CMO Special: X-ray report from a FMHG CMO

MUMBAI, INDIA: When CMOs start finding power in traditionally-elusive IT regions, when patients become customers; when people are surrounded by information and a whole new envelope of awareness so much so that proactive styles and self-care become the new paradigms, when approaching customer-last-mile becomes paramount, when service-delivery and business models become digitally-driven; when brick-and-mortar is not necessarily capsized by click-and-mortar genre but has to find new anchors; then the IT stethoscope also moves around marketing regions with a new curiosity.

Being a doctor was once considered the noblest of profession. Sameer Kaul, VP-Marketing from Dr.Lal PathLabs shares some of his personal perspectives and thoughts on a series of today's industry's symptoms and dissects what it is like being in a noble-enough job, and how things change completely when someone chooses to focus on the right ‘C' and on not being just another Digital Pied Piper.

What is it like being a CMO, specially in a space like diagnostics?

The healthcare story in India is very promising and one of the fastest growing sectors. Driven by a new India, an aspiring India, more affluence, and better information - all these factors have provided the required buoyancy to this sector. The healthcare market in India is poised to be around $100 billion by 2015 and the industry is growing by 15-18 per cent per annum. Interestingly, FMHG (Fast Moving Healthcare Goods) is now the new FMCG. The diagnostics segment is in fact growing faster than the industry. Today 70 per cent medical decisions are based on test report.

A doctor does not start diagnosis or prognosis without a test report. The medical treatment is based on facts and figures, it's more scientific than the earlier days when the doctors used to treat through gut feel.

What trends are affecting your own challenges and responsibilities?

There is an emerging trend - in the healthcare business including diagnostics - the Paradigm is shifting from - Illness to Wellness. A decade back majority of the business was through doctors and was prescriptive in nature, today it is seeing a transition from ‘Prescriptive' to ‘Preventive'. People are becoming more proactive and are checking themselves regularly. This is due to better information, more health consciousness, more awareness, marketing explosion in healthcare, better education and aspirations. Being a CMO in India's leading diagnostics chain having joined the company around six years back - is a great experience especially in being the change agent to make this transition. We call our Patients as Customers.

A decade back the ‘Patient' used to patiently wait for the doctor or at a diagnostics Lab, but today's the ‘Patient' is first of all not always unwell, he or she is coming in good health also due to being proactively seeking check-ups, they do not have time, they have options, and are more technology-savvy today thanks to digital and social media explosion in last five years.

Does it make your job tougher or easier?

Our job as marketers is to delight him and differentiate our experience. We are here to make healthcare and diagnostics very accurate, highest quality, convenient and provide him all the care. We are here to slice his needs and then design our products and services through an Outside-Inside approach rather than the Inside - Outside approach of yester years. Our business and marketing is today more ‘Customer-Based'.Being a CMO in a healthcare industry, namely diagnostics is a very good noble feeling too, also in its appeal as a compassionate industry, a caring profession in converting unwell customers into healthy ones through accurate reports leading to precision treatment.

 

How would you encapsulate your overall journey so far?

As a CMO in Dr Lal PathLabs - it has always been a great experience for me personally as I feel I am a complete marketer today as to be in a category very physical touch is so critical- and that calls for a very new level of marketing and consumer behaviour. I am fortunate along with my team in being a key change agent to have transformed a medical diagnostics company as a national consumer brand in a short span of time.

What about peculiar constraints, if any?

There are some marketing limitations in a healthcare context - to the extent one can go through marketing in healthcare or diagnostics segment - we need to be sensitive to the medical fraternity and the criticality of the industry - we cannot go overboard with media activations as we see this in FMCG or in other belligerent industries. We need to work within a boundary and still do well as a business and grow. This makes us more conscious of our marketing actions and the dos and don'ts. Overall, a CMO in a healthcare industry has to be a cross functional champion - he has to work with doctors, operations, IT, Sales and the entire gamut. Since the business can get very scientific and technical too - a CMO may not have all the answers, but yet the CMO is expected to be at the center of strategy and leading the growth.

Can you give us a peek into how advanced or tech-sophisticated your customer-base, prospects usually are? Any parallels or comparisons with International customers here?

Our customer base is heterogeneous - elderly customers requiring regular attention - less savvy technology wise, young couples, younger population - more savvy (I think especially in last three years) is the great divide I have seen in the technological context. We had to ‘sense and seize' these ‘tech-tonic' shifts and as a marketer. I have an analytics-cum-digital team reporting to me that get insights and works on precision marketing. One insight could be a fortune for the business. Really!

