When thought leaders lay out a vision of revolutionizing healthcare in the coming years, it’s usually a fusion of medicine and ground-breaking technology that calls to mind sophisticated AI robots performing non-invasive surgery with lasers to cure cancer in a matter of minutes.
Chances are that, sooner or later, that vision of the future of healthcare will be realized. But right now, in many more subtle and user-friendly ways, personalized medicine is already with us and changing the lives of ordinary people.
What is personalized medicine?
In broad terms, it means that there is enough data and analytic ability to craft a health and medical strategy for an individual that is absolutely uniquely tailored to their bodies, and their way of life.
By collecting data, via biometrics and the quantifiable self, by analyzing that data via AI and machine learning and through immersive digital engagement via smart devices, people and patients have access to always-on, personalized health care solutions.
Most of the progress towards personalized medicine is being delivered in such small, incremental steps that it may not seem like much in the moment. But when an old lady in a small town can use bluetooth to run a medical strap connected to her smartphone to read and deliver data to her doctor in a neighboring town – that is a game-changer that is revolutionizing healthcare. And when pregnant women in rural African countries receive notificationsc about what to expect in the coming days and weeks, the scale of change becomes obvious.
Changes to the way we think about the future of healthcare are happening in hundreds of small ways around the globe as technology enters people’s lives and changes them for the better.
Through the magical confluence of big data, medical science, cloud sharing, and mobile technology, medical professionals are laying the foundations of a system where your health will be monitored via your mobile device, analyzed, and used to develop a healthcare plan tailored to your individual needs.
With technology’s pervasiveness in all of our lives, we are beginning to experience what it’s like to live with a mobile doctor on hand.
What’s Driving Innovation?
There are a number of factors driving the digital economy that have combined beautifully over the last decade to provide a perfect window of opportunity for changing the way we manage our health and treat illness.
Cloud computing, mobile technology, and big data have fundamentally changed how information is accessed and managed; it’s allowed companies and research units to share vital data in real-time and develop incredible breakthroughs. When you add another layer built from sophisticated sensors and the Internet of Things, then all things start to become possible. Measuring blood pressure, iron for anemia, glucose levels…even tracking food ingestion via mobile is on the brink of being utterly transformative.
It’s hard to overstate how profoundly the ways that we gather mobile data, handle it and analyze the results will change the way medicine operates. Doctors are getting a window into people’s lives that they have never had before.
Yet for all the attraction and the promise of personalized medicine, the fact is that we are still only at the very beginning of where the sector is going. Widespread adoption of technology that dramatically improves our lives is still very much a pipedream. In the US, we’re still arguing over what the healthcare system will look like.
The Washington Post reports that digital healthcare is not yet widespread. “That’s largely because they represent major shifts for healthcare systems that are still largely paid for patching people up, not preventing sickness.”
Dramatic change is all around us, and there are so many areas of excitement and intrigue presenting themselves. Technology such as IoT and biometric data, smart containers and dispensers that understand whether patients are following prescribed instructions, are tilting the equation towards preventive care, with dramatic implications.
Looking ahead, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the future of personalized medicine is being shaped by the advancements in data collection and diagnostics.
Three Areas of Particular Interest Regarding Data Collection and Diagnostics:
- DNA Sequencing & The Microbiome Are the Keys to Data Collection: The Human Genome Project has been one of mankind’s greatest achievements. By mapping and understanding all human genes, known as the genome, scientists laid the foundation for a genetic approach to medicine that is unlike anything the world has ever seen before. The cost of sequencing the genome has been reduced so dramatically that it’s conceivable to begin tailoring treatments based on an individual’s genetic makeup.
- Closely related is the microbiome which influences human mood and behavior, as well as gut health, human development, and metabolic disorders. Real-time microbiome analysis could one day give us the ability to instantly diagnose what our body needs and when it needs it.
- Nanotechnology Will Take Data Collection even further: The ways in which doctors deliver drugs to a patient are about to change forever. In February of 2018, scientists discovered methods of using programmed DNA that could make it “fold itself like origami” in order to starve cancer cells of blood and reduce tumors in mice. It may sound like science-fiction, but it’s coming true. Nanotech works alongside Ingestible computers that can easily enter the system and monitor what is going on from inside the body. These breakthroughs represent a formidable new weapon in the fight against diseases that have brought people to their knees for centuries.
- Mobile and Tricoders Are the Future of Diagnostics: No single device will have a bigger impact on personalized medicine than the devices we carry on our bodies and in our hands. Using incredible computing power, seamless connectivity, and sophisticated apps build to gather and transmit the user’s daily health data, mobile devices are at the forefront of preventative medical intervention. Alongside the mobile phone is a new generation of scanning devices called medical tricorders that record basic vital functions and can be used for as self-diagnostic tools.
Where Do We Go from Here?
We are at the dawn of a new era, which feels exciting and daunting at the same time. But it’s good to remember that the personalized solutions that medical technology provides are only as good as the data they receive to work with. Is it conceivable that patients should be able to provide their entire DNA sequence to doctors? It is. But will the responsibility to deliver solid health data lie with the patient or external service providers? How is medical data securely stored and delivered?
