PharmaMed conference, in closing …

September 25, 2009 – 11:44 am by Gina Monari

The remaining hours of Med Ad News‘ PharmaMed conference teased out strategic solutions the industry should hearken to for the sake of brand identity, positioning, and strategy. Echoing earlier sentiments about a challenging economic climate and carping at common regulatory frustrations, speakers throughout Day No. 2’s afternoon sessions focused on the client and agency relationship; increasing payer influence; resource allocation; and maximizing video in campaigns.

11:30 a.m: Getting the Most out of Your Agency—The Agencies Weigh In

I arrived in time for the final pre-lunch segment, moderated by Med Ad News Editor-in-Chief Christiane Truelove, who directed questions to Joe Shields, product director, Enbrel, Wyeth, and Dave Paragamian, partner, Euro RSCG Life LM&P. The two industry veterans tag-teamed issues about the client and agency relationship, inciting inquiries from the audience about how agencies can truly improve their existing methods or evolve their business models to benefit collaborative efforts in changing times.

Mr. Shields admits that while marketers want their agencies to play more of a consultant role, the flip side is that marketers do not always want to pay for it. Mr. Paragamian agrees that marketers are looking for more, with less money to spend. In addition, the two wrestled with the definition of an ‘integrated’ agency, grappled with how to deftly manage social networking and digital trends, and tackled the various stages of brand campaigns.

12:30: Lunch

Opting for the big salad, I lent an ear to Stan Bernard, president, Bernard Associates L.L.C., who continued his discussion about ‘winning’ in a competitive era with Patricia Spinner, group publisher, Canon Communications, and Ms. Truelove. It was refreshing to hear such a wakeful voice engaging us with an unrelenting mindset toward competitive intensity.

2 p.m: Achieving Sales, Brand, and Managed Markets Alignment in Today’s Fundamentally Altered Environment for SFE

The first post-lunch presentation, led by John Moran, leader, commercial effectiveness, IMS Health Management Consulting, discussed tools and tactics that could be used to coordinate sales, brand, and managed markets more effectively.

Mr. Moran spoke about how brands fall into three categories — commodity, transitional, and differentiated. The differentiated classes are characterized by significant product innovation, no generic equivalents, and little payer influence on prescribing decisions; commodity are classes where the main differentiator is price, with considerable payer influence over prescribing decisions; and the transitional class comprises those products that fall between the two extremes and are likely to undergo significant change.

IMS states that companies are overspending within the commodity segment, where the share of voice paradigm is largely obsolete and return on investment well below par. By improving promotional productivity the industry could save $15 billion, money that could be better allocated elsewhere. Other thoughts touched on payer-driven value development plans, patient-centric brand message development, and the use of anonymous patient-level data.

In closing, Mr. Moran outlined the steps to adopt a more patient-centered strategy, such as value diagnostics to assess brand strengths vs. marketing positioning, comparing call plans that use patient data and access information to current plans, and tracking brand performance by patient segment and corresponding physician segments. Mr. Moran closed with the hypothetical question of whether ‘promotion channels are being optimized for the highest potential patient segments?’

2:45 p.m. Resource Allocation: Finding The Right Mix

Speaker Dorothy Gemmell, VP, WebMD, and guest panelist John Furness, associate director, oncology marketing, Bayer discussed resource allocation and the marketing mix. According to Ms. Gemmell, from 2002 to 2008 the Internet has increased in use and satisfaction among information-seeking consumers. Access to physicians was another topic of discussion.

Mr. Furness delved into details of Bayer’s oncology brand Nexavar, citing salesforce dynamics and minor references to the company’s partnership with Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc.

3:45 p.m. Pharmaceutical, Biotech, and Medical Device Video Marketing Strategies

The final presentation, by Raj Amin, CEO and co-founder, HealthiNation, focused on how to effectively manage fair balance in video programs. Mr. Amin entertained the lasting crowd with a lively “Slap Chop” video segment with Vince Shlomi, better known as the ShamWow pitchman, as well as with snippets from the Nuvaring portion of the ‘Girl Talk’ series.

Mr. Amin stresses that video should become the center of a broader strategy, adding that when investing in video marketers should create programs and series to use in a wide variety of outlets. In measuring performance, he believes it is ‘not about the click.’ The focus should be about whether the video is driving people to the physician and if it is driving the ‘right’ people to the physician.

4:30 p.m: Closing comments

As Ms. Truelove bid us adieu and safe travels, I sensed something in the remaining amphitheater audience. Like pupils in lecture hall, there was a hunger for knowledge. As time abruptly pummeled toward supper, there was no conference-door rush. Instead, an honest cross section of the industry came into focus as industry reps and vendors propped their weary heads — a meridian of leveled minds famished on the even playing field of pharma.

Industry tenets projected like prism reflections on the wall as marketers, ad agencies, and vendors alike homed in on the future identity of the pharmaceutical marketing industry. I have to say, unicorn symbolism aside, Integration was definitely in the building.

“Now I will believe that there are unicorns.” — William Shakespeare, The Tempest