According to GfK U.S. Healthcare Companies Group CEO Richard B. Vanderveer, Ph.D., “Pharmaceutical companies in the next year will be looking at things differently, and we as agencies are going to have to respond to this.” Speaking to a group of more than 100 people during his recent presentation at the Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Group’s Annual National Conference, Dr. Vanderveer elaborated on this statement by painting a picture of the form and function pharmaceutical marketing research agencies will assume in the future.
Noting that spending on pharmaceutical marketing research was down 25 percent in the last year, Dr. Vanderveer proposed that the only way to bring business back up would be through significant – and quick – change on the part of agencies. With the seismic shifts occurring in the pharmaceutical industry, the traditional agency business model can no longer work. Seeing a need for more focused client-agency relationships in the future, Dr. Vanderveer predicts that pharmaceutical marketing research agencies will begin modeling themselves after advertising agencies. While this new way of thinking is necessary, its impact will be widespread effecting research agency management to potential agency associates, as well as pharmaceutical companies doing business with these agencies.
To learn more about Dr. Vanderveer’s forecast for the future, as covered in a recent Pharma Market Research Report article, please click here.
For additional insight about the pharmaceutical marketing research agency of the future, be sure to read this month’s Orange Pages. Discussed in great detail are 10 dimensions that Dr. Vanderveer feels will need to be evaluated in determining a marketing research organization’s ability to provide optimal performance in the age of Pharmaceutical Marketing 2.0.
