Pharma Marketing: What's Working for HCPs in 2025 - The Personalization Imperative

The European Medical Journal's recent roundtable with three pharma marketing leaders reveals a critical shift in healthcare provider (HCP) engagement strategies for 2025. The key insight? Personalization is no longer optional—it's essential for cutting through the noise and driving meaningful engagement.

The Personalization Challenge

Information Overload vs. Tailored Solutions

The roundtable participants—Julia Strandberg (Philips), Yacin Marzouki (Global Omnichannel Engagement Lead), and Catarina Sobral (Sandoz)—identified a fundamental disconnect between what HCPs say they want and what actually captures their attention. While clinicians may request feature-rich solutions, what truly resonates are simplified, personalized tools that reduce cognitive burden and align with individual workflow preferences.

Key Insight: 77% of healthcare providers report losing clinical time due to incomplete or inaccessible patient data, with over a third losing more than 45 minutes per shift. This creates an urgent need for solutions that give HCPs back time to focus on patients.

Why One-Size-Fits-All Fails

The Gap Between Stated and Actual Preferences

The experts identified several critical gaps in traditional approaches:

• Content Consumption Mismatch: HCPs ask for deep clinical evidence but respond best to quick, visual, and actionable content that mirrors their daily reality
• Channel Preferences: Different HCP segments (millennials, Gen Z, experienced practitioners) consume information differently
• Engagement Timing: Transactional approaches fail—HCPs want relationship-building, not just product information

The Solution: Content that matches HCPs' "TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn brains" rather than traditional, lengthy presentations.

Personalization Success Stories

AI-Integrated Workflows

Philips' approach embeds AI across their portfolio to support real-time decision-making and reduce administrative burden. Rather than standalone AI tools, they create seamless, personalized experiences that align with individual clinician needs.

Fast-Paced, Engaging Videos

High-quality, platform-native content that feels like what HCPs already consume on their favorite channels. The key is adjusting editing styles for different audiences—more authentic for Gen Z, faster-paced for millennials.

Peer-Led Content

Short, bite-sized congress highlight videos and co-created initiatives extend brand presence beyond traditional touchpoints while maintaining relevance to HCPs' daily challenges.

Measuring Personalization Success

Beyond Simple Reach

The experts emphasize measuring engagement depth among qualified HCPs—those who match audience profiles and engage in multiple ways over time. This includes:

• Multi-touch interactions with strategically important decision-makers
• Message recall (both prompted and unprompted)
• Quality and depth of engagement across various HCP groups
• Click-through rates as direct measures of relevance

The Personalization Imperative

Key Takeaways for Pharma Marketers:

1. Simplicity Over Complexity: What cuts through noise isn't feature-rich solutions but simplified tools that reduce cognitive burden
2. Platform-Native Content: Design content that mirrors how HCPs consume information today
3. Relationship Building: Move beyond transactional approaches to build genuine partnerships
4. Data-Driven Personalization: Use engagement depth metrics to measure success, not just reach
5. Co-Creation: Involve HCPs in content development to ensure relevance and authenticity

The message is clear: in 2025, successful pharma marketing requires moving beyond one-size-fits-all approaches to deliver truly personalized experiences that respect HCPs' time, preferences, and daily realities.

For the complete insights from these pharma marketing leaders, read the full article: EMJ Gold - Pharma Marketing: What's Working for HCPs in 2025.