Assessing the Impact of Turbulent Times on Pharma Marketing Management, Planning and Recovery

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the quick onset of social distancing and varied forms of shelter in place regulations impacted the pharmaceutical industry in a multitude of ways. Some of the biggest impacts seen included: all forms of personal sales activities were suspended; for all non-essential / critical therapy needs HCPs were requiring patients to use remote counseling options; and day-time physicians who were not on call for emergencies services were at risk of being furloughed by hospitals.

Given all the changes that were suddenly implemented in response to the immediate crisis, pharma companies just as quickly had to shift gears and start focusing on recovering. To help guide them to recovery, the Ipsos MMA Executive team developed a “playbook” of pharma marketing insights and initiatives. Under the right direction, this playbook could help pharma companies take advantage of both traditional and digital marketing strategies, focused on both the patient and the HCP to not only accelerate the recovery but gain advantages in the long-term.

While the pandemic is now in its later stages, the essentials of this playbook can be applied to future times of turbulence to help marketing management in the pharmaceutical industry change course as needed to better their chances of recovery.

Assessment of COVID-19 Impact on Pharma Organizations
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Pharma Salesforce Impact from COVID-19

• Launch
  • Sales rep detailing and rep organized events have most impact at this stage
  • With remote detailing, it will be harder to convert a new writer who may still be on the fence on the product advantage
• Grow
  • As sales rep’s messaging reinforces the patient selection for therapy, new to brand conversion may be impacted with lower access to prescribers
• Mature
  • Rep’s tenure and customer relationship will play a big role in maintaining the product usage. Reps who are in the process of creating new relationships in the territory will find It harder to maintain momentum

Pharma Business Impact from COVID-19

• Launch
  • Companies with launches in an established portfolio will fare better than brands in a new TA portfolio
  • Overall, expect impacts to physician and patient conversion
• Grow
  • With remote patient counseling expect prescribers to maintain the course vs. trying new therapy. This will impact growth expected from treatment switches
• Mature
  • Symptomatic / chronic therapies are expected to ride the situation with fewer impacts compared to asymptomatic conditions
  • Products facing “leaky bucket” situation will find it hard to ebb the flow

Business Driving ‘Actionables’ for Pharma Marketing Management and Executive Teams During Periods of Uncertainty

HCP Marketing Engagement Strategies

Action: Target specific customers in your sales strategy (Prescriber and Accounts)

• Executables:
  • Identify target customers in your with higher propensity to respond to brand messages
  • Incorporate rep relationships into targeting universe
  • Quantify/execute against best short-term engagement activities
• Benefits/Risks:
  • Maintain/grow sales in most responsive markets with customers who react most favorably to brand message
  • In unpredictable times the ability to dynamically shift targets and message is critical

Action: Optimize NPP Channels for maximum impact

• Executables:
  • Identify most effective and efficient Non-Personal Promotion (NPP) channels
  • Assess minimum cost/maximum impact media vehicles and campaigns
  • Balance broad reach vs. specific target customers based on brand priorities and market conditions
• Benefits/Risks:
  • Most companies have limited means of measuring and evaluating NPP effectiveness
  • Typically, 30 – 40% of media spend is either inefficient, or worse
  • Often the millions of dollars of inefficiencies can be identified and used to either preserve operating profits, or re-targeted to more executable areas in a crisis

Action: Simulate marketing impact of reduced budgets across product portfolio

• Executables:
  • Identify strategies to reduce budgets leveraging data informed processes vs. an axe
• Benefits/Risks:
  • Prioritize budget reduction needs across product portfolio based on limiting the revenue/profit downside
  • Identify where to maximize budget reductions while limiting the revenue/profit downside

Action: Leverage flexibility and targetability of paid digital media

• Executables:
  • Shift variable budgets to target highest value customer segments w/specific campaigns in specific geographies within the marketing mix
• Benefits/Risks:
  • Budget flexibility as well as creative flexibility delivers both short-term revenue impact and cost saving
  • Ability to rapidly deploy and test variety of offers and creative in different markets/geos to see what works

Action: Rapid deployment of in-market testing capabilities

• Executables:
  • Customer segment specific offers quickly deployed, tested and evaluated for effectiveness
• Benefits/Risks:
  • Quickly understand and activate against changing consumer behaviors by market and time period to gain competitive advantage
  • Ability to test multiple campaigns, concepts and pricing tactics against specific audiences in multiple geos to determine most impactful strategies for driving sales

Patient Engagement Strategies for Marketing Management

Action: Target patients in-home through power of digital media

• Executables:
  • Determine the most effective digital campaigns within the marketing mix across paid and owned channels to target patients
  • Balance broad reach vs. specific target customers based on brand priorities and market conditions
• Benefits/Risks:
  • Leverage holistic and unified marketing platforms to target customer segments in real-time, in-home to maintain product demand and continuity of care
  • Most companies have limited means of measuring and evaluating patient effectiveness
  • Often the millions of dollars of inefficiencies can be identified and used to either preserve operating profits, or re-targeted to more executable areas in a crisis 

Action: Leverage patient opt-in extensively

• Executables:
  • Create optimal CRM strategy to keep patients engaged
• Benefits/Risks:
  • With reduced access to physician and pandemic worries, patients would be looking at external support
  • In asymptomatic disease situations, patients may be distracted

Action: Expand on patient support activities

• Executables:
  • Scale patient support activities and ensure patients are made aware of support activities through digital media and CRM strategy
• Benefits/Risks:
  • With the financial impact of the pandemic, patients may be at risk of therapy discontinuation or opting for low-cost solutions if they are not aware of available financial support options
  • With low access to their physician office, it’s essential for pharma organizations to ensure patients are aware of support activities through external tactics

Business Planning Strategies for Marketing Management in Pharma

Action: Creating competitive advantage

• Executables:
  • Simulate the benefits and costs of sustaining or increasing paid media Share of Voice (SOV)
• Benefits/Risks:
  • Determine the benefit of increasing paid media SOV vs. competitors
  • Simulate effects of decreased competitive spend to identify corresponding impacts of decreases of, maintenance in, or increases of paid media within the marketing mix

Action: Estimate downside impact of economic conditions and reduced distribution

• Executables:
  • Scenario planning, modeling varying external and operational elements
• Benefits/Risks:
  • Enable finance, ops and planning to quantify downside impact of radically altered external and operational conditions
  • War-game marketing strategies and tactics based upon best, likely and worst-case scenarios

Action: Real-time war gaming and scenario planning

• Executables:
  • Take advantage of holistic data and analytics to build investment plans based on “back-to-business” timing
• Benefits/Risks:
  • Have plans and investment scenarios ready to activate as conditions improve
  • Gain alignment on alternative plans based on a range of market conditions and timing
  • Quickly gain competitive advantage and share in the back half

Whether you’re looking to identify more effective ways to plan, implement and measure everyday  marketing activities or solve more complex business challenges following the pandemic, we enable pharmaceutical companies and marketing management teams to grow sales, profits and share in the global marketplace. For more information, or if you have questions specific to your business, please contact us.