Revolutionizing Healthcare Marketing Cindy Machles on AI, VR, and AR Innovations

Episode Overview

Episode Topic

In this episode of Nature Preneur, Bethany Jolley interviews Cindy Machles, the CEO of Glue Advertising and Chief Marketing Officer of SecureCHEK AI. Cindy shares insights into how AI, VR, and AR are revolutionizing healthcare marketing. She discusses the challenges Glue faced in the advertising world and how SecureCHEK AI is streamlining the approval and development of promotional materials using advanced technology. This episode sheds light on the innovative approaches Cindy’s companies are taking to enhance efficiency and accuracy in marketing healthcare products.

Lessons You’ll Learn:

Listeners will gain an understanding of how AI can significantly reduce errors and improve efficiency in healthcare marketing. Cindy explains the importance of using technology to automate repetitive tasks, allowing marketers to focus on creative and strategic work. The episode also covers how SecureCHEK AI’s capabilities can personalize content for different segments, ensuring that promotional materials are relevant and impactful. Additionally, listeners will learn about the potential future applications of VR and AR in healthcare, from improving patient understanding to enhancing telemedicine experiences.

About Our Guest

Cindy Machles is a seasoned marketing professional with a wealth of experience in healthcare product promotion. As the CEO of Glue Advertising, a top 20 agency in New York City, and the Chief Marketing Officer of SecureCHEK AI, Cindy has been at the forefront of integrating AI into marketing processes. Her background includes mentoring startups through the Polsky Center at the University of Chicago, keeping her at the cutting edge of technological advancements. Cindy’s insights into AI, VR, and AR demonstrate her forward-thinking approach to marketing and technology.

Topics Covered

The conversation covers a range of topics, including the origins and achievements of Glue Advertising, the development and functionalities of SecureCHEK AI, and the transformative potential of AI in healthcare marketing. Cindy discusses how SecureCHEK AI automates the approval process for promotional materials, reducing errors and speeding up time to market. The episode also explores future possibilities for VR and AR in healthcare, such as personalized patient education and enhanced telemedicine. Cindy’s passion for leveraging technology to improve efficiency and outcomes is evident throughout the discussion.

Our Guest: :Cindy Machles Pioneering AI in Healthcare Marketing

Episode Transcript

Bethany Jolley: Welcome to nature Preneur, where we spotlight the trailblazers in the nutraceutical and health care sectors. I’m your host, Bethany. Today, we’re excited to welcome Cindy Macklis, CEO of Glu Advertising, a top 20 advertising agency in New York City. She is also the chief marketing officer of Secure Check I, which is using AI to transform the way that promotional materials are developed and approved. Cindy has a wealth of experience in marketing healthcare products, as well as great insight into how AI, VR, and AR are all poised to change the nature of that, which will be our focus of our conversation today. So great to have you, Cindy. Thanks for joining. Aimed to address.

Clindy Machles : So glue is ten years old as of this year. So it’s a very exciting time for us to reflect on everything we’ve accomplished. But I think the problem that we were looking to solve is, honestly, agencies were performing for clients too slowly and charging them too much and not always pulling the strategy through to the creative in a way that was going to make the materials that were developed in the campaigns that were developed successful. And we have flatten the hierarchy. We’ve made sure that we only have team members in place who are very, very experienced. If we don’t have the right person on staff, we tap a very large network and we make sure that all of the work that we do is insight based, that it truly meets the unmet needs of the target audience.

Bethany Jolley: That’s incredible. And could you also tell us about SecureCHEK AI?

Clindy Machles : Sure. So secure check. Ai is the brainchild of a very good friend of mine. I have been involved in startups. I think at this point about 6 or 7 years. I first got involved through the Polsky Center, which is a part of my alma mater at University of Chicago, and I mentor startups through at the center, and that keeps me current, particularly on what’s going on with technology and with SaaS products. And when my friend Alyssa brought me secure check, I, I was super excited about how it could streamline the approval of materials. And I think we’re on the cusp. We’re getting close to being able to automate the production of materials. Both of those, I think, are life changing for marketers because they represent huge commitments of time, money and resources. And we would direct all of that to be able to use to be able to be used somewhere else. Yes.

