Introducing twentyeightc: A new creative agency crafting with purpose in healthcare communications FIND OUT MORE
Introducing twentyeightc: A new creative agency crafting with purpose in healthcare communications FIND OUT MORE

Driving iCVA Channel Excellence for a US-Based Global Pharma

Transforming HCP engagements with iCVAs

In today’s competitive pharmaceutical landscape, engaging healthcare professionals (HCPs) effectively is paramount. Our case study reveals the strategic approach, implementation, and significant impact of partnering with twentyeightb that enabled our client to revolutionise their sales strategy. Keen to learn how to enhance customer engagement, optimise sales calls, and drive meaningful change in patient care through interactive, core visual aid (iCVA) channel excellence? Here’s our blueprint.

The situation

Our client, a US-based large global Pharma manufacturer, is set on becoming industry leaders in enabling their field teams to orchestrate great customer experiences that support brand differentiation and improve outcomes for more patients.

To achieve this, the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) issued a directive to transition all brands from using paper and static CVAs to data-enabled iCVAs over a period of eight months.

With the desire to move at speed, there were obvious implications for the organisation in regard to time, money and stress.

The large Pharma manufacturer’s Omnichannel Strategy team recognised a lack of prior experience within the organisation in creating best-in-class full HTML iCVAs. Moreover, due to growing concerns that the lack of creative agency expertise in iCVA creation could lead to long-term inconsistencies across the organisation, the Omnichannel Strategy team wanted an innovative solution to achieve long-term iCVA channel excellence.

Approach

Our journey with the large Pharma manufacturer began with a website enquiry from a brand team who were keen to kickstart their iCVA creation process.

At twentyeightb, we believe in equipping our clients with the right mindset, skillset and toolset to create best-in-class iCVAs, that the field team wants to use. To ensure iCVA best practices were embedded into the creation process from the first iteration, we directly started working with brand teams through twentyeightb’s live co-creation offering, and worked cross-functionally with Omnichannel Strategy and Global Commercial Operation teams to craft organisational standards for long-term best practices.

Enable field teams to share content in meetings directly to the HCPs devices and avoid tech set up issues (we love this one!)

“We selected twentyeightb to be our strategic partner in developing and building our first interactive HTML sales aid based on their innovative approach and agility within this space.

Having completed both our initial project and several rounds of updates, we couldn’t be happier with our decision. twentyeightb’s wealth of expertise in rep enablement, customer engagement, and creation of innovative Veeva-based CRM tools has helped us deliver what has become the gold standard for interactive sales aids across the therapeutic areas of our large pharmaceutical company.

The launch of the iCVA developed by twentyeightb has led to significant impact across the customer journey, unlocking opportunities for additional time with customers, enabling deeper engagement within product discussions and informing our omnichannel ecosystem – ultimately driving meaningful change in patient care.”

Associate Marketing Director, US

Working above-brand with Omnichannel Strategy, we developed three deliverables around iCVA practice:

  1. An Interactive in-Veeva Learning Tool, developed using our proprietary selling effectiveness data, which provided brand teams with comprehensive training around the design principles and functionalities of an iCVA.
  2. An iCVA Channel Excellence Brand Guide, which took inspiration from our ongoing collaboration with the large Pharma manufacturer and our extensive industry experience around twentyeightb’s pillars of best practice.
  3. An iCVA Data & Analytics Guide, which shaped the whole organisation’s strategy and standards on clickstream data, as well as other supporting analytics, such as programmatic writing to the field team’s pre-call planning dashboard, enabling meaningful and actionable customer insights for sales, marketing and support teams.

Incorporating a “hearts and minds” approach into the iCVA creation process was crucial for setting brand teams up for success. As part of our launch support, we attended their monthly marketing forum, emphasising the “what’s in it for me” piece to win the hearts and minds of brand teams and ensuring they realised the benefits of the iCVA creation process.

Impact

Through our live co-creation service offering, all brands successfully developed and launched fully data-enabled, best-in-class iCVAs with improved iCVA adoption and longer sales calls.

