Latest newsPapers about strategy making in medical markets
Submitted by Visitor on Mon, 09/03/2009 - 11:45
Published articles that address the challenges facing strategy makers in the increasingly complex and turbulent environment of medical marketing.
In this European Health Technology Institute research brief, Professor Brian D Smith looks at the value of innovative medical technology and how research has uncovered a clear pattern in health economics.
In this European Health Technology Institute research brief, Professor Brian D Smith looks at how Medical technology companies need to help health technology assessment processes become better at identifying real value.
Changes in pharma’s market environment will drive the extinction of current business models and the evolution of new ones. What will pharma companies have to do to survive and thrive in this new world? This third in a series of three articles looks at the decisions that the pharmaceutical industry’s leaders face.
Changes in the social and technological environments are radically reshaping pharma’s competitive landscape, driving the extinction of current business models and the evolution of new ones. But what will those new business models look like? This second in a series of three articles looks at the new creatures that will emerge to populate the pharma market of the future.
The global pharmaceutical industry is on the brink of huge change, squeezed between what science makes possible and economics makes practical. But what might that change be? If this industry is to continue to make its huge contribution to society, more than speculation and informed guesswork is required; this knowledge-based industry needs to apply science to understanding its own fate. This first in a series of three articles looks at the future for pharma and what that prediction implies.
Medical technology procurement policies often seem designed to prevent the efficiency improvements they are intended to achieve. Research by EHTI is looking at ways to remedy this contradiction.
Best practice and benchmarking are buzzwords in pharma marketing effectiveness, but the whole idea is flawed and management research is full of examples of benchmarking and best practice failing in the short term. A more scientific approach to evaluating the effectiveness of marketing strategies will result in plans that work for a specific company. The magic word is contingency.
Pharmaceutical marketers have traditionally relied heavily on the diffusion of innovation model and the associated idea of the key opinion leader. However, these ideas are strongly rooted in consumer markets and have little empirical support in the complex, professional decision making process typical of pharmaceutical markets. This article, co-authored with senior staff from Cegedim, considers as an alternative the concept of communities of practice model and discusses the implications of this for future research and the practice of pharmaceutical marketing.
Our strategy for the future is dependent on what has happened in the past. This article looks at how path dependency theory can help us do a better job of creating strong marketing strategies.
A summary of recently published academic research about growth and innovation that is relevant to pharma marketing.
New research into doctors’ behaviour could force a reappraisal of Key Opinion Leader management, say Dr Brian D Smith and Marcus Bergler in this feature article from Pharmaceutical Marketing.
This review of published research looks at corporate social responsibility (CSR), including studies of some of the most important companies in the pharmaceutical industry.
New data suggests that marketers must shift their attention from individual influencers to complex decision-making units, say Dr Brian D Smith and Marcus Bergler, in this feature in Pharmaceutical Marketing.
This review of published research considers varying views on adapting pharma business models to fit the changing environment.
One thing that has become apparent through recent research by Dr Brian D Smith is that many senior industry executives foresee, over the next decade, fundamental change in the sector. This selection of published research looks at several areas that are likely to form part of that transformation.
From early stage development partnerships to wording adverse event warnings, this crop of peer-reviewed research has lessons from marketers working across the pharmaceutical development spectrum.
One of the things that has emerged from Pragmedic's recent research is that the current pharmaceutical industry landscape is the result of powerful political, economic, technical and social forces. In this article, Dr Brian D. Smith discusses how the pharma industry has been, and will be, shaped by the flows of history.
Market access has become the foundation of most pharmaceutical go-to-market strategies. However, without implementation, strategy is just a fantasy and new research Pragmedic has conducted reveals that many market access plans fail to become reality. More surprisingly, this situation seems to be caused by some of the management practices that are meant to ensure implementation.
This Research Roundup issue’s selection of new research reviews published academic research on a wide range of topics including innovation, product development, remuneration and IP.
The research reviewed in this article looks at different aspects of change in an attempt to uncover what specific changes augur for how pharmaceutical marketers operate.
Without effective implementation, strategic planning is a futile exercise. In knowledge-intensive markets, such as those for pharmaceuticals and medical technology, the most important, value-creating parts of strategy implementation rely on the discretionary activity of motivated, committed individuals. This article reviews previous research into individual motivation and commitment and draws from it five recommendations for improving strategy implementation, all of which contradict typical management practice.
Invisible constraints on the company environment can hinder effective strategic change. In this feature article in Pharmaceutical Marketing Europe, Dr Brian Smith looks at institutional theory and applies it to the changing environment of to the global pharmaceutical industry.
