Games for pharma marketing are starting to get attention by the medical industry as the influx of GenXers and Years into today’s workforce is pushing the industry`s conservative management leaders to play more games. Cuttingedge, fast paced, highly competitive computer based simulations and games designed to educate as they engage are gaining traction in the industry. The influx of GenXers and Years digital natives, as they are called into today’s workforce is pushing the industry`s conservative management leaders to play more games. Cuttingedge, fast paced, highly competitive computer based simulations and games designed to educate as they engage are gaining traction in the industry. Make no mistake: these games are not the Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and of course, Sue of Ms. PacMan game, but rather they are meaningful, exciting exercises created to enhance professional development.
By Robin Robinson In January 2008, game growth trends include computer-based simulation training and the use of game show platforms. According to Marc Prensky, founder and CEO of Corporate Gameware LLC, games are becoming more relevant throughout healthcare education. As early as the 1990s, the pharmaceutical industry began spending games for pharma marketing to educate doctors, patients and consumers, and to train production workers, compliance officers and other employees, authors, educators, said. Mr. Plensky, who is also a gamer, says. designer. The entire field of health care games is expanding in different directions, including pharmaceutical companies in the mix. In fact, some pharmaceutical companies have been using games for much longer than companies in other industries. For example, Mr. Prensky has worked with Pfizer to develop a simulation game that explains the drug development process.
Pfizer has been doing simulations for the drug development process for some time, but the company didn’t have a good way to explain to its public relations people why it takes 10 years and X billions of dollars to develop a drug, he says. Mr. Prensky developed a custom drug development simulation game for just that purpose and once the PR staff played through it phase after phase everyone clearly understood the process. Mr. Prensky also explains how Johnson & Johnson is using simple games to convey basic legal concepts to employees. When the managers at the corporate legal department wanted to create learning around the concept of effective communications, they developed a Website with a number of simple games for learners to play that helped them understand the elements needed for clear and effective communications, he says.
Games for pharma marketing include crosswords, hangmans, word searches, and ciphertexts. Missy Covington, Communication Director at LearningWare and co-author of I’ll Take Learning for 500: Using Game Shows to Engage, Motivate and Train, is one of her company’s largest customers in the pharmaceutical industry. And training games are divided into many areas. One of the reasons pharmaceutical companies are so big in the gaming sector is that they need to do so much training, including compliance, sales, product and process training, Covington says. Creative trainers will find ways to use the game. More and more people are understanding the concept that training says nothing. Trainers can’t just inform people and expect them to receive it. Training should be interactive.
In the past five years, pharma has shown more interest in using games to train sales reps. While simple games have been in use for a number of years, more sophisticated games are advancing, says Steve Woodruff, founder and president of Impactiviti LLC. This trend is being driven somewhat by the younger members of the salesforces, the generations that grew up playing intense competitive games online, on their cell phones, PDAs, and iPods. Unlike baby boomers, whose concept of gaming may be outdated, the younger generations are very comfortable with gaming and are demanding interactivity and competitiveness in their training.
One of the best ways to move information into the minds and hearts of these people is through gaming platforms. Generational Gap Especially baby boomers seem to resist training techniques that are too fun. When one of our experts recently left a game presentation at a conference, he reported hearing a conversation between the two participants.
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