Every brand team was strategically aligned to twentyeightb’s best practice pillars:

  1. Sales Alignment, by introducing customer insight questions to unlock customer needs and supporting objection handling in the moment
  2. Usability, by establishing content hierarchy to support the field team in effectively navigating content for a variety of call scenarios and lengths
  3. HCP Experience, by optimising legibility across all call scenarios and ensuring interactions generate meaningful conversations
  4. Integration & Optimisation with Veeva features such as Approved Email and dynamic content as well as external marketing system customer journeys
  5. Data & Analytics, capturing and reporting customer and content insights to be meaningful and actionable for brand teams through Clickstream and dashboards, and for the field team through pre-call planning tools
  6. Hearts & Minds, by engaging with the field team to enhance buy-in and value of iCVA content

“The iCVA, especially the insights questions, have led to more time with my HCPs. Customers that used to spend 30 seconds have been staying for 5-10 minutes because I am seeking their feedback and input through the call.”

Key Account Manager, US

One brand team from the large Pharma manufacturer also noted that iCVA usage had an exponential impact on New-to-Brand Prescription (NBRx) growth across all HCP touchpoints. When iCVAs were implemented across three HCP touchpoints: face-to-face interactions (F2F), virtual calls and emails, there was an increase in NBRx of up to 131% compared to F2F alone. This demonstrates the notable impact that iCVAs can have on selling discussions, orchestrating great customer experiences that capture and maintain the attention of HCPs, while supporting the field team in sequential calls to add continued value over time.

Since then, our reach within the organisation has expanded to over 10 iCVAs across multiple brands.

“Apart from their strategic thought leadership and technical strengths, the twentyeightb team has been an absolute pleasure to work with and we would recommend them to any brand looking to take their rep enablement and customer engagement to the next level.”

Associate Marketing Director, US

We are delighted to continue our partnership with our client to expand the value of iCVA channel excellence across several brand teams. Upon learning about our collaboration with Omnichannel Strategy, the large Pharma manufacturer’s Medical team reached out with an interest in channel excellence for support on furthering institutional best practice around medical content. We are also in close partnership with the large Pharma manufacturer’s Global team to redefine the way global content adds value to local markets, regardless of what content is currently being used, to bridge the global-local divide and drive content excellence at scale.

Want to enable and empower your field team to be the orchestrators of great customer experiences?

Please reach out and book a meeting today to discuss your journey and how we can help.

Unpacking “Customer Engagement Excellence”

Key Takeaways from Digital Pharma: Unlocked

The pharma industry is no stranger to buzzwords. If you take a moment, you can probably think of a few that have gained traction over the years. One of the most noticeable shifts we’ve seen recently is in job titles. Roles once defined by ‘Digital’ or ‘Omnichannel’ are now framed around ‘Customer Engagement’ or ‘Customer Experience.’ The key word? Customer.

But does this shift signal a real transformation in how pharma operates, putting the customer at the heart of its strategy? Or is it simply another industry trend, more about optics than true change?

Digging Deeper: A Conversation with Industry Leaders

To explore this, we hosted a webinar with a panel of industry experts, opening the discussion to our audience. Our panel featured:

  • Lishan Dubois Halimi (Global Head of Marketing & Customer Experience)
  • Nina Fyhn (Commercial Excellence Manager)
  • Helge Tennø (Strategy & Innovation Expert)
  • Henriette Lonkvist (Global Head of Customer Relationship Management)
  • James Harper (Founder, 28b)

If you missed the live session, you can catch up on demand here

Who is the Customer?

A key discussion point was who we mean when we say ‘customer.’ While patients are the ultimate beneficiaries of our work, the primary customers in a pharmaceutical context are Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) including physicians, pharmacists, nurses etc. Recognising the nuances between these groups is critical to crafting truly effective engagement strategies.

Helge  made a thought-provoking statement: “Supermarkets have customers. The pharmaceutical industry does not.

This perspective underscores a fundamental difference. Pharma’s engagement with HCPs isn’t transactional in the same way as traditional customer relationships. It requires a more sophisticated, needs-based approach.

Beyond Buzzwords: What Does True Customer-Centricity Look Like?

It is easy to talk about customer engagement, but true customer-centricity requires a shift in mindset rather than just new job titles or technology. Nina emphasised: “We are very internally focused, thinking about what we want to send. However, we need to change this approach. We need to ask: what do Healthcare Professionals find valuable?” Helge added: “It is not about the customer. It is about how we drive value by changing behaviour. To change behaviour, we must provide something truly valuable.