Share something about your strategy, campaigns and IT kits?

We have infrastructure and technology capability to book tests online (we have in fact launched Click A test platform last month on our website, payment is online, collection can be at your convenience at your home or office. While the business is brick-and-mortar with 150 plus labs and over 2000 centers - we also sense and realize the need to reach to ‘last mile customer' as accessibility is so crucial as a marketing mix in our line of business. There might be customers or potential segments who may not be able to reach us and hence digitalization and booking online, with not even having to step outside your home is a differentiated offering that only we provide in the diagnostics industry.

We will launch products or experiences based on real tangible needs of our customers that we sense through regular conversations with them. We do not launch products or technology for the sake of activity- or because the competitors have done something. We think about customers all the time and not competitors all the time. We focus on the right ‘C'.Our strategy in marketing, digital, technology is customer-based business strategy. I believe it is always few things that make all the difference and not a laundry list of activations or technology introductions. It is always few inputs that get the maximum output and outcome.

What is your assessment of the digital forces and if they have made marketing disruptive?

 

Digital has some inherent advantages - reach, speed, quick brand diffusion, savvy, new thing, customer is more online, online penetration, mobile, etc. Is digital in your business only a medium of communication or a business process is an important aspect. If digital /technology interface create a ‘blue ocean business model' then things can become really disruptive because then digital plays a double-strength role of being a faster medium plus a business model by itself. In some categories it really makes sense that speed and convenience is so crucial like travel industry. Digital/Online models have created huge disruption to the brick-and-mortar models of travel agents, etc.

Categories where the touch, feel, high transaction value, high involvement categories no one will commit the monies without physical interaction that online cannot mirror. I may learn about a 40 lac car online, know the specs, know all details but will I really make an online transaction without seeing the car, sitting in it, test driving it, seeing the color, taking my family, etc, etc. So in such a category like automobiles we will definitely see brick-and-mortar showrooms with sales staff and collaterals I think at least for the next one decade. There is a big difference between awareness and adoption. Many marketers are doing things because everyone is doing without looking at how it impacts the company's P&L and how the pieces fit. Great CMOs are often folks with high business acumen.

Have concepts like EHR or increasing regulation or emerging patient activism/customer-awareness played any impact in what you do and how you do it?

As I had mentioned earlier being India's leading and most reputed diagnostics company we are very conscious and we are very particular about customer privacy, customer safety and we work within the parameters of healthcare protocols.

Would you say Shadow IT is a misunderstood trend or an unavoidable reality?

I think in many categories - that are consumer-driven the CMO will spend more on IT than the CIO and I feel 10 years from today the IT guys will report to the CMOs. I am not being biased as a CMO but my theory is that the ‘Rise of Customer' will by design hand-over the power to CMO as the guardian of the customer and brand and hence he will be the power fulcrum around which the organization will have to rotate. Business is about Customers and getting the ‘Customer in the Board Room' will become inevitable.

It is ironic that this did not happen all along many decades, but the new face of Changing Customer BYOD ( Bring Your Own Device) generation and the Digital explosion, mobile revolution is making the power shift from Brands to Customers and CMO is at the center of this next big revolution. Till now we have just seen and heard the reverberations but the real things will be coming around 2022!

So these CMO vs. CIO turf battles are not cliche?

This ‘power couple' needs to collaborate and not be in conflict. For many years traditionally the CIOs have worked with Ops guys, CFOs and now as the customer becomes the centre of control - he needs to work with CMOs. I think CMOs will in future have some IT guys part of his team reporting to CMOs to speeden up the process. CMOs will spend more on the IT infrastructure than the CIOs in next seven years time.

Your advice as a CMO would be?

Don't be a technology/Digital Pied piper - don't go with the flow for the sake of appearing tech savvy or digital. See and analyse your business and try and create a ‘Unique Positioning' for it- speak to your customers- slice the new needs emerging with changing times - if you see a business case - use technology/digital as a catalyst. Also 'online needs to integrate with offline'. Work on real customer service that needs physical intervention and coupled with technology for better speed, reach quality etc.You fly the best airlines not only to experience the best aviation machine in the air but also for impeccable service on board, a smile, feeling cared..... on- time arrival- on-time departure. Every element in the service delivery cycle creates a ‘Moment Of Truth'. CMOs need to use both left brain and right brain, to deliver and build brands in the 21st century.