape has changed, and what the implications are for the design and measurement of relationship marketing programs to patients and healthcare professionals. He will also demonstrate a new wave of analytics for measuring program effectiveness.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011 from 12 Noon until 2 PM

The Penn Club, 30 West 44th Street, New York, NY

RESERVATIONS: Call Sam Koslowsky at (212) 520-3259 or email samkos@aol.com
Reservation deadline is Friday September 30.

$50 for non-members, $40 for chapter members
$5 surcharge for walk-in without reservation.

Free meeting to new members: Luncheon seminar fee is waived if attendee joins chapter as a new first-time member (attendee must complete new member application and pay $30 chapter membership fee).

For more information visit our web site http://www.informsny.org/

Toggling Innovation Ebooks on my Nook

The nice thing about carrying around a Nook is that I can toggle back and forth between three books at once, multitasking while not carrying extra weight. So what am I reading now? Three books that address innovation and entrepreneurship in different ways.

Two of these are about successful internet powerhouse companies born in the online boom of the late 90s. The recent book I'm Feeling Lucky by Douglas Edwards, about the early history of Google. Fasinating case studies about the culture of a start up, and how engineering and technology overrules marketing. Another is Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh [Hachette Book Group]. Again, the hectic, sometimes chaotic life of a startup comes shining through, as well as the continual enthusiasm and perspective to stay happy.

Ten as a sports nut I am finishing up a biography of Babe Ruth, "Babe Ruth as I Knew Him," written by his teammate Waite Hoyt [Dell Pub] Certainly Ruth did not invent the home run, jsut as Google did not invent the search engine. But, again like Google he did make it is own, come to dominate, and even get his terminology: "A Ruthian Blast."

By the way, also interesting to read about Novo Nordisk putting diabetes health education management on the Nook and Kindle for patients, in a new, more cost effective distribution mechanism. I imagine it can increase distribution and reach beyond the doctors office

Lessons from Industry Conference on "Next Generation"

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Several lessons were learned at last week's Next Generation Pharmaceutical Sales and Marketing conference in Philadelphia, at which The CementBloc had a panel and a booth.

The predominance of analytics and accountability was quite apparent, as several presentations discussed the need to measure effectiveness of initiatives. There was a start up company bringing dashboards across mobile applications. Another innovative vendor promoted multichannel analytics for "software as a service."

Representatives from BMS and sanofi-aventis discussed centralizing their closed loop marketing practices across categories.

Others emphasized the increased complexity of the pharmaceutical customer base, such as integrated delivery networks, and a resulting need for Strategic Account Management.

At The CementBloc, we emphasized our Convergent Branding across channels and in a panel marked by lively feedback. It was a pleasure participating.

Milestones - 10K page views

Dear readers,

When I was a kid, I used to hear about sweepstakes contests at supermarkets where the one millionth customers would get free groceries. Did that ever really happen?

Well, the blog counter is over 9,300 page views. Sure the page view is a silly metric; if you are a regular reader then you know that web analytics are about achieving brand goals. Yet, it is the only visible tally I have, soo...

If you visit this website and the reader on this blog turns to 10,000, let me know and I will send you a free:

a) copy of Healthcare Relationship Marketing, Gower Press

b) CRM half hour consultation

c) thank you for your loyalty.

Just let me know when it happens.

Flipping a Switch for losing 28 pounds

I have been able to successfully lose 25 pounds within the past two months, and 28 so far in 2011. It feels great, and I still have more to go, maybe 10 pounds more. I certainly am very thankful for Gina F. and The Diet Center for my success, but I have thought about what mentality was required of me to change my behavior and improve my wellness.

I am familiar with multiple theories of behavior change (working in CRM), but the best metaphor I can come up with is "flipping a switch" In other words, just changing completely the set of bad habits with my diet, and changing my approach to exercise. Stopping the delusions and dealing with reality. I now no longer eat bagels, muffins, pizza, cake, cookies, etc, that I convinced myself were OK once in a while. I have amped up my consumption of vegetables and salads, and dialed way down my consumption of carbs like bread and pasta. I also now exercise vigorouslu and regularly, not once in a while and piecemeal.

I have heard others who have lost weight also mention the phrase "flip the switch." In fact, there has even been a weight loss book written by this name, but I have not read it. But I do agree that one way to change bad habits is to turn them off and replace them with much better, more positive habits, that results in lots of positive reinforcement. I am living proof.

Social Media recruitment for clinical trials

In rare diseases, one often finds active social media communities of patients and caregivers hungry for information. These communities exist for sharing disease state information, offering support, and occasionally advice on treatment.

Another tremendous application can be recruitment for clinical trials. This is the story of a a recent Mayo Clinic study within cardiology. A team of cardiologists led by Sharonne Hayes, M.D., has contacted survivors of spontaneous coronary artery dissection, also known as SCAD, a poorly understood heart condition that affects just a few thousand Americans every year.

The patient community is within a patient network called WomenHeart

The finding was that for this pilot clinical trial study, the number of patients needed was exceeded within a week; the overflow patients are eligible for a second round, expanded trial.

This is a great example of Acquisition for clinical trials, where social media can be a viable alternative, or complement, to paid media or other event recruitment.