There’s loads of research into online behaviour, but one of the most interesting projects I have come across recently, the Digital Britain report by Dare, looks at how online behaviour differs between men, women, children and the older generation.

It’s interesting to see that whilst there are still fewer women online than men, they do spend more time there. It’s not just shopping, but honestly most of the reasons women are online could be guessed by any amateur misogynist – nattering on social networks, shopping, and researching lifestyle and health sites (and their husband’s emails!). But there are a few surprises – we girls are spending more and more time gaming online, gambling, on technology sites and, ahem, on porn sites. In terms of the nature of interaction online, women search less than men, suggesting they use other ways of finding out where they need to go, and go straight there.

The male profile is a little less stereotypical – apparently there’s more to blokes online than porn, tech and sport. For a start, they search much more, bookmark much more, and contribute more to sites like Wikipedia. Men also spend much more time on chat rooms than they might have us believe.

A report like this might not have had a kids or silver surfers section 10 years ago, but they are both very much online today. The kids are mainly gaming, but worryingly almost half claim to be ‘happier’ in their online lives than their ‘real’ ones. The silver surfers are the fastest growing audience, but they certainly don’t rival the kids in their internet time.

So what does this mean for us and our communication? Simply, know your audience. Know what they do online, where they are, and how they like to interact. You might be able to meet them there.

After finishing a degree in Natural Sciences, I blew the remainder of my student loan travelling round SE Asia and working in Australia, knocking on doors to sell broadband and pulling steins in a Bavarian Bier Café on Bondi. It was too hot there so I went to snowy Glasvegas for a Masters in Clinical Nutrition and then on to Manchester to start my career in pharmaceuticals and healthcare at Adelphi international research. There I got my head around the workings of our industry and the various ways in which we can draw on and deliver patient and HCP insights. Now I have finally welcomed my inner digital healthcare communications geek and landed at eBee as Account Executive.

Three days in and I was off on an eBee outing to the latest D&AD President’s lecture ’50 Years of Looking Forward’ – a conversation between three internationally ground-breaking gurus in advertising, film and design on the changes they’ve seen in the creative industries and their thoughts on digital today. The shelves of these guys – Bob Gill, Sir Alan Parker and Lord David Puttnam – must be littered with honours and awards. Hollywood, Her Majesty and The Beatles are united in recognising their work. Yet the key themes and resonating bits of advice were so basic and fundamental. The tone was confidence, immersion, abandonment of pre-conceptions. And we are allowed to start our sentences with ‘And’.

In his unaffected-by-living-in-Britain-for-15-years New York Drawl, Gill asked if it struck a nerve with us that we are so keen to revert to the tiny genius in our pocket for the answer, rather than think for ourselves. This thought provoked the prudent question from Helen (of Hive), “What advice would you give to a young creative company, to think of an original idea?” to which he responded:

“Look, I’ve been telling people this for 50 years and they nod and smile and go away but they never seem to do it… But I’ll tell you again. It could be for anything… say, a dry cleaning company. You forget any of the associations, the imagery, the thoughts, the words you relate to dry cleaning, and you go out into the street. You find a dry cleaner and you go in and you sit there. You look round the machines, you talk to the owner, I don’t know what you do but you stay there until you have something interesting to say about dry cleaning. You go to the source and it happens. It’s a miracle.”

London is one of the biggest and best playgrounds in the world, but it’s also a place which can inspire our work. We are the first generation to use IT in everything we do, to tap into our clever phones instead of talking to a human to hash out an answer. Maybe we should take advice from those who have been through the digital revolution from start to finish, and seen what was before it. They can help us guide what is beyond it.

Matt Lowe presented at the meeting, and did exactly that. Sure he left out the financial side of things, and anything really sensitive in the strategy, but he showed us what he did, how it all fit together, and even KPIs and learnings. He told us about each different aspect of his campaign, without arming Grunenthal competitors with anything potentially damaging, demonstrating you can share your approach and success without giving anything confidential away.

The following day I was at the PM awards. 17 categories, 4 or 5 shortlisted in each – even allowing for repetitions there must have been over 70 pieces of work shown. And yet I can safely say that after two hours of award presentations, seeing image after image pass over the screen, I am none the wiser about what anyone actually did. I saw some nice pictures, and there’s clearly some creative flair coming out of lots of the agencies represented, but I find it hard to really appreciate a piece of work if I have no idea of the context around it. What was the problem it was trying to solve? What was the behaviour change it was designed to achieve? Even, what on earth was it, given how hard it is to tell from a screen shot what the digital entries actually were? (Incidentally, the PMs tweeted at me yesterday saying they will take the feedback on board for next year, so fingers-crossed we’ll see things get a little more enlightening.)