Pharmaceutical marketers often have to make decisions without reams of supporting data and it’s hard to imagine a situation in which marketers’ decisions will ever be as evidence-based as, for example, their clinical or scientific colleagues. But it would be unprofessional to hide behind a “we can’t be perfect so let’s not try” attitude.
Human beings can only have an imperfect view of the world. As pharmaceutical marketers, this is most obvious when we try to understand the way our business environment is changing. By the time things are clear and obvious, it is too late. This article in Pharmaceutical Marketing's Research Roundup series highlights how early indications of where the market is heading and how companies learn and react are especially valuable.
Like many models, the famous 4Ps model emerged from consumer marketing research and is still taught with a heavy B2C bias. The principle of a consistent set of variables that creates value for the customer applies just as well in pharmaceuticals, but its effective application needs revision before implementation to modern pharma markets.
Marketing excellence programmes have become ubiquitous. Although going under different names, the urge to improve marketing capabilities has seized most pharmaceutical companies. This is predictable as the industry matures and it becomes harder to differentiate technologically; competitive advantage in future must flow from the ability to segment, position and deliver extended value propositions. Yet if one examines the results of this up-skilling frenzy, the results are disappointing.
International research can guide us in adapting to changes in the marketplace. (Part of the Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Roundup series.)
How can we use our knowledge of motivation and commitment to achieve strategy implementation and create value? This article from the Jobs and Careers section of Pharmaceutical Marketing looks at what motivates managers to achieve good strategy implementation.
Synthesised research provides useful, practical solutions to management problems. (Part of the Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Roundup series.)
Research papers with roots outside pharma consider how channels to market work. (Part of the Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Roundup series.)
Pharmaceutical marketing, it has often been observed, is a matching process - the need to marry the capabilities and limitations of the huge and complex life-sciences knowledge domain with the equally complex needs of patients and healthcare systems. This research review illustrates some of the many facets of this matchmaking process.
Managing the myriad of perspectives within the marketing team is fraught with complications. It takes skill to manage cultural differences without too much conflict, but to do so is rewarded with better decision making.
A selection of recent academic research that illustrates the huge breadth of topics that marketers are expected to understand - covering everything from branding to forecasting, key account management (KAM) to outsourcing R&D, even war-gaming! (Part of the Research Roundup series in Pharmaceutical Marketing.)
Marketers should apply strategic marketing tenets to personal development for more lucrative and fulfilling careers.
Theory has a bad name among marketers. As the antonym to practical or realistic, it has become a pejorative term that we use to disparage any idea we think has little value. Yet, when we belittle it, we discard a wealth of management research that can, if used properly, make a real difference in business.
Pharmaceutical Marketing Europe feature article that discusses the effective management of an increasingly complex network of Key Opinion Leaders.
Opinion leadership is a well-defined concept that underpins much marketing practice in the pharmaceutical and other industries. Likely changes in that sector, consequences of its industry life cycle, are anticipated to make key opinion leader (KOL) management more important still. Despite this, little is known about the scope of KOL management processes in pharmaceutical companies or the trends that those processes may follow in response to industry changes. This article presents the findings of an exploratory, qualitative study involving 18 pharmaceutical company executives with responsibility for KOL management. It suggests that an enhanced, formalised, integrated and IT-enabled model of KOL management will evolve and that many leading companies have extant plans to realise such an approach.
Opinion leadership is a well-defined concept. Likely changes in the pharmaceutical sector, consequences of its industry life cycle, are anticipated to make key opinion leader (KOL) management more important still. Despite this, little is known about the scope of KOL management processes in pharmaceutical companies or the trends that those processes may follow in response to industry changes. This article presents the findings of an exploratory, qualitative study involving 18 pharmaceutical company executives with responsibility for KOL management. It suggests that an enhanced, formalised, integrated and IT-enabled model of KOL management will evolve and that many leading companies have extant plans to realise such an approach.
Most of the practical problems faced by pharmaceutical marketers have been answered, at least in part, by published academic research. (Part of the Research Roundup series in Pharmaceutical Marketing)
A look at recently published academic research affecting pharmaceutical marketing. Published in Pharmaceutical Marketing July 2009.
Research reveals that, despite its willingness, pharma is not meeting the criteria for strong KAM
Key Account Management (KAM) is an important approach to the development and maintenance of large accounts, especially in the mature market conditions found in many pharmaceutical and related businesses. However, the meaning and practice and KAM has been blurred and weakened by misuse of the term. This paper identifies five requirements for the application of KAM in pharmaceutical and related markets.
