Pharmaceutical marketing is undergoing a fundamental shift from broad, broadcast tactics to highly personalized engagement. In this executive interview, Derek Choy, head of product at PharmaForceIQ, discusses how brands can move beyond “spray and pray” marketing by using precision signals, multi-layer customer affinities and integrated digital and field data to deliver what physicians and patients actually need, when they need it.
Choy also highlights how AI is changing the way HCPs and patients seek information, with many already relying on chatbots and answer engines. “As that’s happening, if we are continuing as marketers to optimize for share of voice, we are missing the layer that’s important,” says Choy. Rather than competing for share of voice, brands must now optimize for “share of answer,” ensuring their messages are accurate, compliant and aligned with brand strategy when questions are asked in AI-driven environments.
According to Choy, the brands that break through the noise aren’t spending more—they’re acting faster on real-time data, reducing manual processes and focusing on answering the right question at the right moment. It’s this ability to orchestrate insights across channels that will define the next era of pharma marketing.
Rebecca Willumson:
Hi there. My name's Rebecca Willumson. I'm the publisher of Fierce Pharma, and I'm here today with Derek Choy, head of product at PharmaForceIQ. Derek, thank you so much for joining me.
Derek Choy:
Thanks for having me.
Rebecca Willumson:
From your perspective, what is the biggest shift happening in pharmaceutical marketing right now and how is it reshaping the way brands engage with their audiences?
Derek Choy:
We're finally moving from this world where marketers are reaching people by spray and pray, getting all our information out there and broadcasting it, to really thinking about what every customer, every physician, every patient wants and what's precisely needed for them. And I think it's possible because we're able to leverage data like precision triggers and signals about what people actually need right now, whether it be eligible patients or signals of what's happening online. I think we're actually able to then marry that with data like knowing for every customer what their affinities are, which channel do they want to engage with, but actually also which particular sites online do they like? And so we can optimize for them. And then we can actually marry that with what's happening in non-digital channels, like the field and digital as one. And I think that actually creates that experience, which is based on what customers and individuals need rather than what we want to put out there.
Rebecca Willumson:
So AI is evolving far faster than pharma can keep up. What should leaders be thinking about as more customers, both HCPs and patients, use AI tools, chatbots, and agents for information?
Derek Choy:
That shift is happening really fast. I think it's already happened. I think actually something like 66% of HCPs already are using AI daily. And that's probably increasing rapidly with new announcements every day. And I think as that's happening, if we are continuing as marketers to optimize for share of voice, we're missing the layer that's important. What we really should be optimizing for is share of answer. As an HCP or a patient that's out there asking a question to a chatbot or an answer agent, we have to know, we have to ask ourselves, is our brand showing up there?
Rebecca Willumson:
Sure.
Derek Choy:
And what is it saying? Which sources is it citing? Is it citing our brand.com versus another competitors'? If a message is being answered there, is that message actually what is number one, part of the guidelines, but number two, actually, is it part of what our brand message is generally that's been approved and that is strategic? And then if we are already optimizing for every HCP, their message and their channel, is it possible to get that HCP's individual orchestrated insight into that answer rather than relying on something generic for all HCPs? I think that is a question that everyone's already thinking about, but very soon I think everyone's going to be acting on. We are already doing that with some of our customers today.
Rebecca Willumson:
So tell me, what is holding commercial teams back from acting on real-time data and where can AI help reduce manual work and speed operations?
Derek Choy:
Finally, data actually is available. I think for a long time there was questions about, are we capturing the data? Do we have it in one place? Now, even though I think the data largely is available, there's still a question about whether we're able to execute and leverage it quickly enough. So when we're looking at signals, for example, at whether an HCP has engaged with content online recently, translating that to that decision that an executive is making as to whether that content should be used going forward, if there's a three-month lag between that, that's a process issue. It's an issue with manual steps and analysis being done, the way that our meeting cadence works and our decisions are made. And I think AI is able to change that, not only because we're able to automate that process of getting that insight from the data, but also because I think that people's way of getting information and working is changing.
AI is now allowing us to be able to go in and analyze information and these executives can ask questions, not wait to that three month meeting. And as tools like that become available, that's really what's breaking through in terms of leveraging data going forward.
Rebecca Willumson:
So tell me, what critical attributes should brand leaders look for when evaluating AI systems that impact HCP engagement, both directly or indirectly through other AI mediated tools?
Derek Choy:
You know, we are life sciences, we're pharma. So there's very specific things about what our industry needs. That's definitely the first thing to think about. For example, does the AI tool or system really understand the data, the context, the regulations, the specifics of our industry? And you want to make sure that we are leveraging tools like that. I think also we need to think about, is there sufficient transparency in the AI system? Are we able to trace the decisions made? Whether it's the more modern AI where you're considering what citations are being used, but also even the traditional AI where we are using machine learning models, can you actually trace why a decision was being recommended?
I think the other half of the answer then is also about whether or not we're able to see that AI is being adopted. Ultimately, AI tools are only as good as whether or not people are using them. And so we have to ask ourselves if we're actually using the tools that our users, our stakeholders want to use. And if they're not, then it just becomes a system that they're not leveraging. So I think all those should be considered in decisions as we're choosing AI systems and we're trying to decide the right ones.
Rebecca Willumson:
So my final question for you, tell me what separates brands that truly break through from those that simply add to the noise?
Derek Choy:
Those brands that are recognizing that they don't have to spend more. It's more about being able to get the right message out there to that physician when they need it. And so this all has to do, as I was mentioning earlier, about triggering off signals about what a physician actually needs and what they're looking for, whether it be eligible patients or what they're doing online, those signals can help. Then really recognizing what is the right time and place to reach that physician. And I think also thinking about what that physician's question is, whether or not they're actually now online typing in that question to an answer engine, of course in that instance, we should answer it, but even if they're not, if they're going online in a traditional way, or even if their MSL is visiting them, or even if we are reaching out via a field visit or an email, we should be thinking, "What is that question?" And then answering that.
And I think those brands are doing that are going to break through because they're not using that traditional approach and they're adapting with the times.
Rebecca Willumson:
That feels like a great place to close out. Thank you so much for joining me today.
Derek Choy:
Cool. Thanks.