In no way is this about spying – I’m not at these events to pick up other people’s ideas and resell them as my own. But I do think that one of the ways that industries progress is by example, and as an industry that has been moaning for years about being ‘left behind’ the consumer world, shouldn’t we help each other out a bit? Let’s take an example from open source developers, whose default position is to share code. Once something has been learnt or done, they don’t leave everyone else to start from scratch, because that’s not how a group of people move on – and it’s not how an industry moves on.

So what does an Interactive Developer do? I have been asked this question many times, and have given a plethora of different answers – each greeted with puzzled looks and nods pretending to understand. During working hours we find ourselves obsessing over objects, functions, arrays, patterns and api’s – losing ourselves in our own world, which can only be assimilated to the digital worlds depicted in films such as Tron and The Matrix. Hours can seem like minutes and before you know it, you are awakened and transported back to your desk, and it’s your turn to make the next round of tea (time for tea!? eBee Gemma will be pleased). The simplest answer to what I do is: ‘computer programming’, but that is a very open-ended answer because there are many types of programmers.

It’s at this point I should introduce myself, I’m Will – Senior Interactive Developer and ‘newBee’ here at eBee. I graduated with a degree in Software Systems for the Arts and Media back in the year 2000, and have worked for numerous digital agencies – for brands covering automotive, electronics, leisure, retail and pharmaceutical. I first entered the digital Pharma/Healthcare arena back in 2005 and have since worked with more medical and healthcare brands than I can remember, spanning a similar number of therapy areas. This has consisted of developing everything from websites and online portals, to interactive kiosks, detail aids, educational games, and more recently iPhone/iPad apps and interactive immersive environments. A large part of this work has been focused on international conferences and events and I have had the privilege of travelling to most corners of the globe to install and support the applications I have produced. This has served not only as great experience, but has offered me unique insights in to the world of engaging with HCP’s both face to face and within digital media.

The word ‘engage’ is crucial to me in defining my role as an Interactive Developer. To engage a user through efficient Human-computer interaction can be a complex science. However, a key point to note is that in this day and age there are increasing numbers of competitors seeking user engagement. The key to success lies in tactical engagement with innovative solutions. This is where the Interactive Developer comes in. Our role is to develop solutions (through insight, planning and programming) to engage users with creative solutions that stand out from the crowd, but also effectively convey key messaging to the target audience.

Today we are being presented with increasing innovations in technology, especially in the form of the so-called smart devices. Mobile Phones, Tablets and more recently televisions are becoming known as ‘smart’. We can interact with them at increasingly higher levels, and users are becoming more familiar with the techniques used to engage with these devices. The way people interact with these devices can make or break the success of the product. From touchscreens, to gesture control – and even to mind control, as more new technology is released, so too the challenge for interactive developers increases and our thirst for new knowledge is partially quenched – until the next release or update. This is a never-ending spiral of constant learning, development and deployment. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for technology and in turn, my role in working with future innovations. As I started this blog post, it’s an interesting time to be an Interactive Developer…

What follows is not an eloquent blog. More the stories and lessons that stood out to me over the two conference days…..

1. A wake up call to us agencies from GSK’s experience working with digital specialists. Partnering with digital specialists in healthcare doesn’t work unless they are specialists in healthcare too.

2. Pfizer’s admirable experience working through their corporate Facebook hacking episode with planning and honesty. Big respect to be live again within the space of a night!

3. Boehringer Ingelheim’s charm and humanity with their handling of commenting and moderation in social media “Help us to keep this wall in interesting by actively contributing in the spirit it’s intended for but please respect the following otherwise our lawyers will be mad at us”

4. Boehringer, again, pioneering the use of cloud computing to build niche social communities. Particularly cool that this uses free technology.

5. The potential of social learning highlighted by Doctors.net. This got me really excited. Education always does. It brings out the ex-teacher in me. The concept has huge potential for advocacy, influence and public disease awareness. We look forward to trying it out.

6. Language processing of patient blogs presented by Prism Ideas. Is this the answer for pure and perfect qualitative research to develop patient insights?

Thanks all for the inspiration and discussion. See you soon.

The Digital Health Exhibit floor at CES this year. Source: http://digitalhealthsummit.com

In revealing the kind of tech that’s likely to hit the highstreets over the next few years, we get a glimpse of what our audience will be using and, by turn, the ways we can interact with them in a healthcare marketing setting. CES also features a dedicated Digital Health Summit.

This year offered proof, if you ever needed it, that Microsoft read the eBee blog. For, as I speculated in my blog last year Of Mice, Men and Motion Input – What’s Next for Healthcare Apps?, Kinect is coming to the PC. Speaking at the popular Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in LA, Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer declared: “We are just getting started, it’s going to be amazing”.

The motion tracking tech – already hugely popular on the Xbox games console – has the potential to shake up how we interact with computers and end the half century dominance of the mouse as PC  peripheral of choice.