For many sales people a few years into their career, the leap from sales to marketing can seem an attractive, perhaps even obvious, step. Yet, as a by-product of our research into how firms make and implement marketing strategies, we find this move often falls short of expectations. The consequences for both the individual and the firm can be serious, so it is worth examining both the underlying reasons for this failure and the practical lessons that come from our observations.
Value is created at the intersections of many different functions and knowledge domains, says Dr Brian D Smith in this article in Pharmaceutical Marketing Europe.
Feature article in Pharmaceutical Marketing Europe: How the pharmaceutical industry has to change to survive.
The causes of damaging conflict between departments that stall company productivity, and the cures for this 'disease'
Interview with Dr Brian Smith in Farmaskop magazine. (Turkish)
Received wisdom has it that a first-mover - the first significant product in a class - has an advantage over its followers. This assumption drives pharma companies to push hard to launch sooner rather than later. My research at the Open University Business School looked for evidence that first-movers make more money than those who follow them into the market and at what the experiences of leaders and followers can teach us about how we manage our products. The answers may surprise you and could help improve brand management.
This article takes key lessons from the book "Creating Market Insight" by Dr Brian Smith and Dr Paul Raspin. What market insight is and how firms gather and use data to create it and then use it to create value are practical lessons for pharma companies that, nowadays, compete on the strength of their knowledge about markets as well as about pharmacology. If Smith and Raspin's research presents one overriding lesson,it is that creating market insight is not a magic trick or the result of divine inspiration. Like most competitive advantage it’s the result of good process.
Medical technology companies face a dilemma when it comes to gaining competitive advantage through innovation: only innovation creates sustainable competitive advantage, and yet innovation that doesn't meet customer needs won't sell. Market insight is the solution to this dilemma, according to Dr Brian Smith and Dr Paul Raspin.
Discretionary tasks are key to ensuring the strategic goals you set in the boardroom are actually scored, says Dr Brian Smith in this Pharmaceutical Executive Europe article.
The greatest marketing strategy ideas cannot impact on sales if they are let down by poor implementation.
It's not innovating that's the most difficult - it's creating value whilst innovating.
For medical technology executives seeking to grow their business, strategy guidance that is industry-specific and research-based is hard to come by. Dr Brian D Smith explores what it is that gives successful companies the edge over others in the medtech market.
Before we attempt to penetrate markets such as India and China, we must first understand how these cultures operate, suggest Dr Brian D. Smith and Abigail W. Jones
We all use metrics to show us where our business is now, but we need to capture data that tell us where we should be going and how to get there, say Professor Keith Ward and Dr Brian Smith, in this article in Pharmaceutical Marketing Europe. ..
Dr Brian Smith examines why Strategy Implementation fails in this issue of Pharmaceutical Sales Manager.
The multidivisional firm has a long history, but, often, company divisions are not well served by their own headquarters. Dr Brian D. Smith offers some practical advice for companies wanting to optimize this vital internal relationship.
CSR is not an isolated process but is linked to all corporate practices. The difficulty pharma has is identifying the benefits of this costly exercise.
Understanding what stage of development the pharmaceutical industry is at in its life cycle is essential for marketers to optimize their strategies, explains Dr Brian D. Smith
The maturation of markets such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices and diagnostics means that superior strategic marketing skills are now a necessary precondition for competitive advantage in those markets. This paper uses extensive prior research and original empirical work to characterise ' Marketing Excellence ' and the organisational conditions that are the precursors to achieving it.
Dr Brian D Smith looks at what a changing pharmaceutical market implies for the career development of pharmaceutical marekters.
This paper by Dr Brian Smith and Baba Awopetu describes an empirical study of market segmentation practice in the pharmaceutical industry. It finds that, by comparison with best practice observed both in other sectors and within the industry, most firms have been slow to adopt approaches that are known to be effective. Although practical explanations for this are cited, this research indicates that the real reasons that pharmaceutical firms are slow to develop such strategically important competencies lie in the industry mind-set and culture.
Diffusion of Innovation is one of the fundamental theories that underpin the practice of global marketing. Dr Brian Smith, Baba Awopetu and Kevin Piper discuss how well this be applied to pharma.
Dr Brian Smith and Professor Keith Ward present the results of extensive research at Cranfield University on the subject of leadership, what it is and how to be successful. The results of their work demonstrate that leadership is about alignment with the business, a concept that is profoundly applicable for pharmaceutical companies.
It has become a truism that the ability to learn is an organisation's only sustainable source of competitive advantage. In practice, this means the capability of translating data about customers into customer preference and hence shareholder value. This paper summarises this understanding of the data-to-value process and identifies 12 rules for creating and using customer insight.
