By Dominic Meyer, Director International Projects and Bob Rava, Senior Vice President

As global medical device markets have evolved over the past 25 years, so has the need to recognize shifts in the who, what and where of our marketing research value. In this article about the evolving medical device and diagnostics markets, we will explore the changing influence of the stakeholders in the United States and Europe, as well as the value chain of medical devices. 

Back in the “old days” of the 1980s, Ronald Reagan was president of the United States, and fashion included shoulder pads, leggings, MC Hammer pants and hair scrunchies. “Cops,” a true-life TV show about the miscreants who broke the law and the cops who arrested them, riveted audiences. Television was on the brink of reality TV. Viewers demanded more and they got it by the early 90s, when television was changed forever by MTV’s “The Real World.”

By Rudolf Forsthofer, Ph.D., Research Manager

Emotion is one of the most frequent buzzwords in marketing literature. Market research has shown tremendous evidence that emotions continually affect brand differentiation and long-term brand commitment. What has been scientifically proven for the consumer market is also true for pharmaceutical business. Successful health care companies have strong brand management and they know the crucial role of emotions in their marketing activities. 

Traditionally, the marketing activities of pharma companies are strongly based on science and rationality. There is no reason this should not remain the case – who doubts that information about product features, quality, safety, regimen and so on is indispensible? But what market research has unveiled in numerous studies is that branding – especially emotional branding – should no longer be neglected in pharmaceutical marketing.

With all of today’s technology-driven data capture capabilities, there is a lot of thought leader information to be garnered, but all that knowledge is only as good as its relevance. KOL mapping serves as a guiding tool that cuts through the layers of information to get to what is really important for the effective marketing of a product: finding the right KOL for the job.

In a recent PharmaVOICE article, several thought leaders on the topic of KOLs, including Marite Talbergs, senior vice president, GfK HealthCare, share their commentary on why KOL mapping is the best route for identifying thought leaders.

We invite you to join GfK HealthCare May 15-18 in San Antonio, Texas, USA, at the Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence Research Group’s Annual General Meeting. GfK HealthCare will provide its perspective on the conference theme, Evolution & Revolution, with a presentation focusing on the global market access arena.

Click here to read the issue, which includes:

- Risk-Sharing: Dealing with Uncertainty
- GfK HealthCare Researchers Discuss the State of Market Research
- Meet Our New Additions: Senior Leadership

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