How to optimize your pharma brand strategy?

1. Master the current market & trends

All teams (finance, marketing, sales, medical, business analysts, market access, regulatory…) need to be aligned to establish a clear and shared brand vision. They also need to gain in-depth understanding of the brand ecosystem, current market, competitor trends, patient needs, patient pathways, and regulatory scrutiny to build a strategy that reflects the reality.

Main challenges faced:

• Data analysis for market and competition understanding can be overwhelming due to data volumes and multiple sources;
• Data collection and analysis is time-consuming and complex;
• Evolving pharmaceutical regulations necessitate specialized compliance expertise and high vigilance.

2. Unlock client insights & identify strategic challenges

Gathering clients’ insights (HCPs, HCOs, patients …) from available data is crucial when building a brand plan. It helps identify the strategic challenges facing the brand. By understanding customer preferences and behaviors, it is possible to segment them and personalize sales, distribution, communication strategies and adopt a customer-centric approach. A clear understanding of the client/patient journey enables the design of more effective marketing and sales strategies. Not to forget integrating medical, regulatory and market access strategy into the brand plan to ensure sustained market growth.

Main challenges faced:

• One of the top challenges for business leaders is finding ways to extract insights from their data;
• Teams spend lots of time understanding customer preferences, establishing competitive positioning and developing segmentation strategies, as segmentations can quickly become obsolete if they are not specific;
• Understanding client/patient journey is complex due to the diversity of paths individuals can take: each client/patient may have unique needs and behaviors that shape their journey.

3. Transform strategic objectives into actionable tactics

Developing actionable tactics involves designing a cross-functional portfolio of innovative projects aligned with a differentiating value proposition. Key projects are defined per strategic challenge, with clear details on timings, resources, and KPIs. Each aspect of the plan (commercial, marketing & digital, medical, distribution…) requires specific tactics such as sales training, campaign design, advertising, content generation, stakeholder engagement, commercial & pricing policy or referencing (e.g., innovative solutions, patient pathways services to bridge hospitals & pharmacies …) to provide customers with a unified omnichannel experience across all touchpoints.

Main challenges faced:

• Markets, technologies, and customer preferences are constantly evolving, requiring contents to be adaptable and flexible to changes;
• Providing customers with a unified omnichannel experience across all touchpoints requires integration and consistency in messaging, branding, and customer interactions;
• Engaging stakeholders requires effective communication, negotiation, and relationship skills.

“By 2026, 80% of senior creative roles will be tasked with harnessing GenAI to differentiate their brand.” ³

4. Monitor brand plan projects with precision

Effective communication ensures that all internal stakeholders are aligned with project goals and informed about progress, challenges, and changes throughout the brand plan lifecycle. Following up on key project indicators, through dashboards monitoring analytics, actions, deliverables, and risks, provides insights into the project's progress and allows for mitigation or decision-making.

Main challenges faced:

• Identifying relevant indicators (KPIs) and tracking progress of brand plan projects can be challenging, especially for long-term initiatives;
• Brand plan projects may undergo changes in scope, objectives, or resources during implementation. Managing these changes requires anticipation and planning;
• Brand plan projects involve collaboration among various departments. Coordinating efforts, breaking silos and ensuring alignment can be challenging, especially when teams have different priorities and timelines.