Ramarketing is a PR and marketing consultancy for pharma and biotech companies. I recently sat down with Raman Sehgal, the company’s founder and global president, to discuss the industry, the impact of the pandemic, and the key to effective engagement in the healthcare sector.

How has the past two years impacted Ramarketing (and the wider pharma industry)?

The pandemic marked an exceptionally busy time for us. Many of our clients have been and continue to be integral to the global development and production of Covid-19 vaccines – so we’ve been supporting them on that. What the industry has achieved collectively over the past 18 months is nothing short of exceptional.

It has been the catalyst for continued growth for us as an agency given our work with the pharmaceutical supply chain and we’ve switched our focus to deploying and developing smarter digital marketing strategies. As part of these strategies, we’ve seen a huge increase in PPC and SEO work, better, faster ways of working (quicker decision making, reduced lead times on activity) and more emphasis on brand differentiation.

What digital trends within pharma/biotech do you see coming to the forefront in 2022?

This year, I think we’ll see a much greater focus on strong, digitally-driven customer experiences with specific attention to detail on adding a hyper-personalised touch when interacting virtually… We’ll also see a bit of a trend change with in-person meetings and events. Many will start to scrutinise the value of in-person formats. What can be achieved in person that cannot be achieved digitally? If 2020 and 2021 saw technology as a great enabler, 2022 will see it become truly transformational.

What are the key pillars of effective customer engagement for healthcare and pharma companies?

Trust, expertise, credibility, quality and the ability to serve global markets. Through embedding these key pillars of engagement within their DNA, within their culture, within their entire company fabric, healthcare and pharma companies can become truly agile, responsive businesses that are in tune with their customers’ needs and able to adapt and evolve.

It’s no longer about just providing a product, but also providing a great customer experience, enabled by technology. Only by doing this will they differentiate themselves and genuinely develop a competitive edge.

Tell us about your role… what does a typical day look like for you?

A typical day has to start with coffee – and it’s a theme that runs throughout it! Once the caffeine is flowing through my veins, my main focus day-to-day is around business strategy; looking at where we’re at, where we’ve been, and where we’re heading. It’s been a wild ride the last 12 years growing a global agency, and I like to keep a pulse on the direction of Ramarketing, so I check in with my teams in different time zones regularly.

I’m very involved from a people perspective and so mentorship is still a big part of my life, supporting members of the team where they need it or providing specific coaching on specialist marketing activities or sector topics. I learn as much from them as they do from me.

Creativity is my lifeblood and I also get involved with developing new ideas and initiatives for clients, especially around highly creative brand projects. This often sees me consulting with our C-Level clients, including investors, to get large scale activity up and running. If that isn’t enough to keep me busy, I can often be found hosting my Molecule to Market podcast show, a pharma industry-leading podcast that I launched in 2020. It feeds my need to continually learn from the best, interviewing industry experts from across our sector. I love a good chat!

What’s been the biggest achievement in your career to date?

Growing an international business and establishing operations in the UK and US profitably without compromising culture, our values and our core desire to do the best we can for our clients. Ramarketing has genuine soul, genuine people and the collective purpose of being better – each and every day. I am also proud of launching my very first book, The Flounder Founder, which puts together my learnings and experience over the last 12 years. An interesting read if I do say so myself.

What’s next for Ramarketing?

The sky is the limit for us and I’m truly excited about what the future holds. We’ve grown our headcount by a quarter this year, and that means lots of new faces, new ideas, fresh thinking. It’s exciting to be welcoming more and more talented marketeers from around the world to the Ramarketing family each month.

From a customer perspective, we’re always conscious of ensuring our business strategy and business goals are aligned with wider industry trends. This means an approach that is predominately focused on digital expertise – and I see lots of growth in this area – and fine-tuning our technology prowess to follow a tech-driven path to growth.

As we continue to invest in our US and UK teams, we’re also focused on expansion including the opening of more offices in mainland Europe and Asia. The future is very bright and I’m ready to grab whatever 2022 throws at us with both hands.