Bethany Jolley: That’s fantastic. It sounds like it can definitely improve efficiency in a lot of areas.

Clindy Machles : Yes. Efficiency.  eliminate mistakes because unfortunately, humans, as hard as we try, particularly when we’re doing tedious, repetitive tasks. And a lot of what secure tech AI takes on is exactly that. We miss things and technology does not. And I’m a very big believer that a lot of people right now are thinking about AI. Is it scary? Is it friendly? And I think it’s up to us to decide how to use it. And I think in this case, it can make us work smarter and better and use our brainpower to develop original ideas rather than repetitive ones. As I say, devoting it to repetitive, tedious tasks that are better in the hands of technology.

Bethany Jolley: Exactly, and I do. I think I can do a lot more good than harm. But I think, like you said, a lot of people are fearful of it, instead of embracing all that it has to offer.

Clindy Machles : Yeah, I think listen, the jury is out on exactly how it will play out. We have to trust the people who are at the forefront of it, even more than I am, to make some very good decisions. I’m hoping that some of the copyright issues that are being managed right now are going to be managed properly, where content creators will get credit for what they created and that they will not be competing with AI that’s using their content in a way that is less expensive for,the marketers who they’re supporting.

Bethany Jolley: And how do both Glu and SecureCHEK AI streamline the development of promotional materials?

Clindy Machles : So on the Glu side, as I said, it’s about putting the right people in the right places. It’s about following a process that makes sense. So part of what I felt when I was in the big conglomerate world is there were a lot of people touching materials and approving materials over and over and over again, and many of those people were not adding value to the team. So we don’t have big teams, and we make sure that people see materials for approval and input just when they need to, and particularly for editing and proofreading, which is an important step. We do that at the end once, and we make sure that we do it well. And everyone on the team wants to be masters of glue if you touch it as if you are the last person who will see it, and you are responsible, which is not, I don’t think, how big organizations work, unfortunately. I think what a lot of people are reviewing and approving. Sadly, they passed the buck and we can’t do that anymore. And on the secure check side, the way it works is how it streamlines the promotional development process. So what Secure Check does is it’s able to with AI and machine learning, it’s able to look at brief materials, pull out the claims and the supporting references that are important to travel with those claims and create a brand library and then keep that brand library evergreen always current. Then when materials are submitted for reviews and approval, the reviewers they get a piece that has been through the secure check process and what’s new as far as claims and references, is isolated for their review, and what they’ve reviewed and approved before is flagged as such, so they can very much focus where they spend their time. And as I say, when we start automating the production of tactics, boy, that’s going to be a whole new world as far as efficiency is concerned.

Bethany Jolley: Yes, absolutely. And I know a lot of the marketing teams that I’ve worked with in the past are very busy. And so being able to receive something that already has things flagged that they’ve already reviewed before and such,that makes it a lot easier for them, I’m sure.

Clindy Machles : Yes, It’s all about not spending time on tasks that you don’t have to spend time on, particularly again, if we,  theoretically, if we do our work well the first time, we shouldn’t have to be doing it over and over again. And I don’t think that review processes and the companies that we work with are necessarily set up that way. But now with technology, they can be and everybody is welcoming it. No one likes the old way, but there hasn’t been a comfortable new way and I believe this is it.

Bethany Jolley: And, you know, technology is always advancing. And so what are your thoughts on the future of AI and VR and AR in healthcare marketing?

