Multichannel Marketing in the Romanian Pharmaceutical Industry: A Pre-, During, and Post-COVID-19 Comparison

Multichannel marketing solutions create the possibility of comprehensive strategies in the pharmaceutical industry, which allows for a variation of interactions with healthcare professionals. In the last decades, these solutions have evolved significantly. Thus, there was a shift from traditional models that were specifically focused on sales, to hybrid data-driven approaches, and then, with the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an increase in the importance of digital solutions. Obviously, quarantine, social distancing, but also the workload of healthcare professionals (HCPs) during the COVID-19 pandemic, was a catalyst towards the digitalization of marketing solutions. On the other hand, it has also been a strong disruption for traditional offline marketing channels, which targeted face-to-face interaction between pharmaceutical companies and healthcare professionals (HCPs). This paper examines how multichannel marketing has evolved from traditional offline marketing to digital strategies within the pharmaceutical industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It specifically investigates how communication methods between pharmaceutical companies and healthcare professionals are affected. In this regard, a questionnaire was developed and distributed among professionals working in the pharmaceutical marketing field. Through this, it aims to evaluate from the perspective of these professionals the effectiveness of multi-channel marketing in communication that was carried out before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Effective communication in the post-pandemic era, targeting the pharmaceutical industry, must have a hybrid approach that integrates digital engagement, personalized content and face-to-face interactions.