EXPLORING TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS DILEMMAS & RELATIONSHIP MARKETING PRACTICES IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY OF GREECE

Increased use of technology has an immediate effect on established business operations (Li, 2010). Marketing over the last years, has been heavily remodeled and contemporary literature correlates these alterations to the proliferated use of digital means (Baird & Parasnis, 2011). Consequently, this paper indents to investigate the marketing environment as applied in the pharmaceutical sector of Greece, focusing on the emerging phenomenon of integrating digital tools within the heavily regulated marketing strategies of the field. This study takes an interpretivist research stance and it conducts elite interviews with high managerial executives of the field. It is through the use of this approach that the study seeks to reflect the current status of what is today called digital marketing and understand its effect on traditional marketing tactics. Preliminary findings indicate an overall positive, yet indecisive perception for the under-investigation topic, highlighting the importance of digital mediums in the new marketplace model. Regardless of the aforementioned, managers still appear to be hesitant with the level of understanding within pharmaceutical organizations and specifically regulatory departments and executives of past generations (Panigyrakis & Veloutsou, 1999). Finally, the use of digital initiatives, remains limited as the research presented a number of challenges. Particularly, the concept of digital marketing is yet misconceived within the Greek pharmaceutical firms, an assumption further established when compared to perceptions of multinational organizations. Although the investigation set the basis of understanding an emerging phenomenon, the assumptions drawn lead to even bigger questions regarding the under explored topic. Overall, the legal environment of this new marketplace lacks a clear regulatory framework. The lack of such a framework creates a great risk for the industry as regulatory departments hold a crucial role in the successful implementation of digital marketing in this market. On top of that, regulatory departments prevent the use of new channels and they even promote a sense of fear. On the other hand, HCPs (Health Care Professionals) understand the positive outcome of using such channels. They, nevertheless, are not familiar enough with the use of such means and neither can they fully understand how to capitalize on it. Additionally, the study explored in-depth the main differences among national and multinational firms' views on the usage of digital marketing. There exists a huge gap between the national and multinational business environment and it is still expanding. Greek managers are still driven by the amount of the budget and they do not take advantage of new opportunities, such as the use of digital channels. Nevertheless, they agree that the integration of digital channels plays a crucial role in the internal environment and commercial operations of an organization. In general, this study suggested deploying immediate training on the digital landscape among pharmaceutical businesses, and it recommended managers to incorporate digital initiatives in financial planning.