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Micro-Moments are those small, mostly unnoticed behaviors that a customer shows before he/she finally buys a product. As per Google, the owner of this concept, these micro-moments are game-changers in digital marketing and selling. Does this concept work in Pharma? It does. The 4.5-minute read of a real story shall prove it. To listen to the podcast, click below

https://anchor.fm/ameetguha/episodes/Marketing-Stories–Micro-Moments-eqhkrl

The CANVAS trial results on canagliflozin (the new anti-diabetic medicine) came out that day. Diabetologists and cardiologists were keenly awaiting the outcome of the trial to know how it compared with empagliflozin in treating diabetes in cardiac patients.

I was in Trichur that day visiting some cardiologists.

No, my company did not have Empagliflozin or Canagliflozin and neither is this story about me or my MR. This story is about the MR of a relatively small company that had a Gliclazide brand. The MR appeared to be very average. Let us call him Iliyas.

That day, in Jubilee Mission Hospital only we were permitted to meet the top cardiologist. Rest were asked to go. Like many others, Iliyas was also waiting to meet him and he should have been disappointed. No, he was not. He walked up to our MR and requested that he come along with us inside. Since we had no conflicting products, I agreed and we went inside together.

As we entered the first thing that the cardiologist asked us was about the CANVAS trial. Since we did not have Canagliflozin, we were not much aware. I told what little I knew. But at this point, Iliyas almost jumped forward and took out a folded handwritten page from his pocket. He had carefully written the significant points of the trial results. He showed it to the cardiologist. The cardiologist read everything written on that paper and he appeared utterly satisfied.

Then, Iliyas turned the page where he had written how his company’s gliclazide brand was as good as the new molecule Canagliflozin in managing diabetes in CV patients and at much less cost. The cardiologist was at first amused but once he read the full page, he asked Iliyas in a serious tone, “Is this available?” Iliyas rattled names of chemists around the hospital where his product could be made available only if the cardiologist wrote on a piece of paper that the product be made available. The cardiologist did. The call was over

And think of it, it was our appointment with the cardiologist.

Now my question, “Have you heard about Micro-Moments?” Good chance that you would have. It is now a five-year-old concept devised by Google and is the backbone of digital marketing or selling that happens through digital devices, like smartphones, tablets, laptop computers, or maybe even the POP digital kiosk.

Google says that a person who intends to buy something passes through 4 micro-moments or micro-behaviors before he pays money or commits to purchase. They are I – Want – To – Know, I – Want – To – Go, I – Want – To – Do, and I – Want – To – Buy moments. Take a look at the infographic below or refer to Https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/consumer-journey/micro-moments-understand-new-consumer-behavior

Ok, so that’s a lot of gyan. How does it relate with the story?

It is a classic case of Micro-Moment in action and a proof that Micro-Moment concept is possible outside digital marketing

Let’s go back to the cardiologist’s clinic and replay what Iliyas did. The Cardiologist wanted to know about the CANVAS Trial. Rather he wanted to know about an anti-diabetic medicine that is also safe for cardiac patients. Typically, the I -Want – To – Know moment. Iliyas knew about it and was ready. Once the cardiologist got the information about the trial, he wanted to prescribe canagliflozin. This was the I – Want – To – Do moment. Iliyas was ready again. He proposed his anti-diabetic molecule. The cardiologist read the details about Iliyas’s brand and got convinced with the comparisons. He got converted to prescribe Iliyas’s product and asked where it was available, the I -Want – To – Go, moment. Iliyas ready as usual told the names of the chemists. Finally, in the I – Want – To – Buy moment, Iliyas got the doctor to write on his letterhead that he wanted the product to be made available.

Why are these Micro-Moments so important for marketers even in Pharma? We are accustomed to some very routine kind of promotion for our products. But if we carefully observe each of our customers, we shall see that every single customer shows this Micro-Moment behavior. We must be alert to note it and be ready to use it to our or our products’ advantage. With our experience, we know our customer behavior and we can plan our promotion on the basis of Micro-Moments.