Clindy Machles : Well, it’s interesting, I’m working with an organization right now, for example, a foundation that is raising money for some very important research, and I am going to be able to help them structure their donor list and be much more personalized in their outreach also. Wow. I, I sat in on a meeting the other day where they talked about AI in the clinical trial process, being able to flag exactly which patients are going to benefit from a pharmaceutical product, so that we will be able to accelerate clinical trials and get to the end faster, potentially with fewer patients, which would be huge when it comes to saving money. And there may be some aspects of the clinical trial process that can be done in a simulated fashion versus with patients. Wouldn’t that be amazing? So the possibilities for AI are that they blow your mind. And yet,  the speed with which we have already made advancements has been fast. So I think that much of what I’m talking about is not far away at all, as far as VR and AR. I think the opportunities there are, for example, with augmented reality, if patients could understand better how drugs are working in their bodies, would they be more compliant? Maybe they would. People say that visual support is one of the ways that many people learn, and I think we would have the opportunity to do that. And then with virtual reality, what if we’re not there yet, but I think we’re getting closer. What if you could be talking to your doctor in a telemedicine appointment, but it’s the same as if he’s here in the room with you, or it feels the same, or you’re part of the patient community discussion and it feels as if you’re all together. I think a lot of what I’m talking about is going to have huge effects on outcomes and allow people who are in underserved communities where they don’t have access to health care professionals or other patients the way I do in New York City, get the benefits that I’ve been able to experience for the 30 years that I’ve lived here. Yes, that.

Bethany Jolley: Would be incredible, because I think a lot of individuals want that feeling that the doctor is right there with them to answer any questions. You don’t want to be going through a portal or I know in smaller regions, you know, it’s hard to get a doctor’s appointment. You have to wait months sometimes. So if this worked out well. Yes.

Clindy Machles : All instances right to get to. So we work in rare diseases, for example, and in rare diseases there are centers of excellence. But that’s where you’re going to get the best treatment as a patient. But those tend to be located in heavily populated areas and often much more so on the east and west coast. So patients who do not do not live in those areas are at a disadvantage. Sometimes what will happen is they’ll go to the center of excellence once, and then they’ll have follow up in their community, and that can work.

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Clindy Machles : But the opportunity to check in with an expert when you feel that you need that kind of care is very important. Yes, absolutely.

Bethany Jolley: And could you elaborate more on this.

Clindy Machles : Role.

Bethany Jolley: Of analytical AI and SecureCHEK AI’s platform and the role of generative AI as well.

Clindy Machles : Yes, so with analytical AI, that is the basis upon which we are parsing content. So this is already existing content within materials. The technology can grab that content that can organize it. So you have a set of planes in a brand library that That is your efficacy set and your tolerability set and your dosing set. And what we can do is we can develop personalized content for different segments. So that’s part of the generative process. And then we can bucket it in the same way. And as we know personalization is so important when it comes to creating a productive dialog with a patient. And then when it comes to generative AI, something that we are doing right now is we can go out to third party sources that are not,  that that are generating material that’s not copyrighted or copywritten. What are you saying? It doesn’t have a copyright and we can grab content from that in the same way that we are grabbing it from the internal materials, and help to use that to create new content for the company. And where that applies, for example, is when you are educating, educating people on diseases or educating people. For example, at Asco a few years ago, there was a poster published that said that exercise when people are having chemotherapy therapy can make a huge difference in outcomes.

Clindy Machles : So something like that would be able to be found by the technology wrapped and placed in a library. And the basis for new content on disease education that a pharmaceutical company was developing. That is not being done right now. It’s very hard. I mean, we can Google and we can try to find what we’re looking for, but if the technology can go find it, and that’s part of what AI is so great at. I mean, ChatGPT for people who are using it. And I recommend everyone use it, although be careful what you put into it, because if you are putting in content that’s governed by an NDA, that’s a big problem, because you are putting it out in the universe for everyone to be able to access it. However, with ChatGPT, you can ask it a lot of different questions and get real. I mean, it’s kind of mind boggling what ChatGPT can consolidate and provide back to you in a way that is very digestible. So a secure check can do the same thing for third party data. Again, we’re a copyright is not a book.

