Marketing return on investment (ROI) in the pharmaceutical industry has evolved within a decade from a somewhat ethereal pursuit by marketing science groups towards a divining rod for resource allocation. The 6th Annual European Pharmaceutical Congress, Pharma Marketing ROI, organised by eyeforpharma and held in Amsterdam, 23-24 October 2006, indicated that companies have embraced the concept of ROI and many have gone beyond the hype of early practices and procedures. Certainly, they are beginning to focus on more realistic expectations and on more effective approaches.
The conference emphasised the overarching demand by pharma management for better ROI, improved marketing investment decisions and more effective performance measures. ROI was also explored from perspectives such as shareholder value, time-frames and the diffusion of innovation. A range of issues were addressed, including:
The connectivity of ROI with the financial community
Lifecycle marketing
Brand and customer loyalty
Regulatory issues
Multi-channel marketing
Sales and marketing integration
There were two underlying themes. The first centered around whether pharmaceutical companies were sufficiently marketing oriented. It was pointed out that, at several major pharma companies, marketing training had become a victim of management demands to cut costs. There was a general consensus that marketing excellence was crucial to the delivery of superior results, and that it would require a greater emphasis on training to improve the quality of business-critical decision making.
The second theme was based on the pharma company as a customer-centric organisation. Much emphasis was placed on the need for organisational adjustments to meet changes to the competitive environment and the demands of the financial community. Significantly, there was little emphasis on satisfying customer needs. ‘Superior satisfaction leads to superior profits’ is a common mantra within companies that deliver exceptional results across all industries. This suggests that the marketing ROI for pharma needs to have a broader focus. It needs to move away from concentrating solely on improving efficiency to embracing effectiveness in the quest to improve overall customer satisfaction to drive superior performance.
CONTENTS
6th Annual European Pharmaceutical Congress - Programme
Introduction
About the author
Conference structure
Forecasting and finance
Marketing intelligence and analytics
Lifecycle marketing
Brand and customer loyalty
Regulation, research and development
Integrate and measure multi-channel marketing
Closed-loop marketing
Conclusions
References
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr Barrie G James is internationally recognised as a leading-edge pharmaceutical thinker, for his consulting in pharma strategy, futures, ethics and evidence-based marketing. He manages Pharma Strategy Consulting in Huntingdon, UK, which specialises in creative and pragmatic solutions to fundamental strategic, ethical and marketing problems in the pharma industry.
Earlier in his career, Barrie held executive positions at Ciba-Geigy, Merck & Co., Syntex, Biogen and Schering-Plough in strategic planning, marketing, operating management and business development.
His books and reports on the pharma industry have become standard industry references and his work has been cited in Business Week, the Economist and the Financial Times. His latest publications are The Little Black Book of Pharma Marketing and PharmVision 2015: A Short History of the Future.
Caught in a tightening vice between declining new product introductions and accelerating patent erosion, the pharmaceutical industry has been cutting back spending across the board to improve profits. Conversely, marketing spend is at an all-time high and is now the single largest pharmaceutical company business expenditure. Inevitably, this has triggered a growing management emphasis on accountability and on value for money for its marketing investments. Pharma marketers’ response has been to explore and implement approaches that improve return on investment (ROI).
The 6th Annual European Pharmaceutical Conference, Pharma Marketing ROI, held in Amsterdam on 23-24 October 2006, discussed the challenges that the industry faces and its implications for a healthy financial future, together with some of the measures and practices that could deliver increased ROI in pharma marketing.
The conference raised two burning issues: first, do pharmaceutical companies possess a solid bedrock of marketing expertise in terms of best practice processes and procedures? If not, the expectations of enhanced marketing ROI may not be realised. Second, how many companies have processes in place that can identify, track and allocate marketing expenses? Without these systems it is impossible to calculate an accurate ROI. The evidence presented suggests that very few companies are well positioned in this respect.
Addressing these issues will be critical for the future. It has been projected that global industry growth will continue its unbroken decline from 2000 and will slow to 5-6 per cent growth in 2005/6, down from 6-7 per cent in 2004/5. Reduced growth inevitably increases the level of competition throughout the industry, which will only add to the pressures on those companies that are unable to maximise their marketing ROI.