Breaking Barriers for a Unified Customer View

A major theme of the discussion was the importance of breaking down silos between marketing, sales, medical, and other departments. A unified view of the customer is essential, and this requires seamless communication and collaboration. Lishan shared: “If you don’t break the silos, the impression that we give to our customers is that we are not connected.” Using tools like customer journey mapping was highlighted as a way to bring different functions together and identify pain points.

From Vanity Metrics to Meaningful Insights

We discussed the need to move beyond vanity metrics (e.g. open rates) and focus more on gathering and acting on meaningful customer insights, to reflect true customer engagement. Henriette challenged the industry’s reliance on surface-level data: “We get excited about high open rates. However, is that real success?

CRM systems play a crucial role in capturing valuable information, but it’s essential to analyse and use that data to improve customer experiences. Lishan shared a common challenge: “We collect vast amounts of data, but without an automated way to analyse feedback, it is difficult to extract real value.” The key takeaway is that technology should support insight-driven decision-making rather than serve as an end in itself.

The Power of Clear and Specific Language

One key takeaway was the importance of precision in language. Broad terms like ‘omnichannel’ can lead to confusion. Helge advised: “Rather than asking, ‘Who is the customer?’, ask, ‘What are their specific needs and situations?’ That shifts the conversation.” Nina added: “Be specific. Are we referring to a pharmacist, a physician, or a nurse?

How Customer-Centric is Pharma, Really?

Ultimately, a customer-centric mindset is the foundation for success. Henriette wisely said: “Keep the people at the heart of everything you do.” It’s about genuinely caring about and understanding the customer, not just ticking boxes or following a checklist. Simply changing job titles or implementing technology without a genuine shift in perspective won’t lead to real change.

We polled our audience with the question: How often does your organisation work in a truly customer-centric way?

  • 2% responded never
  • 21% responded rarely
  • 55% responded occasionally
  • Only 12% responded consistently

The results highlight the gap between intention and execution, showing that the pharmaceutical industry still has work to do.

Practical Steps to Improve Customer-Centricity

  1. Ask the Right Questions – As Nina stated: “What do you actually need from us? How can we deliver it in the best way?
  2. Joint Planning and Alignment – Ensure teams collaborate and work towards shared goals.
  3. Mindset First, Tools Second – Customer engagement  begins with people rather than technology.
  4. Keep it Simple – Henriette advised: “Do not overcomplicate it. Keep it simple from the start.
  5. Remove Organisational Barriers – Foster collaboration between departments to create a seamless experience for Healthcare Professionals.

Final Thoughts

Achieving customer engagement excellence is an ongoing journey. It requires commitment, collaboration, and a shift in thinking rather than just a change in job titles. As Henriette wisely stated: “Keep people at the heart of everything you do.

“Our panel began laying the gauntlet down for those with ‘customer excellence’ titles to really, truly question whether they are putting the customer at the heart of everything they do. However one panel cannot change an industry mindset, as hard as they may try! As an industry we must stop paying lip service to the needs of HCPs and treat it as a moral obligation not to waste their valuable time. I hope this discussion sparks some change for good, no matter how small an initial spark!”

James Harper, Founder twentyeightb

Let us continue the conversation. Join our Digital Pharma: Unlocked community on LinkedIn to stay engaged and updated.

10 Most Under-Utilised Veeva CRM/CLM Features

Setting up for CRM success in 2025

We began our 25 things to watch out for in 2025 series by exploring the 5 big things shaping the world of CRM, from Veeva Vault’s growing adoption to the rising importance of first-party data. Then, we turned our attention to field sales excellence, breaking down the 10 fundamentals that drive high-performing teams.

Here, we’ll focus on maximising your CRM’s potential. Too often, powerful Veeva CRM and CLM features sit under-utilised, resulting in missed opportunities to streamline workflows, enhance HCP engagement, and fuel data-driven decision-making. From dynamic content and clickstream tracking to smarter email tools and call reporting, these under-utilised capabilities can deliver serious impact if you put them to work.