Bethany Jolley: It’s incredible. I utilize ChatGPT quite often, and I’m always amazed at how quickly I can receive answers. And like you said, how it’s very concise but informative and I’m able to understand what the answer is. And it’s great. It’s a fantastic tool. So I imagine a secure check is the same.

Clindy Machles : Except with ChatGPT. We don’t always know if it got it right because that was it. But with secure check, since we are governing where SecureCHEK AI is getting the information from, it is credible third party sources. We don’t have to have those same concerns. So I think that’s a big relief where companies who want to be able to use the data without having a lot of different pairs of eyes and experts that have to look at it and make sure that it’s correct. Yes, that’s huge.

Bethany Jolley: And what are some of the major improvements that you’ve seen in.

Clindy Machles : Client.

Bethany Jolley: Workflows as a result of implementing Secure Check?

Clindy Machles : Well, there is a process within pharmaceutical companies about where vitamin supplement companies are all forms of healthcare, where there are review processes, and it makes a huge difference in how quickly materials can get to market and be affecting sales and outcomes. If you have to have one review versus several, and sometimes you have to have several because there have been mistakes in the materials that were developed. And so they’re sent back to have another round at the agency. And typically these meetings, these review meetings are scheduled a couple of weeks apart. And the other thing is the reviewers only have so much time in these meetings. Usually the meetings are an hour and a half or so. And if they’re reviewing a lot of content for the company to be able to have that content streamlined so that they can focus just on what’s new, they can then review materials for more products in a given set in a given session. So we are reducing the amount of review time for promotional pieces. And we are also allowing the reviewers to get through more promotional content in each meeting, which,  allows the company if they have a portfolio of products, to get more materials to market faster through their whole portfolio versus having to subordinate one product versus another and say, well, we’re going to this product is going to play second fiddle this week or for a few weeks If our major product has some new materials to be reviewed, that doesn’t have to be done anymore. Yes.

Bethany Jolley: And do you see any potential to improve patient care outcomes as a result of implementing your system?

Clindy Machles : Absolutely. We just haven’t done the studies on that because that would be quite substantial to mount that kind of study. But imagine when you launch a new product, if you can get materials into doctors and patients hands sooner so they understand the product, they understand how to take it. That has implications for the way that you are going to accelerate improved outcomes being achieved. So I think it is important also, the point I made earlier about the ability of secure check to develop personalized materials that a highly relevant, customized, almost conversation that secure check is supporting I believe has huge implications to improve patient outcome.

Bethany Jolley: Yes, I agree, and can you share with us a success story where your technology made a notable difference?

Clindy Machles : Well, I can’t share specific case studies because back to that NDA and earlier. But we have secured check has been used by both agencies who are developing materials and accelerating their ability to do that and to have less people touch those materials in the process, which eliminates mistakes that were avoidable. And it also accelerates the time for us to get the materials in the hands of the reviewers on the company side and then the company side. As I say, we have documented that there are fewer reviews, that the brand libraries which are so important are kept up to date so that when materials are approved, there’s no confusion about, wait a second, what’s the most recent claim? And then experiences I’ve had, and I’m sure every one of the felt we’ve been through this recently, every one of the fans who has ever launched a product knows this. We were not even that long ago, we used to have to get in a room and lay all the pieces out on the table and try to track. Okay, this piece was approved two weeks ago, but when a new piece went through the review process, the reviewers realized that the claim was not expressed in a way that they wanted it to be. So how many other materials that were previously approved does that affect, and how are we going to bring everything into compliance quickly? Secure check can do that almost at the push of a button. How huge is that for a launch product in making sure that the materials are correct, that they’re uniform, they’re consistent, and that they are out the door as quickly as possible?

Bethany Jolley: Yes, that really is a game changer because I’ve experienced that where we’ve had to go back through hundreds of documents to check one thing that needed to be changed.

