Maurice van Leeuwen, CEO of
Shaman, says the answer lies in self-service content authoring tools. From his perspective at the helm of Shaman, Maurice explores the latest trends shaping
pharma content production and explains how self-service authoring tools are empowering marketers to produce, and update, and reuse content faster than ever.
What was the inspiration behind Shaman?
ML: We saw the difficulties that local marketers had creating content and getting it onto their Medical, Legal, and Regulatory (MLR) system. Very often, they had to hire external third parties to do this and they felt they couldn't really do their jobs adequately. When market conditions changed, a competitor did something that marketing teams wanted to respond to, or the field sales team needed more information, it was simply taking way too much time to respond adequately and produce the necessary content.
People were very frustrated with how long it was taking to create or change content, or create variants of it
So at Shaman, we were thinking: Considering we live in an age where we can use tools like Mixpanel or Unbounce to create landing pages, test different versions, swap elements, and go live to see how they perform, why doesn’t this exist in the pharma industry? Of course, everything in pharma still needs MLR review, but surely pharma marketers could benefit if they had similar tools and flexibility. After all, technology makes it easy to speed up content production, and many industries are already ahead with this. So that’s essentially how Shaman was born.
What are the key trends in content production today?
ML: Content production has become a very dynamic space, especially with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). This is definitely changing the conversation—however, I think the most significant trend right now is self-service content authoring.
The most significant trend right now is self-service content authoring
When we started with Shaman, some people already liked self-service authoring because they enjoyed taking control of their work. But there were also many people that said: “Hey, I have my agency for that” or “That's not the way we do things—this isn’t where we should be spending our time”.
More and more people are convinced that self-service authoring is a good idea—it has become the new normal
Now though, more and more people are convinced that self-service authoring is a good idea—it has become the new normal. We have this very nice quote from a customer saying: “I can create an email in the same time that I used to spend creating a brief for my agency!” So it's not necessarily that you spend more time, you just spend your time differently, because you get the end result immediately. It's a much more efficient process.
A customer said: ‘I can create an email in the same time that I used to spend creating a brief for my agency!
Another key trend I’m seeing is the revival of persona-based content. More clients are coming to us at Shaman saying they want to use personas to create tailored content. Personas are an old concept, where you divide your target healthcare professionals into segments and optimise your content for each. It’s been around a long time.
With self-service tools, AI, and content templates, it’s now much easier to create quick versions [of content] to suit different personas
Previously, though, the content production process was too complex and costly for this approach to work. With three or four personas, the content volume multiplies quickly, requiring a lot of variations. But with self-service tools, AI, and content templates, it’s now much easier to create quick versions that vary in tone, claims, and arguments to suit different personas.
Are metrics an important aspect of content excellence?
ML: Absolutely. There are two parts to metrics—establishing a solid data and analytics cycle with dashboards for the right teams, and then tagging content properly so you’re working with actionable data.
It’s best to focus on analytics first. Without analytics, content can’t be effectively managed or optimised. However, it can be hard to access data because it’s often stored in separate systems—typically in a CRM or a data lake—that not everyone can access, or it may require cleaning before use. This creates a gap in what’s meant to be a closed-loop marketing (CLM) process; it’s not fully ‘closed’ because either analytics aren’t collected properly, the data isn’t fed back in a useful way, or it’s missing altogether.
Without useful tags, the data becomes meaningless
Once you have an analytics cycle in place, proper tagging is needed to truly understand what’s happening with your content, measure its impact, and target specific HCP groups based on their engagement patterns. For instance, if a group of doctors shows interest in study-related slides, you can label them as "study-oriented" and tailor your campaigns accordingly. But you can only draw these kinds of insights if the content is tagged correctly from the start.
Without useful tags, the data becomes meaningless. Content tagging needs to be almost like a global initiative because you want all the markets to use the same kind of methodology.
How do you think AI will impact content production in pharma?