We know that marketing excellence exists, so how are pharma companies expected to achieve it, and what are the differences between 'normal' and 'excellent' practices?
What should pharma marketers do when faced with the task of creating a successful international strategy with a new chemical entity that may not be a totally new, fully differentiated molecule? Clinging to industry 'best practice' may be perceived as a route to success; but an open approach to bespoke marketing theory is more likely to help you shine.
Knowledge can bring you power, but only by understanding the creation of insight will you wield a potent influence. Research by Dr Brian Smith, Dr Hugh Wilson and Prof Moira Clark uncovers distinct entities in the value creation process.
Beneath all the hype, fads and buzzwords, there are some fundamental truths in pharmaceutical marketing. Results are dependent upon differentiation, and pharmacological differentiation is becoming harder, costlier and shorter-lived. Dr Brian Smith and Baba Awopetu ask: can pharma marketers cultivate both attitudes and data to ensure that they blossom in an ever-changing marketplace?
Understanding your customers requires more than immersing yourself in a pool of information on their habits. You need to squeeze the data in the right way.
Shareholder value is not the same as profit; it is a function of both returns and risks. So main board directors concern themselves with the risk-adjusted return on capital. New research on marketing due diligence can reveal if your business plan to create shareholder value is too risky.
Five years of research into strategy making in medical markets shows that senior managers in medical industries continue to make weak strategies. Forget the text book approach and what you learned in business school; the outcomes of this research provide new insight into how to make successful strategies in the real world. (Based on Dr Brian Smith's forthcoming book "Making Marketing Happen".)
Are pharmaceutical marketing departments helped or hindered by company culture? Dr Brian Smith found that successful culture change involves careful pruning, not a blunt axe.
This is the third in a trilogy of papers reporting a five-year research project into marketing strategy making in medical markets. Following on from the first and second papers, this paper presents an empirically derived process for creating strong marketing strategy in medical markets that involves the replacement of a traditional rational planning process with a hybrid process adapted to organisational culture and market environment. These findings are of practical use to marketers in medical industry sectors.
This second edition of the Clinica Report Successful Marketing Strategies for Medical Devices and Diagnostics shows managers in medical device and diagnostic markets how to create sustainable competitive advantage in a clear, step-wise and above all pragmatic way. The guide takes the manager through seven stages to produce an effective and workable strategic marketing plan.
This is the second in a trilogy of papers reporting on a five-year research project into marketing strategy making in medical markets. Following on from the weak marketing strategy observed in the first paper, this work explains the origins of marketing strategy process failure in terms of incongruence with market and organisational culture conditions. It concludes that any generic approach to marketing strategy making fails most companies, and that an organisationally tailored process is required.
This is the first in a trilogy of papers reporting a five-year research project into marketing strategy making in medical markets. This paper reports an empirical assessment of marketing strategy quality in eighteen companies in the pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic and equipment sectors. It concludes that the marketing strategy of many medical companies is weak and that their survival is therefore dependent upon their competitors having even weaker strategies.
This paper contributes to the literature concerning the marketing strategy process. It reviews the extant literature in this field, drawing out areas of consensus and gaps in that literature. The principal gaps identified concern non-rational strategy making processes and the combined implications of internal and external contingencies. Using well-established theories from the sociological perspective of the organisational behaviour literature, this work proposes relevant questions for future research in this field.
This Clinica Report aids medical device and diagnostic industry managers by gathering, analysing and adding expert opinion to the lessons that have been learned from industry consolidation. The report is structured around the three principal parts of the merger and acquisition process: consideration of merger or acquisition, selection of partners or targets and implementation of the integration process. Each chapter compares the practice of leading players with that of less effective companies and concludes with the lessons practising managers may draw from this comparison.
This work reports an examination of industry consolidation in the medical device and diagnostic market. It shows that excellent companies are clearly differentiated from their less effective rivals by the care and rigour with which they approach the task. In exemplar companies, mergers and acquisitions arise from profound strategic thinking. Partner or target selection is based on the strategic aims of the deal and integration is based on the synergy realisation objectives inherent in those aims.
This paper describes a challenge common to many medical device companies, that of developing a market-led corporate culture in order to create sustainable competitive advantage. It describes the constraints encountered, the methods employed and the results and lessons that were the outcomes of the process. Its principal lesson is that organisational culture change is possible and rewarding, but slow and difficult. Without a deep knowledge of both culture and marketing, cultural change should not be attempted.
