March 2008

Choice Modeling: A Pharmaceutical Marketer's "Crystal Ball" for Predicting Marketplace Behavior
In a perfect world, product managers would have a crystal ball they could turn to for answers to their most complex product issues. While there is no such magic fix in the real world, product managers do have a powerful tool - choice modeling - that can help them predict marketplace behavior and better manage the uncertainties they face when making decisions about their products.

For more than two decades, choice and conjoint modeling has been a cornerstone of all marketing research aimed at informing product development efforts. The choice modeling technique was developed in the field of transportation economics to predict people's transportation choices under alternative assumptions of cost, time, etc. Since the early 1980s, the approach has been adopted in the marketing arena as the gold standard for predicting choice decisions given different product configurations and varying market conditions.

Usage of Patient Case Studies in Promotional Materials
By Noah M. Pines, Executive Vice President, GfK V2

Patient case studies often are employed within the context of physician-oriented promotional materials to simplify involved and frequently complex clinical data into practical, day-to-day situations that are relevant to a physician's medical practice.

Patient case studies have a variety of applications, ranging from exemplifying appropriate utilization, underscoring a particular clinical trial result, even expanding the potential indication or spectrum of applicability for the medication in question. They can be thought provoking to physicians, spurring reconsideration of a drug's role and/or where it fits in. Further, viewing a patient's face can contribute a touch of humanity, even warmth to promotional materials that are often saturated with clinical messages and scientific data.


Latin America as a Prototype of Global Pharmaceutical Marketing Research
Global marketing has been talked about in the pharmaceutical industry for years, but now that the United States accounts for less and less profitability, we must look carefully and thoughtfully at other countries, especially developing countries, to begin to maximize their potential.

This month's published document for The Orange Pages takes an in-depth look at the pharmaceutical marketplace of Latin America. Not a random choice, Latin America constitutes one of the biggest areas of growth potential in pharmaceutical marketing research and is a significant portion of the world for which the GfK U.S. Healthcare Companies is responsible, in addition to the United States and Canada.

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

  • Uncovering opportunities in a constrained environment
  • Whatever happened to "e" in pharmaceutical marketing?
  • Data Download research highlights: Oncology, Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimer's

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

    GfK Latin America Summit Reveals
    Great Opportunity

    I've never done this before! After 35 years in pharmaceutical marketing research, I don't get to say this very often about the use of a methodology. But I recently had the opportunity to do something I have never done before, but will certainly do again.

    You've often heard me quote from the PricewaterhouseCoopers forecast that the size of the pharmaceutical market worldwide will double by 2020 with much of this growth coming from developing countries that have generally been ignored by a pharmaceutical industry focused on the United States and G5 countries. As a result, we as an industry must learn to understand these developing countries far better than we do now if we want to turn the growing top line into growing profit.

    As Group Chief Executive Officer of GfK's health care companies in the United States and recently charged with providing support to GfK's health care research in Canada and South America as well, I decided that, given my ignorance of health care delivery and pharmaceutical marketing practices in these areas, I had best quickly get myself up to speed. To this end, I began with three key steps down a path that, I must admit, is far from its end...


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



    Research Highlights: Cardiology, Oncology, Depression and Medicare Part D

    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 cardiology, renal cell carcinoma, depression and Medicare Part D.