ML: AI is definitely in its infancy phase, but it's already proving useful and it's moving really fast. Over the last 12 months, there have been some key advancements that will have a big impact on content production.
For example, the multimodal model now allows AI to understand text and images at the same time. You can feed a slide into the system, ask questions about it, and get accurate answers. You can also input much more context into large language models, including specific medial context, which you couldn’t before.
The cost of AI tools has also dropped by around 80% in the last year, meaning you can use it for many different things and build more complex workflows without breaking the bank.
There’s also a lot going on with AI when it comes to translation. AI-driven translation is already significantly better than previous machine translations, especially in the top 20 languages, when you add medical context.
The cost of AI tools has dropped by around 80% in the last year… meaning you can build more complex workflows without breaking the bank
We also use AI for semantic search, which is a game-changer for content reuse. For instance, if I have a database of 2,000 emails and need to find those that relate to a certain medical content theme, such as "survival rate", AI can index not only the text but also the images in those emails. You can then ask specific questions, and AI will analyse the database, including OCR-processed content, to provide relevant results. This is huge.
Search and discoverability are also major areas where AI is making an impact. Many of our customers have large amounts of compliant content—some have between 500,000 and 1 million approved content pieces.This means that finding the right content to reuse can be challenging. But AI can help here by suggesting relevant content. For example, when creating a new email, AI can recommend content or blocks that might fit well with the theme you're working on. Or maybe it’ll suggest a block you can reuse because it suits the message.
AI is also helping with tagging. The Shaman platform, for instance, has an AI tagging feature called ‘Magic Suggest’ which automatically generates descriptions based on the content of images and helps categorise content by key message tags. While human approval is still needed, this speeds up the content production and reuse process considerably because you can find relevant things that are already available to you.
What do you think is the key to success with content excellence?
ML: It's all about balancing users and behaviours, the technology, and what we call the ‘content system.’ I see very big differences between brands. Some have strong foundational packages—often created by agencies—that include key messages, templates, journeys, and more. With these, you can combine smaller pieces into a larger journey. When you have something like this, you’ve got a great starting point.
With content production, everything starts with strategy and planning. Production only comes afterward. At the strategy level, you need to identify key segments in the market—like specific types of doctors—and define the stories you want to tell each segment. Then, during planning, you need to decide how you’re going to set up these campaigns. Once you have that, and you have the elements that you’re going to bring to the local markets, it’s a breeze.
With content production, everything starts with strategy and planning
It’s very different from starting with a blank slate, even with content-authoring tools, and having to figure out every detail on your own. We call this branded content system.
It’s about understanding your maturity level—where are you as a company and as a brand?
It’s also about understanding your maturity level—where are you as a company and as a brand? Some brands within the same company may be far more advanced than others. So, in terms of content excellence, are you at a foundational stage, or are you ready for the next step?
How can companies reach the next step of their maturity level?
ML: I recently met with a client who was interested in Shaman’s modular content capabilities. As we discussed it, I introduced our 'content production matrix'—which includes various strategies for optimising content production, with modular content as one of them.
Each approach has its benefits, but it’s essential to choose what aligns with your current needs and maturity level. After our conversation, the client realised they weren’t ready for modular content yet—they needed to start with something more foundational.
Being realistic about your maturity level is crucial
Being realistic about your maturity level is crucial. Most companies are in the early stages, so it's essential to start there, demonstrate the value, and build step by step. Content creation is ultimately about driving business impact. Pharma companies aren’t publishers; content is a means to an end. The key to content excellence is balancing these factors, assessing your maturity honestly, and progressing in realistic steps to demonstrate real value.
Content creation is ultimately about driving business impact
Is modular content the gold standard for content excellence?
ML: When we talk about the content production maturity scale, modular content definitely isn’t the first step, but it isn’t the last step either. You need to lay a solid foundation first to really benefit later. Think of it as investing upfront to gain efficiencies down the line.
