by Isabel Pascual

Who would have expected that (as the joke goes, 'who at C-level made most for your digitalization, your CEO, or your CTO? ...Well, it was C-oVid19), indeed, a retrovirus pathogene, forced companies (included us) to leapfrog, and bridge the gap to a Milllennial-level utilization of technology.  But it did.  Or, did it? -  let's look quickly at the challenges of the half-cooked digitalization that a lot of companies are currently enjoying (or suffering)

All of the readiness of CRM, CLM, tablet-based presentations during detailing and applications to access specific medical o medico-marketing information are based still on a hardware interface that, to date, was not upgraded by the pharma industry:  The sales rep.  In most of the countries (with some exceptions in Northern Europe), most of the heavy weight of physician's communication relies on personal communication --as much as companies have been putting effort on front-running towards other means of information sharing.  Suddenly, that stronghold bridge - the human contact- was deconstructed by a virus.  In a good share of companies all of the (digital) marketing mix initiatives are presented, showcased or introduced to physicians in personal events -- conferences, congresses, or personal detailings.  Did physicians respond positively to the immediate shift towards full virtualization of the contacts -- notice that virtual does not mean digital -- other channels (telephone, for example), are available.  Some did, some did not.  

Will the commercial focus of the company come back to the stage where it was prior to CoVid19? probably not...fully.  But it will still touch back to the roots - the medical community still is conformed by a large body of a population for whom digitalization is only an alternative way, not the main way of communication.  And so are the executives of large companies....