While the market for electronic detailing in the U.S. has reached nearly a point of saturation at roughly half of all practicing physicians, the European market is still in an early stage of development and adoption. In fact, only 15% of European physicians have participated in an electronic detailing program today, a number that has remained statistically stagnant year over year.

However, lack of interest is not a factor on the part of European physicians - who in many cases are not even familiar with electronic detailing as a concept - but rather, a limited supply of programs being offered to physicians in Europe. In fact, almost half of European physicians are not even familiar with electronic detailing as a concept today. That said, the electronic detailing market in Europe does have a few companies acting as active players - with Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) driving the majority of market share today.

This limited awareness and supply of electronic detailing programs in Europe demonstrate a unique market opportunity which exists in Europe today. Whereas many physicians in the U.S. have been inundated with electronic detailing invitations over the past few years, the market is relatively untapped in Europe currently, allowing savvy, ahead-of-the-curve companies to capitalise on physician interest at a time when electronic detailing is still somewhat of a novelty.

One of the major drivers, which has encouraged companies such as Pfizer and GSK to take advantage of electronic promotional opportunities, is the positive effect e-detailing tends to have on the physician's overall time spent with a sales representative from a given company. Although the sales force initially looked at e-detailing with skepticism, wondering if online promotion would render the traditional sales call obsolete, most reps are actually seeing the opposite effect - that the e-detail actually increases the overall time spent with the rep. The office visit takes on a new life in the context of a growing array of clinical information sources - online and offline. Results from the recent Manhattan Research study Taking the Pulse® Europe corroborate these findings, showing that physicians participating in edetailing are more likely to report they spend more time with a rep as a result of an edetail, as opposed to taking away time from the rep as a result. Savvy, ahead-of-the-curve companies across Europe are capitalising on e-detailing as a low-cost opportunity to increase physician engagement and improve the overall sales call quality.

Five Emerging Trends about European Consumer and Physician Use of New Media

1. Connecting to Physicians, on Their Terms

2. Leverage E-detailing as a Sales Force Supplement

3. Online Physician Portals Evolve into Clinical Resources, Beyond News

4. Empowered European Consumers Speak with Their Physician about Information Found Online

5. In the Absence of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising, Online Content Is Critical

For further information, visit:
http://www.manhattanresearch.com/2008EUTrends.aspx

Source: white paper derived from Cybercitizen® Health Europe and Taking the Pulse® Europe
© Manhattan Research, LLC, 2007