Modular content isn’t just about your maturity level; it’s about whether it makes sense for each specific case
For instance, if I create many modules but never actually use them, it doesn’t make sense to create them in the first place. Take a CLM presentation—many brands have a core CLM that rarely changes. There might be minor tweaks to update or adjust the story, but the key modules remain almost the same. If those modules aren’t reused frequently, it’s better to just create a standard CLM with all the data in one place rather than breaking it into modules.
With email, it’s different because you produce far more of it. Say you’re creating one or two emails a month. If you plan to reuse graphs and claims repeatedly, over two years you might use them 10 times. Each time you run this through MLR, you save days. Over time, this adds up. Modular content doesn’t necessarily shorten the MLR process, but it helps you keep it in mind from the start and work more efficiently.
Modular content helps you keep MLR in mind from the start and work more efficiently
Next to channel use, the lifecycle of the brand counts. If your brand is in its early stages, and you expect to reuse content over the next five years, the value of modular content increases. So modular content isn’t just about your maturity level; it’s about whether it makes sense for each specific case.
Do your clients feel more empowered once they start self-authoring content?
ML: Yes, absolutely. For example, we recently helped a brand implement a component strategy, which we refer to as “blocks” rather than “modules” since they’re not pre-approved. Pre-approval, while beneficial, can cause complications down the line.
So, for this brand, we created 32 blocks and introduced them to teams in Germany, the UK, and Spain two weeks ago. They were super excited, saying: “Why didn’t we have this five years ago? This makes so much sense!” For many clients, self-service content authoring is a no-brainer.
Of course, when people start using a self-authoring tool, there’s a learning curve. They realise they have to take on more responsibility themselves rather than relying on an agency. That’s why our product is so intuitive and easy to use, and it’s why we focus so much on hypercare of users. It’s about realising there’s a human factor involved. Adopting new technology means changing behaviours.
For many clients, self-service content authoring is a no-brainer
The personal support we provide is key to helping clients overcome the learning curve. Once they get comfortable with the process and see they can plan an hour of work and have content ready the next day, they’re hooked. Most of them don’t want to go back to the old way of doing things. Once they get past the learning curve, they’re fully empowered and can continue creating content independently.
The personal support we provide is key to helping clients overcome the learning curve
We’ve seen SaaS companies cut back on customer success teams. They may think the product is all that matters, but it’s not. We invest in customer success and support because we know how important it is. Our customer support goes beyond simple answers; we take the time to record videos or screenshots to show users exactly how to solve problems. It’s simple, but it adds a lot of value.
So, why should life science companies invest in a self-service authoring tool?
ML: Content excellence requires a complete technology stack—think digital asset management (DAM), authoring, review, approval, and publishing. Platforms like
Veeva play a key role here. Life science companies need to design this tech stack to support the end user content production journey from start to finish, including all the necessary systems, integrations, and content workflows.
Within six months to a year, our customers cut production times and costs by up to 80%
For authoring specifically, we’ve seen interesting findings from customers who’ve surveyed their teams about the time and costs associated with content creation. Before, these metrics were anecdotal, but now companies are able to track actual data. Customers working with agencies or digital factories have reported massive improvements. Within six months to a year, our customers cut production times and costs by up to 80%.
The real impact of faster content creation isn't just time-saving though—it directly affects business outcomes. Take, for example, creating high-quality educational content from an international medical congress. If you're creating an email campaign and a landing page to share insights post-congress, traditional methods could take one to two months to produce and localise the content. By the time it’s ready, the insights may no longer be relevant. Faster production means content is timely, making it more valuable to your audience.
Content authoring also supports the shift from local to global content initiatives. Companies are moving towards a global approach to content excellence, with central teams focusing on streamlining processes. In general, content excellence is maturing in pharma.
Faster production means content is timely, making it more valuable to your audience
Self-service tools put content creation closer to the people with the local knowledge, such as marketing teams, and empowers them to take responsibility for their content. When content teams can act more independently and produce content quickly, it improves overall responsiveness to market needs.
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