How We Helped a Biopharma Company Build a B2C App from Start to Finish

Building consumer products is different from B2B products — consumers have different needs, pains and purchasing power than B2B users. 

Find out how we dreamed, designed and delivered a B2C app with VMS BioMarketing that equips patients with chronic conditions with information, experts and motivation to achieve their best outcome.

Enter Wellkind. 

Problem

As a tech-enabled company, VMS BioMarketing did not have an in-house product team, but they wanted to build a digital product to better serve their existing customers. They needed a fractional product team to fill the product gaps on their team and bring their product vision to life.

Their product vision? To change the way people experience the drug and wellness industry by connecting patients and companies in a meaningful way. VMS wanted to engage, inspire and motivate people to invest in their personal wellness by starting and continuing treatment.

VMS wanted the product to:

• Educate patients about their disease or illness so they want to continue treatment.
• Teach patients about their treatment plan so they understand the risks and benefits.
• Create long-term relationships with patients to engage them on their wellness journeys.
• Help scale the current system of nurse-only support, freeing nurses to have more meaningful patient interactions.

But there were a few challenges.

Challenge #1: For people with chronic conditions, the patient experience is scary. Research found people have better relationships with the brands that make their shoes than the companies that make the life-saving medication they take every day. Moreover, people don’t want to engage with their disease. They don’t want to wake up and be reminded that they have a chronic illness every day. It’s a scary thought. 

Challenge #2: Pharma companies have no relationship with their patients. The industry isn’t known for high-quality customer service or long-lasting relationships.

Challenge #3: People with chronic conditions don’t stick to their treatment plans. Patient abandonment is 35%. Often, patients don’t even pick up their prescriptions, or they start treatment but just stop taking their prescriptions after a while. 

Determined to better serve patients, VMS BioMarketing came to Innovatemap to create a digital solution that solves these challenges and inspires chronically ill patients to start and maintain treatment. 

Solution

To bring the app to fruition, Innovatemap helped VMS BioMarketing:

• Align internally on their product strategy and vision for the future.
• Activate that strategy by building a product users love.
• Translate the product’s value into the right words, visuals and tools so customers want to keep using the product.

Product Management and Design

To achieve strategic business goals, you must first build the right product. 

Our product managers and designers helped the VMS team identify what product to build and how to get there. 

First, we defined and activated the right MVP roadmap. Through working sessions, we honed VMS’s product strategy and aligned on the path to success. 

Then, we established a clear direction for the MVP. With users and outcomes at the center of all decision-making, we identified and prioritized the features that will add the most value. 

Next, we designed product screens to support development as VMS brings the product to life, including concept, navigation and blockframe designs. Throughout the development process, we worked closely with VMS’s developers to advocate for users, be proactive about potential UX errors, provide guidance and ensure production was true to the vision.

Product Marketing and Brand

To build a more meaningful connection between users and the product, we created impactful words, tools and visuals so patients enjoy the app and want to continue treatment. 

The strong product marketing and brand foundation not only explains what the product does and why, but it creates a welcoming space that empowers patients to access information at their own pace whenever they need it. To address the challenge of patients abandoning treatment and their lack of emotional connection to the company, everything about the brand says, “We’re with you. We’re here to help. Keep going.” 

We created the entire foundation for how the brand looks and talks, both in and out of the product. 

We delivered: 

• A robust positioning and messaging framework.
• A thorough brand guide with extensive illustration libraries and implementation support.
• Socialization and enablement materials to support VMS through production, development, implementation, launch and beyond.

Exceptional product strategy and design is useless if it’s never built. We see the product through to development, launch and beyond.

The first step to launching a product is getting your team on board. For Wellkind especially, it was critical that nurses (who would also need to use the app) understand that this tool helps them, not replaces them. So we equipped the VMS team with the story, words and tools to educate and inspire nurses to use and promote Wellkind.

After equipping internal teams with branded product screens, we equipped the team to launch Wellkind in the appropriate channels with words and visuals that drive action.

Impact

The true impact of our engagement will be felt by patients for years to come, as VMS BioMarketing expects to engage over 25,000 unique patients using Wellkind throughout 2023.

“Bringing Wellkind to market is another monumental step towards providing the biopharma industry a differentiated way to engage with patients and medication adherence,” said Mike Young, CTO. “Wellkind is a patient’s one-stop shop, delivering an experience that is personalized to each patient.”

The Wellkind app was selected to be featured in the 2022 Innovation Issue for PM360 in the product category, a pharma trade publication that highlights the latest and biggest innovations across marketing, commercialization, R&D and more.

The VMS BioMarketing team was thrilled with our partnership.

“I can’t tell you how happy we are with the out of this world work Innovatemap has delivered,” said Jennifer Wilson, CFO. “I am blown away by the talent the team has. The entire team came together to deliver a product that means so incredibly much to us.”

“I feel very grateful that I had the opportunity to partner with Innovatemap,” Jen continued. “You have an incredible company and a team I’ll never forget. This is the best investment I’ve made all year.”

Want to build and market a consumer app? Find out how our experts can help.

See our work with VMS BioMarketing