10 Most Under-Utilised Veeva CRM/CLM Features:

1. Email Builder

More flexibility in creating personalised rep-triggered emails

2. Dynamic Content

Create beautiful personalised digital leave-pieces bespoke to each HCP and the output from the sales call

3. HCP Player

Self–led details to reach those hard to see HCPs or share no primary campaigns and data

4. Remote CLM

Enable field teams to share content in meetings directly to the HCP’s devices and avoid tech set up issues (we love this one!)

5. Vault Hosted Content Sharing via VAE

Delivers extreme agility, cost savings and incredible speed to market as once content is approved in PromoMats, you have a link ready to go!

6. Email Fragments

These have been available for donkey’s years but are still massively underutilised – used properly they can significantly reduce cost, time, compliance burden…please start using them!

7. VAE Deep Links

VAE  deep links that use the AccountID token to track HCPs from Veeva through to their journey through your website

8. Clickstream Events

Capture content and customer insights to collect that all important first-party data that will supercharge your omnichannel activities and power your future AI solutions

9. MyInsights Studio CDMs

MyInsights Studio CDMs to customise call reports and enhance field team workflows and encourage field teams to stay on top of that all important data

10. MyInsights / X-Pages Workflow Tools

MyInsights/X-Pages workflow tools and dashboards to enhance territory and selling effectiveness and boost Key Account Planning and Multichannel Cycle Planning

Want to learn more?

Please reach out if you think we can help you with any of the above and if you are interested in learning more.

10 Fundamentals For Field Sales Excellence

Setting up for CRM success in 2025

We kicked off our series on the 25 things that should be on your radar in 2025 with a deep dive into the 5 big things shaping the world of CRM. From Veeva Vault CRM’s  momentum to Salesforce’s newfound freedom to compete, and the rising importance of first-party data, one thing was clear – the way Pharma engages with HCPs is evolving and it is evolving fast.

But even the most advanced CRM is only as powerful as the field teams using it. Which brings us to our next focus: Field Sales Excellence.

Winning in the field  isn’t about working harder – it’s about working smarter. The best teams use data-driven targeting, aligned content, and seamless CRM integration to engage customers effectively. In this article, we break down 10 key fundamentals that set high-performing field teams apart.

10 Fundamentals For Field Sales Excellence:

1. Effective Targeting Process

Effective agile targeting process based on brand strategy and relevant data sources – not just field team preference

2. Adoption Ladder in CRM

Brand strategy aligned adoption ladder visible in CRM that the field team believe in and review regularly

3. Attitudinal Segmentation in CRM

Behavioural Segmentation the field team are onboard with and that is added to CRM via a typing tool to ensure rigour and accuracy

4. Strategic Content Creation Plan to Align Content to Adoption Ladder and Behavioural Segmentation

Strategic content creation plan to align content to adoption ladder and behavioural segmentation including:

5. Selling Scenario Based Data-Enabled Digital Sales Aids

Sales scenario based Data-Enabled Digital Sales Aids – short, easy to use and that capturing content and customer insights to CRM

6. Rep-Triggered Email Suite

Rep-Triggered Email Suite of templates and fragments aligned to segmentation and adoption ladder that enable the field team to orchestrate customer experience over time

7. Clickstream/Data Strategy

CRM Data Strategy for simple, meaningful capture and reporting of data to inform content usage, rep behaviours and customer insights

8. Dashboards

In workflow dashboards and tools to present data to the field team in a meaningful actionable way

9. Consent Strategy, Platform and Integration with CRM

Veeva CRM is not a consent platform, it is a consent channel, so it needs integrating with a proper consent platform that can manage multiple consent channels and a central consent status for each customer.
Make sure you have a clear consent acquisition strategy supported by high value content and an engaged field team.…. “just get the reps to ask for consent” is not a strategy

10. Engage on Mindset and Skillset

Engage the field team on all of the above and focus on mindset and skillset before you jump to the toolset. Understand current limitations and needs through field visits, interviews and surveys, act on the feedback by removing friction where you can and most importantly, work hard to demonstrate the value to them of the technology (WIIFM), adopt a co-creation “one team” attitude and share every success however small.

Want to learn more?

Please reach out if you think we can help you with any of the above and if you are interested in learning more about the all new twentyeightc and how they craft with purpose, head to www.28c.co.uk.

Look out for our 10 most under-utilised Veeva CRM/CLM features coming next.