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As I look back at the 35 years or so that I have been involved in pharmaceutical
marketing research, I note with great interest the kinds of research on
which I, and the companies I have headed, have focused. In the 1970s and
1980s, my colleagues at The Vanderveer Group (now TVG) and I spent most
of our time developing the product positioning, or story, that would be
used to describe beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, low dose oral
contraceptives and myriad other genuinely new products to physicians.
The therapeutic advances were significant, and physicians would take time
to listen to what we had to tell them about the products.
As we moved into the 1990s, we found ourselves focused on micromarketing,
i.e., using the newly available Individual Physician Level prescribing
data (IPLRx) to serve as the basis for: Targeting particular physicians
based on their prescribing activity and style; Tailoring the story to
meet their information needs; and adjusting the Tactical Implementation
to match the individual physician’s preference in terms of information
consumption media. The bottom line of all of this, the fourth “T”
in micromarketing, was Total Customer Satisfaction, based on the assumption
that all the other Ts were simply customizing devices aimed at leaving
us with a happy customer.
As we moved into the current decade, several new foci emerged for our
marketing research attention. These included a multitude of research projects
surrounding the new e-media and dot-com communications channels, most
of which turned out to be busts, and increasing amounts of work in foreign
countries as the pharmaceutical industry finally became global. Fewer
new products were being introduced, and thus work related to product positioning,
etc., was less of a focus. Many blockbuster products went, or were about
to go, generic, and marketing research focused on how to promote these
products has understandably dried up rather substantially.
Because GfK has more than 500 people worldwide doing pharmaceutical marketing
research, with 275 in the GfK U.S. Healthcare Companies alone, we are
often asked about our vision for pharmaceutical marketing for the balance
of the decade. By way of shorthand response, we offer that:
- We see major changes coming in the pharmaceutical marketplace and
in the marketing research arena that services it. For a good overview
of these changes, download and read the (no cost) PricewaterhouseCoopers
analysis of the future of the pharmaceutical marketplace (www.pwc.com
Pharma 2020: The Vision), and/or read our Orange
Pages’ summary of its predictions and impact on marketing
research.
- A major prediction in this report is that the pharmaceutical marketplace
will double in size by 2020, largely because of population growth
and economic progress in “developing” countries, e.g.,
the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries. Thus, while
top line revenues will grow substantially, bottom line profitability
will be less positively impacted because of the inability of the health
care systems in such countries to pay the same prices or support the
kinds of margins we enjoy in the United States.
- Thus, the major directions for GfK’s marketing research efforts
over the next five years will include examining pharmaceutical marketing
in the United States, determining what works and doesn’t work,
and cooperating with our colleagues in other aspects of pharmaceutical
marketing (e.g., product management, advertising agencies, etc.) to
help build “Pharmaceutical Marketing 2.0.” It is anticipated
that the new pharmaceutical marketing will be comprised of existing
methodologies and others yet to be developed. A key factor here is
that we intend to develop relationships with organizations that can
help build the new pharmaceutical marketing and will quarterback their
efforts to do so. Thus, our work will not end with a series of “Conclusions
and Recommendations” but with a workable system that can be
installed in a pharmaceutical company on a turnkey basis.
- A second and final major component of our vision for the future
will be to use our worldwide presence in pharmaceutical marketing
research to build a thorough understanding of how health care is delivered
and pharmaceutical products are marketed, emphasizing similarities
and differences, around the globe. For the reasons outlined above,
special attention will be paid to developing countries in these investigations.
Developing and keeping up to date a robust body of knowledge covering
the delivery of health care and the marketing of pharmaceuticals worldwide
will help our clients be more responsive to the changing pharmaceutical
marketing landscape.
That’s it, folks. That is our future as we see it in mid-2007. It
is a future that is far different from the past and even from the present,
and we are already moving in the direction of staffing and organizing
the GfK Healthcare team members, some 500 strong across the globe, to
deliver on this vision.
Richard B. Vanderveer, Ph.D.
Group Chief Executive Officer
GfK U.S. Healthcare Companies
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