This paper describes a challenge common to many medical device companies, that of developing a market-led corporate culture in order to create sustainable competitive advantage. It describes the constraints encountered, the methods employed and the results and lessons that were the outcomes of the process. Its principal lesson is that organisational culture change is possible and rewarding, but slow and difficult. Without a deep knowledge of both culture and marketing, cultural change should not be attempted.
A selection of recent academic research that illustrates the huge breadth of topics that marketers are expected to understand - covering everything from branding to forecasting, key account management (KAM) to outsourcing R&D, even war-gaming! (Part of the Research Roundup series in Pharmaceutical Marketing.)
International research can guide us in adapting to changes in the marketplace. (Part of the Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Roundup series.)
This is the first in a trilogy of papers reporting a five-year research project into marketing strategy making in medical markets. This paper reports an empirical assessment of marketing strategy quality in eighteen companies in the pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic and equipment sectors. It concludes that the marketing strategy of many medical companies is weak and that their survival is therefore dependent upon their competitors having even weaker strategies.
Opinion leadership is a well-defined concept that underpins much marketing practice in the pharmaceutical and other industries. Likely changes in that sector, consequences of its industry life cycle, are anticipated to make key opinion leader (KOL) management more important still. Despite this, little is known about the scope of KOL management processes in pharmaceutical companies or the trends that those processes may follow in response to industry changes. This article presents the findings of an exploratory, qualitative study involving 18 pharmaceutical company executives with responsibility for KOL management. It suggests that an enhanced, formalised, integrated and IT-enabled model of KOL management will evolve and that many leading companies have extant plans to realise such an approach.
In this European Health Technology Institute research brief, Professor Brian D Smith looks at the value of innovative medical technology and how research has uncovered a clear pattern in health economics.
Most of the practical problems faced by pharmaceutical marketers have been answered, at least in part, by published academic research. (Part of the Research Roundup series in Pharmaceutical Marketing)
One of the things that has emerged from Pragmedic's recent research is that the current pharmaceutical industry landscape is the result of powerful political, economic, technical and social forces. In this article, Dr Brian D. Smith discusses how the pharma industry has been, and will be, shaped by the flows of history.
Pharmaceutical marketers have traditionally relied heavily on the diffusion of innovation model and the associated idea of the key opinion leader. However, these ideas are strongly rooted in consumer markets and have little empirical support in the complex, professional decision making process typical of pharmaceutical markets. This article, co-authored with senior staff from Cegedim, considers as an alternative the concept of communities of practice model and discusses the implications of this for future research and the practice of pharmaceutical marketing.
Beneath all the hype, fads and buzzwords, there are some fundamental truths in pharmaceutical marketing. Results are dependent upon differentiation, and pharmacological differentiation is becoming harder, costlier and shorter-lived. Dr Brian Smith and Baba Awopetu ask: can pharma marketers cultivate both attitudes and data to ensure that they blossom in an ever-changing marketplace?
Invisible constraints on the company environment can hinder effective strategic change. In this feature article in Pharmaceutical Marketing Europe, Dr Brian Smith looks at institutional theory and applies it to the changing environment of to the global pharmaceutical industry.
New data suggests that marketers must shift their attention from individual influencers to complex decision-making units, say Dr Brian D Smith and Marcus Bergler, in this feature in Pharmaceutical Marketing.
Value is created at the intersections of many different functions and knowledge domains, says Dr Brian D Smith in this article in Pharmaceutical Marketing Europe.
It has become a truism that the ability to learn is an organisation's only sustainable source of competitive advantage. In practice, this means the capability of translating data about customers into customer preference and hence shareholder value. This paper summarises this understanding of the data-to-value process and identifies 12 rules for creating and using customer insight.
Are pharmaceutical marketing departments helped or hindered by company culture? Dr Brian Smith found that successful culture change involves careful pruning, not a blunt axe.
Managing the myriad of perspectives within the marketing team is fraught with complications. It takes skill to manage cultural differences without too much conflict, but to do so is rewarded with better decision making.
Without effective implementation, strategic planning is a futile exercise. In knowledge-intensive markets, such as those for pharmaceuticals and medical technology, the most important, value-creating parts of strategy implementation rely on the discretionary activity of motivated, committed individuals. This article reviews previous research into individual motivation and commitment and draws from it five recommendations for improving strategy implementation, all of which contradict typical management practice.
Research papers with roots outside pharma consider how channels to market work. (Part of the Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Roundup series.)
The greatest marketing strategy ideas cannot impact on sales if they are let down by poor implementation.
