July 2008

Tackling the Greatest Unsolved Problem in
Marketing Research
By Jeff Cartwright-Smith, Ph.D., Vice President,
GfK Market Measures

I'm talking, of course, about the thorny question of measuring "Importance."

How many times have clients proposed survey questions like this? Using a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 means NOT AT ALL IMPORTANT and 7 means EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, how important is ___ in your choice of an agent to treat [disease condition]?

As patented blockbusters age and generics intrude, clients need to know where to focus their increasingly limited development and marketing resources. Should the focus be on addressing convenience of administration? Freedom from side effects? Duration of efficacy?

Beyond Traditional Market Analysis: Creatively Using Patient Chart Audit Data
By Brian Hull, M.B.A., President, GfK Strategic Marketing

Product teams understand how specific patient populations flow through various points in the medical system. Auditing patient charts allows us to measure referral, diagnostic, treatment, fulfillment and follow-up patterns. Marketing teams can then identify leverage points in each phase to exploit in future launch strategies. Postlaunch, patient chart audits are extremely useful in helping product teams understand how their drug and competitive agents are truly being used. This acts as a catalyst for investigating the accomplishments of current strategies and adjusting programs to maximize success.

We are constantly reminded in today's economic environment that pharmaceutical product teams struggle with maximizing their portfolio's success while minimizing the expensive risks associated with an infinite number of business decisions. Consequently, product teams should look to primary market research that offers the versatility to answer a large number of tactical and strategic questions. The creative use of patient chart audit research fits the bill.


Doctor Decision Making
One of the most important skills pharmaceutical marketing and marketing research practitioners must develop is a thorough understanding of how doctors use information to make decisions. This information provides a window into the mind of the physician and specific guidance as to the task that must be accomplished in selling a drug.

This month's published document for The Orange Pages examines how the treatment decision process actually works and the most commonly held misconceptions about the process.

Did You Miss the June Issue of Topline?
Click here to read the issue, which includes:

  • Concept testing for medical and surgical devices
  • The structure and function of the pharmaceutical marketing research agency of the future
  • Highlights from GfK's PMRG annual conference presentation
  • Data Download research highlights: psychiatry, cardiology and neurology

    • Topline archive now available. Skim the directory and select articles you missed. Access subscriber opt-in/comment form.

    The Changing World of Pharmaceutical Marketing Research

    I am finally starting to understand what has been going on in pharmaceutical marketing research over the last year or so, before which we had seen what largely amounted to the business as usual I have become used to.

    Although I've touched on some of these items in previous articles and presentations, I'd like to summarize them here and show how they fit together to form what is not a wave in a cycle, but rather a trend unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.

    First, recent and numerous conversations with my colleagues from other research agencies and client companies alike support the notion that in the United States, the number of dollars being spent on pharmaceutical marketing research has dropped rather precipitously in the last couple of years. Some have talked about spending dropping by 25 percent, and others suggesting closer to 50 percent. One client told me recently that in 2007 the marketing research budget for his product was $2 million but this year it is $200,000.

    Why is this happening?...


    Richard B. Vanderveer, Ph.D.
    Group Chief Executive Officer
    GfK U.S. Healthcare Companies



    Research Highlights: Neurology and Rheumatology

    Data Download provides highlights of recently released data from GfK Market Measures' Therapeutic Class Studies (TCS). Based on primary market research, TCS provide in-depth analysis of market trends, physician practice patterns and competitive brand positioning.

    This month's selections cover research from studies conducted in the areas of seizures and rheumatoid arthritis.