Clindy Machles : Absolutely. You’re cross-eyed as a human in about ten minutes, whereas for technology it’s a matter of minutes that it can be done and it can be done well, while a human team is still trying to get organized as to how we’re going to do this in the most efficient way. Yes.

Bethany Jolley: And what new features or capabilities is secure? Check I planning to introduce in the future.

Clindy Machles : Well, another roadmap plan is for us to be able to add Graham guidelines into what secure check evaluates and ensures is correct. So for example, are the colors right? Are the fonts right?  if we have certain visuals that have been approved, are they being used in a way where they have been approved to be used that way? And presumably, I mean, as you know, ChatGPT is able to manage tone and style. And so we are hoping to be able to get secure, check there too, to be able to flag when tone and style is not quite right and make suggestions.

Bethany Jolley:  Oh, That’s amazing.That’s so exciting.

Clindy Machles : It is exciting. Honestly,  I was talking to someone the other day. I am lucky about how much I still love my job, and I think not everyone is there,  which we appreciate. What a grind it must be if you’re not. I have a friend who talks about how much he loves his job and when he is doing things that feel like work, he makes sure that he tries to do those as efficiently as he can so he can get back to the creative parts of his job. The idea generation, parts of his job, getting close to the customer, parts of his job. And I think that I love my job because I have found ways with technology and the flattened, hierarchical way that we built glue to be able to do all of that, and I think that AI is going to be able to provide that for more people. So hopefully we’ll all love our jobs. I don’t know, but I think the enjoyment people will be able to get out of their jobs by shifting the parts that they don’t like to Technology. I do think that AI is going to help us get there. It certainly has helped me get.

Bethany Jolley: Yes, absolutely. And how else are you involved in applying technology to health care?

Clindy Machles : So gosh, I guess I mostly am doing what we’ve talked about. And then on the other side, I’m an observer and I’m trying to I, I love to learn, and I can’t possibly be involved in all aspects of how AI is being used. So I’m talking to people who are doing the clinical studies to understand how that’s going. He’s, I’ve wondered, okay. We can isolate how products perform for individual patients so that we can presumably get products to market faster and know exactly who they’ll work for. But will that allow us to serve as many patients as we did before? So are there going to be some drawbacks to this, and how is that all going to sort itself out? So I’m learning. I’m watching. I also am involved for people who are in health care. I think what one thing that we’ve learned is health care lags other industries. We tend to do things a little bit later than they’re being done elsewhere. And so through the Polsky Center and the mentoring work that I do every year, I may,  what’s called an East Coast co-chair. So I have a group of startups that I mentor. Most of them are involved with technology.

Clindy Machles : Most of them are using AI in some way. Few of them are in healthcare. One right now is in the clinical trials space and is going to be able to help recruit the right people for clinical trials faster so that we can get trials up and running faster. But there’s another SaaS product that is for wills to help people provide information to their heirs in a way that is more customized so they can say, this particular piece was given to me by my grandmother and has this meaning, and that will be a record that’s kept. So Wills, as you know, are not that way. So I say to myself, are there opportunities to search and reapply? So if we can do that for wills, for example, would there be a way for physicians, perhaps to provide more customized directions to patients that would feel, again, as if the physician is there, which is how this product that is being used for wills makes the heirs feel. It’s almost as if the person who is deceased is there, giving them the history of what it is they are inheriting, that they can appreciate it even more.

Bethany Jolley:  Yes, that’s so great.Well, thank you, Cindy, once again for joining us today and sharing how glue and SecureCHEK AI are revolutionizing healthcare marketing. To our listeners, we hope you found today’s discussion enlightening. Explore more about Cindy’s companies at the links provided. Remember to subscribe and share your thoughts on social media and join us next time on neutral Preneur for more insights into the innovations shaping our health industries, stay informed and inspired.

Clindy Machles : Thank you Bethany.