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
Day one Chairperson: Stewart Adkins, Consultant, Stewart Adkins Advisors
Forecasting and finance
What skills, experience and attributes will Product and Marketing Managers need for the pharma industry of 2026? Sean Davies, General Manager, Ferring Pharmaceuticals
Industry challenges seen through a financial analyst's eyes Stewart Adkins, Consultant, Stewart Adkins Advisors
Managing the diffusion of innovation to drive ROI Baba Awopetu, International Product Manager, EMEA, Stryker
Strategise for initiatives that favor long-term success over a short-term ROI Guenther Illert, Vice President Life Sciences, Capgemini
Take advantage of connecting strategy to shareholder value David Impey, European Director of Marketing, Eisai Europe Ltd
Tradeoffs to increase shareholder value - how BI UK optimises its strategic and brand planning Ollie Mitchell, Head of Marketing, Boehringer Ingelheim
Marketing intelligence and analytics
Optimising promotional spend across countries and across brands - unique methodologies for assessing ROI Paul Jones, EMEA Practice Leader, Promotional Management, IMS
Marketing the science through the science of marketing building global brands Ian Talmage, VP Marketing, Bayer Healthcare
Gain the competitive advantage by visual and interactive data analyses! Jakob Petersson, Senior Consultant, Business Analytics, Spotfire
Measuring, managing and maximizing return from promotional activities Graham Leask, Strategic Planning Director, formerly Astra Corporate
Panel session: Enhance the use of your tools: what can you do differently to generate extra sales? Moderator: Fonny Schenk, CRM Director, Janssen-Cilag Panellists: Kai Bruns, Senior Market Research Director, Lilly Mark Bard, President, Manhattan Research Menno Vis, Senior CRM Manager, Amgen
Lifecycle marketing
'The satellite navigation problem' - choosing the best route James Macdonald, Marketing Director, Ferring Pharmaceuticals
How to increase your ROI in late-stage lifecycle marketing Marty Groen in 't Woud, Commercial Director, Astellas Pharma
Panel session: Know which marketing strategies to use at different stages through the product lifecycle Moderator: Guenther Illert, VP Life Sciences, Gapgemini Panellists: James Macdonald, Marketing Director, Ferring Pharmaceuticals Sean Davies, General Manager, Ferring Pharmaceuticals Marty Groen in 't Woud, Commercial Director, Astellas Pharma
Brand & customer loyalty
Turning customers into loyal advocates: learning from consumer marketing Paul Marsden, LSE Marketing Expert, formerly Astra Zeneca
Learn how to integrate and leverage detailed customer information to determine, predict and benefit from customer behaviour Menno Vis, Senior CRM Manager, Amgen
Day two Chairperson: Keith Foster, Business Development Director, Archstone Consulting
Regulations, research and development
Learning & development: building the foundation for marketing excellence Edward Nathan, Senior Director, Wyeth
Understanding the key regulatory issues pharmaceutical companies across Europe are currently faced with Thera Adam, Senior Associate, Life Sciences Group, Simmons & Simmons
Market research: throwing good money after bad? Trevor Acreman, Head of Pharmaceutical Practice, Millward Brown
Integrate and measure multichannel marketing
Powerful practices that achieve cohesion through the channels William Benn, EVP Sales and Marketing, Intuitive Group
How to measure marketing activity affecting factors Roberto Sani, Marketing Director, Dompe Pharma
Multi-channel marketing - where should you allocate your resources? Manos Christodoulakis, Market Analyst, Sanofi -Aventis
Do physicians truly understand your key messages?: implement techniques to increase your sales and ROI Morten Hjelmso, Founder and Managing Director, Agnitio
Closed-loop marketing - sales & marketing working together to increase ROI
Marketing & sales: towards customer centric selling Wolfgang Walter, Regional Business Director, Altana Pharma
A holistic view on pharma (marketing and sales) Marc Sluijs, Business Consultant Pharma, Agile Software Corporation [BACK TO TOP]
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