All of these questions are being asked and debated as the information age begins its transformation of health care. The consequences for all of us will be profound and are set to reshape an industry that is at the core of humanity’s drive for a better quality of life, which is something worth fighting for.
8- Far and wide across the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) and retail economy, digital disruption is forcing legacy brands to radically reevaluate how they view production, distribution and consumption in the digital age. With distribution and sales models dating back 100 years or more, incumbents have been slow to adapt to the rise of the “digital native” consumer — a younger, more nuanced and tech-savvy demographic.
Unable to successfully employ the “mass-mass-mass” strategies of years past (mass production, mass distribution, mass advertising), the industry has fallen on tough times: Retailers and supermarkets are filing for bankruptcy at record rates. CPG legacy brands are reporting significant loses at the hands of fast-growing startups. Amazon and Walmart, in addition to their intensely bitter price wars, have transitioned from clients to competitors with their own private labels. Consumer preferences are continuing to shift as technology evolves.
If legacy brands want to survive, they must transform and adapt.
Emulate The Digital Natives
E-commerce is growing at a year-over-year rate of 16%, according to Mary Meeker’s annual Internet Trends report. From the Dollar Shave Club to Warby Parker, digital native CPG brands are setting customer expectations ablaze with their speed to market, agility, direct-to-consumer distribution models and personalization.
Through the use of CRM applications, social media and analytics, digital native CPG disruptors have quickly mastered the art of leveraging technology while simultaneously focusing on the experience of the consumer. They are efficiently employing data as a mechanism to build long-term loyalty, and legacy brands are starting to notice. In fact, a recent industry survey found that those CPG legacy brands “winning” in the face of digital disruption are the ones most effectively using consumer data to set prices, analyze shopper attributes and generate more granular shopping insights.
While it may be a stretch, at least in the short term, to expect legacy CPG brands to successfully mimic their more digitally committed counterparts, incumbents can easily replicate many aspects of the digital native business model (i.e., agility, creativity, tech know-how, etc.) by developing internal startups and encouraging corporate entrepreneurship and venture groups. As a catalyst for innovation, internal growth groups can concentrate on customer-driven strategies, practice growth hacking and develop innovative ways to collect data and meet customer expectations in the digital age.
Personalize The Customer Experience
Shifting focus from digital native brands to digital native customers, a key component of digital disruption in 2018 is the consumer preference for personalized products and experiences.
A recent Deloitte study revealed that not only are one in four consumers willing to pay more to receive a personalized product or service, but 22% of consumers are in fact willing to share some data in return. Incumbent CPG brands, through the power of data and technology, are uniquely positioned to provide consumers with mass customization and personalization at scale. Components of the purchasing experience (e.g., ordering, replenishing, upgrading, etc.), as well as the end product itself (e.g., packaging, contents, flavors, etc.), can all be enhanced through data analysis and technology.
Customizable and direct-to-consumer e-commerce is picking up steam, while some CPG brands are also experimenting with subscription services, including the “surprise me” subscription — a subscription service for “expertly curated products” that are automatically selected and delivered to an individual. This trend has taken on increased popularity in recent years, with Accenture reporting that almost half of all consumers would be inclined to use a “surprise me” subscription.
Another potential personalization evolution could come in the form of manufacturing technologies. Look for additive manufacturing and 3D printing to be the next frontier of CPG product and experience customization. Disruptive personalization is emerging in personalized nutrition, with new players such as YouBar or ElementBars that allow you to personalize the composition and nutrition to your needs. The future of personalized nutrition will come when companies incorporate quantified-self sensor data and merge areas of health and wellness with on-demand or subscription-based personalized food.
Back To Basics: The Omnichannel Approach
A final area of focus for legacy CPG brands looking to overcome the pitfalls of digital disruption is perhaps the most important: channel diversification.
To put it bluntly, if legacy brands are not employing an omnichannel strategy in the face of digital disruption, the chances of success are slim. With retailers closing stores faster than they are opening them, legacy brands can no longer depend on the comparative advantages of years past. Not only are these models notably inflexible in responding to consumer demand, but they provide CPG brands with minimal incentive for cross-channel collaboration and integration. In other words, these strategies are incapable of responding to consumer preferences in the digital age.
With more than 73% of consumers employing multiple channels throughout the course of a retail purchase, legacy brands cannot afford to limit themselves to operating within single channels and silos. For today’s tech-savvy digital natives, social media, smartphones and the traditional brick-and-mortar store are all in play as points of purchase.
As consumers are increasingly relying on e-commerce to meet their purchasing needs, industry incumbents should make a concerted effort to use and leverage digital channels while creating a seamless shopping experience for customers — one that utilizes the best aspects of both the physical and digital realms. By implementing their own e-commerce enabled websites with both mobile and social media as major channels of focus, incumbent CPG brands can successfully meet and stay ahead of the channel preferences of today’s digital consumers.
In Conclusion
Adaptation and survival for CPG brands in 2018 depend on the implementation of a digital, consumer-centric, omnichannel approach. CPG brands need to go back to basics, seek to understand their shoppers and consumers, engage them across channels, and deliver a set of personalized goods and services. If CPGs continue to face their old “this must be a billion-dollar business” thinking to launch any innovation attempt, they will face extinction