Medical technology companies face a dilemma when it comes to gaining competitive advantage through innovation: only innovation creates sustainable competitive advantage, and yet innovation that doesn't meet customer needs won't sell. Market insight is the solution to this dilemma, according to Dr Brian Smith and Dr Paul Raspin.
The global pharmaceutical industry is on the brink of huge change, squeezed between what science makes possible and economics makes practical. But what might that change be? If this industry is to continue to make its huge contribution to society, more than speculation and informed guesswork is required; this knowledge-based industry needs to apply science to understanding its own fate. This first in a series of three articles looks at the future for pharma and what that prediction implies.
The maturation of markets such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices and diagnostics means that superior strategic marketing skills are now a necessary precondition for competitive advantage in those markets. This paper uses extensive prior research and original empirical work to characterise ' Marketing Excellence ' and the organisational conditions that are the precursors to achieving it.
Opinion leadership is a well-defined concept. Likely changes in the pharmaceutical sector, consequences of its industry life cycle, are anticipated to make key opinion leader (KOL) management more important still. Despite this, little is known about the scope of KOL management processes in pharmaceutical companies or the trends that those processes may follow in response to industry changes. This article presents the findings of an exploratory, qualitative study involving 18 pharmaceutical company executives with responsibility for KOL management. It suggests that an enhanced, formalised, integrated and IT-enabled model of KOL management will evolve and that many leading companies have extant plans to realise such an approach.
Changes in the social and technological environments are radically reshaping pharma’s competitive landscape, driving the extinction of current business models and the evolution of new ones. But what will those new business models look like? This second in a series of three articles looks at the new creatures that will emerge to populate the pharma market of the future.
Best practice and benchmarking are buzzwords in pharma marketing effectiveness, but the whole idea is flawed and management research is full of examples of benchmarking and best practice failing in the short term. A more scientific approach to evaluating the effectiveness of marketing strategies will result in plans that work for a specific company. The magic word is contingency.
Theory has a bad name among marketers. As the antonym to practical or realistic, it has become a pejorative term that we use to disparage any idea we think has little value. Yet, when we belittle it, we discard a wealth of management research that can, if used properly, make a real difference in business.
A summary of recently published academic research about growth and innovation that is relevant to pharma marketing.
Understanding what stage of development the pharmaceutical industry is at in its life cycle is essential for marketers to optimize their strategies, explains Dr Brian D. Smith
This Research Roundup issue’s selection of new research reviews published academic research on a wide range of topics including innovation, product development, remuneration and IP.
In this European Health Technology Institute research brief, Professor Brian D Smith looks at how Medical technology companies need to help health technology assessment processes become better at identifying real value.
Shareholder value is not the same as profit; it is a function of both returns and risks. So main board directors concern themselves with the risk-adjusted return on capital. New research on marketing due diligence can reveal if your business plan to create shareholder value is too risky.
What should pharma marketers do when faced with the task of creating a successful international strategy with a new chemical entity that may not be a totally new, fully differentiated molecule? Clinging to industry 'best practice' may be perceived as a route to success; but an open approach to bespoke marketing theory is more likely to help you shine.
Dr Brian Smith examines why Strategy Implementation fails in this issue of Pharmaceutical Sales Manager.
This work reports an examination of industry consolidation in the medical device and diagnostic market. It shows that excellent companies are clearly differentiated from their less effective rivals by the care and rigour with which they approach the task. In exemplar companies, mergers and acquisitions arise from profound strategic thinking. Partner or target selection is based on the strategic aims of the deal and integration is based on the synergy realisation objectives inherent in those aims.
Feature article in Pharmaceutical Marketing Europe: How the pharmaceutical industry has to change to survive.
Received wisdom has it that a first-mover - the first significant product in a class - has an advantage over its followers. This assumption drives pharma companies to push hard to launch sooner rather than later. My research at the Open University Business School looked for evidence that first-movers make more money than those who follow them into the market and at what the experiences of leaders and followers can teach us about how we manage our products. The answers may surprise you and could help improve brand management.
This is the third in a trilogy of papers reporting a five-year research project into marketing strategy making in medical markets. Following on from the first and second papers, this paper presents an empirically derived process for creating strong marketing strategy in medical markets that involves the replacement of a traditional rational planning process with a hybrid process adapted to organisational culture and market environment. These findings are of practical use to marketers in medical industry sectors.
This Clinica Report aids medical device and diagnostic industry managers by gathering, analysing and adding expert opinion to the lessons that have been learned from industry consolidation. The report is structured around the three principal parts of the merger and acquisition process: consideration of merger or acquisition, selection of partners or targets and implementation of the integration process. Each chapter compares the practice of leading players with that of less effective companies and concludes with the lessons practising managers may draw from this comparison.