Any change in interface creates new opportunities in healthcare. Just look at the use of touchpads with reps, or the success clinical mobile apps. While it’s hard to predict how this change will manifest with motion sensing, it seems fair to say that Kinect PC – which also incorporates voice commands – is likely to make PCs more practical for use in clinical environments. The technology will also open the door to more innovative healthcare tools – for example measuring the size and shape of patients, or recording gait.

Kinect isn’t the only new interface announced at CES this year. Swedish firm Tobii unveiled Gaze – an eye-tracking interface for PC. Like Kinect, Gaze has the potential to upset the rule of the mouse, as well as presenting new interface opportunities for people with restricted movement. However, it looks like it will be in for some stiff competition from Microsoft, who will doubtless update the next version of Windows to make the most of Kinect.

There were some remarkable medical technology announcements too. The Ion Proton Genetic Sequencer – the size of a laser printer – is able to sequence an entire human genome in a few hours. Bringing genetic sequencing to “the masses” (by which I mean hospitals and insurance companies) opens the door to a new era of medicine. Genetic typing could eventually allow for therapies tailored to the individual and – perhaps more importantly – a better understanding and emphasis on the prevention of diseases that patients are genetically at risk of.

On a more consumer-targeted note, Ford revealed its in-vehicle voice activated media and phone interface, Sync. As well as offering hands-free calls, media and navigation by synching with your mobile, the technology has potential in health applications.

Some of the things Ford are working on include in-car voice coaching and safety questions for diabetics. Other potential health-related applications include plotting routes to avoid pollen or smog levels for drivers with allergy. The company also plans a stress monitoring device in car seats that works by detecting heartbeats.

The Digital Health Summit taking place at CES featured a raft of other medical devices, from brainwave monitoring headbands, to iPhone peripheries that measure blood sugar or blood pressure. And that’s not even mentioning the plethora of innovative mobile wellness apps. I’ll cover these in more detail in part 2 of the ‘CES and healthcare roundup’, coming soon.

So first things first. Hi – I’m Jonathan. I’ve been working at eBee as a Senior Interface Developer, for approximately 41 office hours now. I head up the front-end development team and will be responsible for ensuring that we continue to use not just the latest technologies, but the right technologies in innovative ways to deliver websites and applications that significantly enhance our clients communications, to the quality standards that our clients deserve and the quality that we internally demand.

I come from a creative agency background, and have worked on campaign sites and global dotComs for some of the worlds leading brands including the likes of Sony Ericsson, Yamaha, L’Oreal and MTV.

As an interface development specialist, my core focus is to ensure apps and websites behave and function in a slick, cohesive way, with performance, accessibility, user interaction and experience at the heart of everything I do. I achieve this with by using a multitude of different technologies, but most prominently (X)HTML(5), JavaScript and CSS3.

I love solving problems and applying smart solutions to both simple and more challenging conundrums.

When not working I split my time between running around hockey and football pitches, making ridiculous poses for photos like the above, heading to the gym, working on my own personal web projects, checking out the latest films, playing Minecraft / Starcraft2 and catching up on sleep.

Should you wish to say ‘Hello’, you can contact me directly at: jonathan.andrew[at]ebeehealth.com

I was ever so excited to join the lot – haven’t seen them for over two months, too busy nursing my baby boy. Gosh I missed them all.

This year they were facing a mysterious adventure up in the mountains of Scotland. A mighty storm, airport almost shut and closed roads will not stop the bees from getting into a charming party house, somewhere where no mobile network has gone before and all around are snowed mountains peaks, ancient trees and one lock too. Roaring fire and plenty of local whisky will warm the hearts of the tired bees who somewhat got lost trying to make it to the house after a long journey and a couple of wrong turns.

The morning brought snow with it and off we went on a treasure hunt mission. The Russian team didn’t play it fair but since that didn’t help them winning its OK. The local amateur dramatics trio asked our help to solve a mysterious murder. All the bees felt Wyndham had something to do with it…

Short break and now to some creative flare. The bees prepared wonderful entries to a birthday greeting competition for Hive, celebrating its 4th birthday this Christmas. All entries captured a moment that reflected Hive somehow, using a mobile device only. The results are nothing short of a great mix of funny, charming, witty greetings. The winner was voted and the hungry bees carried on celebrating their Christmas with a wonderful meal and dancing till morning.

Tim’s speech summed it all nicely. It’s the team work and the individual talents that makes Hive and eBee to what they are and what a treat that was to celebrate yet another productive year together.

Merry Xmas and a happy new year. May 2012 bring good fortune to all the bees.

If you love digital, get healthcare, and have the skills and drive it takes to be an Account Manager, we’d love to hear from you. As an Account Manager at eBee, you will be responsible for driving a range of different projects (reporting to a Director or Account Director) and producing progressive, insight-based, highly creative digital assets. You will be expected to work hard, contribute to a fun and friendly environment, and always ask if there’s a better way.

If you think eBee is for you and you’re for eBee, give me a bell or drop me a email on the contact details below.

Contact Emma

Looking forward to meeting you.