Drug Marketing Launch Playbook is Broken . . . 5 Updates You Need Now

The word ‘segmentation’ gets marketers and market researchers alike shuddering just thinking about all the trials and tribulations necessary to yield a final solution that never really gets actualized by the organization. Why is this so?

A segmentation solution never actualized, no matter how rigorous, is expensive and worthless. At ROF, we believe that the route to segmentation actualization involves designing output(s) that addresses the information that is most relevant to the various cross-functional team members that need to pull it through.

We rely on a 5-point plan at the deliverables stage of all our segmentation projects to satiate the needs of the various the Client audiences in internalizing the findings:

1. Power Point Deck with Executive Summary Slides – Industry standard, which allows for quick socialization with senior management
2. Patient Vignettes with Segmentation Annotation – Dimensionalizing the segments through pictures and storytelling appeals to visual and emotional style of creative partners
3. Segment Scorecards with Key Variables – Highlighting in a factual manner against the mean key variables that distinguish the segment provides the snapshot view essential for product managers and media partners
4. Discriminant Segmentation Model in Excel – Revealing the pure mathematics of the segmentation solution appeals to the logic of the market analysts
5. Presentation Repetition – On average, we present the segmentation solution findings four times utilizing different combinations of the variables listed above to achieve maximum comprehension and uptake

Institutionalizing the segmentation solution within and across the organization is the most underrated and underappreciated skill set associated with segmentation development. Isn’t it time you found a partner that judges success not by the elegance of the statistical solution, but by the success rate in Client application?

The Launch Playbook is dead. There I said it! The Launch Playbook is in need of some serious updating and this fact is no more evident than in the myriad of launch readiness review (LRR) Power Point decks that we assess as part of our Level of Evidence (LOE) appraisal service. The LRR plans, regardless of the provider, all look the same and take the same general approach to marketing a drug regardless of whether it’s primary care vs. specialty care or small molecule vs. large molecule.

Here are 5 easy updates to think about incorporating into your ‘updated’ launch playbook without having to re-writing the entire corporate template in the middle of your launch.

1. Brand Stories, Not Statements: We have documented several issues with current approaches to launch communication platform development within our EVIDENCE bLOG. I actually covered this topic in depth in a post from last year.
2. User Experience (UX) With Creative Concept: Tried and true principles of UX, such as scanability, findability, readability, etc., apply to all of your launch content, not just your launch website. Embrace developing an entire user experience approach for your brand versus pivoting your brand off the creative development of a single static print concept
3. Video Assets Before Print Assets: Our target customers – physicians, patients, payors, etc. – are flocking to video content over print. Video allows for more communicative value and creativity, despite our industry restrictions, so it’s time to start planning your video assets first and then filling in with print where necessary. You need to seek out agencies adept at developing video, such as Dramatic Health, and seek out new functional skills sets, such as producers. Think of how much more powerful that doctor discussion guide could be when patient and physicians can actually see an example of a productive exchanged tailored to each party’s needs.
4. Mobile Informs Desktop: The old playbook is to develop the $500,000 Brand.com for desktop viewing and then port that behemoth over the mobile (assuming a mobile site is even in the plan). During the transition you wind up being more judicious and more focused with the limited real estate to yield a superior user experience. Why not start with the mobile execution and then port it over to the desktop augmenting only where necessary? You’ll find that you can reduce costs and maximize the user experience at the same time… plus most of your targets have likely moved to mobile platforms in the meantime.
5. Brand Advocates, Not Actors: Physicians and patients want to hear from those who have first-hand experience with the product. Even given the limitations of our industry where we have to highlight the average results from an average patient, demonstrating the experience of product ‘users’ is within our grasp, and showing real users enhances the UX construct of credibility versus perversely the MLR-friendly ‘actor’ execution. Do you know how physicians and patients respond in creative testing to the word ‘actor’ next to the advocate? Both groups wonder allow – “Wow, this brand couldn’t even find one person that would agree to be filmed to attest to the fact that the product works as labeled.”

Let’s face it, the expectations around product launches in recent years have increased while budgets and timing to execute these plans have decreased. When you look back at your launch, will you be happy with the results gained from a status quo “blocking and tackling” plan? If you’re reading this blog, I think not.

It’s time to begin the rewrite of your corporate launch playbook. If you don’t, someone else (perhaps your replacement?) eventually will.