The research reviewed in this article looks at different aspects of change in an attempt to uncover what specific changes augur for how pharmaceutical marketers operate.
Pharmaceutical marketing, it has often been observed, is a matching process - the need to marry the capabilities and limitations of the huge and complex life-sciences knowledge domain with the equally complex needs of patients and healthcare systems. This research review illustrates some of the many facets of this matchmaking process.
Research reveals that, despite its willingness, pharma is not meeting the criteria for strong KAM
The multidivisional firm has a long history, but, often, company divisions are not well served by their own headquarters. Dr Brian D. Smith offers some practical advice for companies wanting to optimize this vital internal relationship.
This paper by Dr Brian Smith and Baba Awopetu describes an empirical study of market segmentation practice in the pharmaceutical industry. It finds that, by comparison with best practice observed both in other sectors and within the industry, most firms have been slow to adopt approaches that are known to be effective. Although practical explanations for this are cited, this research indicates that the real reasons that pharmaceutical firms are slow to develop such strategically important competencies lie in the industry mind-set and culture.
Like many models, the famous 4Ps model emerged from consumer marketing research and is still taught with a heavy B2C bias. The principle of a consistent set of variables that creates value for the customer applies just as well in pharmaceuticals, but its effective application needs revision before implementation to modern pharma markets.
Interview with Dr Brian Smith in Farmaskop magazine. (Turkish)
Synthesised research provides useful, practical solutions to management problems. (Part of the Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Roundup series.)
Key Account Management (KAM) is an important approach to the development and maintenance of large accounts, especially in the mature market conditions found in many pharmaceutical and related businesses. However, the meaning and practice and KAM has been blurred and weakened by misuse of the term. This paper identifies five requirements for the application of KAM in pharmaceutical and related markets.
CSR is not an isolated process but is linked to all corporate practices. The difficulty pharma has is identifying the benefits of this costly exercise.
Five years of research into strategy making in medical markets shows that senior managers in medical industries continue to make weak strategies. Forget the text book approach and what you learned in business school; the outcomes of this research provide new insight into how to make successful strategies in the real world. (Based on Dr Brian Smith's forthcoming book "Making Marketing Happen".)
New research into doctors’ behaviour could force a reappraisal of Key Opinion Leader management, say Dr Brian D Smith and Marcus Bergler in this feature article from Pharmaceutical Marketing.
Knowledge can bring you power, but only by understanding the creation of insight will you wield a potent influence. Research by Dr Brian Smith, Dr Hugh Wilson and Prof Moira Clark uncovers distinct entities in the value creation process.
Market access has become the foundation of most pharmaceutical go-to-market strategies. However, without implementation, strategy is just a fantasy and new research Pragmedic has conducted reveals that many market access plans fail to become reality. More surprisingly, this situation seems to be caused by some of the management practices that are meant to ensure implementation.
A look at recently published academic research affecting pharmaceutical marketing. Published in Pharmaceutical Marketing July 2009.
Medical technology procurement policies often seem designed to prevent the efficiency improvements they are intended to achieve. Research by EHTI is looking at ways to remedy this contradiction.
From early stage development partnerships to wording adverse event warnings, this crop of peer-reviewed research has lessons from marketers working across the pharmaceutical development spectrum.
We all use metrics to show us where our business is now, but we need to capture data that tell us where we should be going and how to get there, say Professor Keith Ward and Dr Brian Smith, in this article in Pharmaceutical Marketing Europe. ..
Before we attempt to penetrate markets such as India and China, we must first understand how these cultures operate, suggest Dr Brian D. Smith and Abigail W. Jones
One thing that has become apparent through recent research by Dr Brian D Smith is that many senior industry executives foresee, over the next decade, fundamental change in the sector. This selection of published research looks at several areas that are likely to form part of that transformation.
Marketers should apply strategic marketing tenets to personal development for more lucrative and fulfilling careers.
Marketing excellence programmes have become ubiquitous. Although going under different names, the urge to improve marketing capabilities has seized most pharmaceutical companies. This is predictable as the industry matures and it becomes harder to differentiate technologically; competitive advantage in future must flow from the ability to segment, position and deliver extended value propositions. Yet if one examines the results of this up-skilling frenzy, the results are disappointing.
Understanding your customers requires more than immersing yourself in a pool of information on their habits. You need to squeeze the data in the right way.
How can we use our knowledge of motivation and commitment to achieve strategy implementation and create value? This article from the Jobs and Careers section of Pharmaceutical Marketing looks at what motivates managers to achieve good strategy implementation.
