33 TECHFEED Medicx
the geographic area, the DMA, where you thought your ad might have the most success. You were paying for the broadcast signal to reach all the people in that region. “But with the new infrastructure of cable operators, satellite operators and online, commercials are actually delivered to a much tighter geography. You can do that down to a one-to-one level in certain (non-health care) categories. But being able to target your message to a Micro- Neighborhood area can still eliminate a lot of inefficiencies in broadcast advertising by delivering a message on a one-to-few basis.” TARGETING THE FUTURE Most of us want our medical histories to be private. Along with our financial records, what we tell our doctors, is one of things we most want to keep under wraps. The Medicx service strictly adheres to US data laws which require that all medical information accessed be de-identified from the original patient. Though that may meet the legal threshold, does it meet the true spirit of patient privacy? People want their medical information to be private out of a basic instinct to hide their potential vulnerabilities. There’s a primal fear we all have that if anyone knew our weak spots they might take advantage of them. In the best possible world, a de- identified service like Medicx can allow the right care to find the right patient. But in a for-profit health care system, the line between valuable service and exploitation of vulnerabilities could be a short step unless there is substantial regulation and oversight. Medicx services are just one example of an industry using the wealth of data at its disposal to refine and leverage its marketing capabilities. Though some might be nervous about receiving highly targeted ads from Merck or Pfizer, these technologies are going to be rolled out at an accelerated rate, and by companies with far less oversight and regulation than are required in the healthcare sector. THE IDEA IS TO BE AS RELEVANT TO AN INDIVIDUAL AS POSSIBLE
gender, age, household income or purchase behaviour or social behaviour. That’s why I think it has some unlocked potential.” Medicx is not a global service. At present the only countries where this level of targeted advertising and marketing is permitted are the USA and New Zealand. But there is nothing to keep the general concept from being applied to other markets internationally, provided there is a geographic structure or hierarchy to attach it to. MODI Media has been one high-profile adopter of the Medicx service. MODI is media giant GroupM’s advanced television arm which develops addressable TV, hyper-local TV and interactive/OTT campaigns on behalf of its international clients. MODI is leveraging the Medicx data to help its raft of clients better target the US pharmaceutical market. “The way TV advertising has always been done, you would buy the space in
Powered by FlippingBook