For medical technology executives seeking to grow their business, strategy guidance that is industry-specific and research-based is hard to come by. Dr Brian D Smith explores what it is that gives successful companies the edge over others in the medtech market.
This is the second in a trilogy of papers reporting on a five-year research project into marketing strategy making in medical markets. Following on from the weak marketing strategy observed in the first paper, this work explains the origins of marketing strategy process failure in terms of incongruence with market and organisational culture conditions. It concludes that any generic approach to marketing strategy making fails most companies, and that an organisationally tailored process is required.
This second edition of the Clinica Report Successful Marketing Strategies for Medical Devices and Diagnostics shows managers in medical device and diagnostic markets how to create sustainable competitive advantage in a clear, step-wise and above all pragmatic way. The guide takes the manager through seven stages to produce an effective and workable strategic marketing plan.
Changes in pharma’s market environment will drive the extinction of current business models and the evolution of new ones. What will pharma companies have to do to survive and thrive in this new world? This third in a series of three articles looks at the decisions that the pharmaceutical industry’s leaders face.
This review of published research considers varying views on adapting pharma business models to fit the changing environment.
Dr Brian D Smith looks at what a changing pharmaceutical market implies for the career development of pharmaceutical marekters.
For many sales people a few years into their career, the leap from sales to marketing can seem an attractive, perhaps even obvious, step. Yet, as a by-product of our research into how firms make and implement marketing strategies, we find this move often falls short of expectations. The consequences for both the individual and the firm can be serious, so it is worth examining both the underlying reasons for this failure and the practical lessons that come from our observations.
Diffusion of Innovation is one of the fundamental theories that underpin the practice of global marketing. Dr Brian Smith, Baba Awopetu and Kevin Piper discuss how well this be applied to pharma.
This paper contributes to the literature concerning the marketing strategy process. It reviews the extant literature in this field, drawing out areas of consensus and gaps in that literature. The principal gaps identified concern non-rational strategy making processes and the combined implications of internal and external contingencies. Using well-established theories from the sociological perspective of the organisational behaviour literature, this work proposes relevant questions for future research in this field.
We know that marketing excellence exists, so how are pharma companies expected to achieve it, and what are the differences between 'normal' and 'excellent' practices?
Pharmaceutical Marketing Europe feature article that discusses the effective management of an increasingly complex network of Key Opinion Leaders.
This review of published research looks at corporate social responsibility (CSR), including studies of some of the most important companies in the pharmaceutical industry.
Our strategy for the future is dependent on what has happened in the past. This article looks at how path dependency theory can help us do a better job of creating strong marketing strategies.
Dr Brian Smith and Professor Keith Ward present the results of extensive research at Cranfield University on the subject of leadership, what it is and how to be successful. The results of their work demonstrate that leadership is about alignment with the business, a concept that is profoundly applicable for pharmaceutical companies.
Human beings can only have an imperfect view of the world. As pharmaceutical marketers, this is most obvious when we try to understand the way our business environment is changing. By the time things are clear and obvious, it is too late. This article in Pharmaceutical Marketing's Research Roundup series highlights how early indications of where the market is heading and how companies learn and react are especially valuable.
This article takes key lessons from the book "Creating Market Insight" by Dr Brian Smith and Dr Paul Raspin. What market insight is and how firms gather and use data to create it and then use it to create value are practical lessons for pharma companies that, nowadays, compete on the strength of their knowledge about markets as well as about pharmacology. If Smith and Raspin's research presents one overriding lesson,it is that creating market insight is not a magic trick or the result of divine inspiration. Like most competitive advantage it’s the result of good process.
The causes of damaging conflict between departments that stall company productivity, and the cures for this 'disease'
Discretionary tasks are key to ensuring the strategic goals you set in the boardroom are actually scored, says Dr Brian Smith in this Pharmaceutical Executive Europe article.
It's not innovating that's the most difficult - it's creating value whilst innovating.
Pharmaceutical marketers often have to make decisions without reams of supporting data and it’s hard to imagine a situation in which marketers’ decisions will ever be as evidence-based as, for example, their clinical or scientific colleagues. But it would be unprofessional to hide behind a “we can’t be perfect so let’s not try” attitude.
Your email will be answered personally, so please tell me who you are, what you do and what interests you. If you would like to request free PDFs of my work, simply enter their reference number(s) AND title(s) in the form fields below from the listings shown in the clickable tabs on this page. For example, from publications in 'Strategy Making in Medical Markets' under the section "What we've written" enter " SMM-034, Make your move " in the form field box below.