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Many companies throw around buzzwords like "integrated
research" when, in fact, they really just mean that they have several
research techniques to choose from; they're not really "integrated"
in any meaningful sense that would be useful to you. At MSP, we believe
we have the first pharmaceutical marketing research process that really
justifies use of the term "integrated". In brief, here's how it works
and why it's so valuable to our clients.
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Following from our experience that targeted micromarketing
is more productive than mass marketing, many of our projects begin
with a behavioral segmentation of physicians, based on their
actual prescribing patterns, taking advantage of the availability
of individual prescriber databases. We use various statistical modeling
techniques (e.g., CART models) to segment physicians into their natural
groupings based on the extent to which they actually write prescriptions
for each competing product in the market.
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We then carry out qualitative research (e.g.,
in-depth interviews, focus groups, internet webconferences, etc.)
within each segment to identify the reasons underlying their
differences in prescribing behavior and the factors that motivate
brand preference. This is typically followed by a quantitative
survey of prescribers, again with physicians actually recruited
from within their market segments, to quantify attitudes and brand/competitor
images of each segment of physicians. Our analyses reveal the correlation
between what a doctor, in each segment, thinks about your brand and
how many prescriptions he or she writes for it. This will often lead
to an additional phase of qualitative research to test various marketing
messages and develop a communications plan that is maximally effective
within each segment. (This is far superior to trying to sell everyone
on your product by giving them all the same message, although naturally
all messages must be consistent with one another and support the overall
brand positioning.)
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Armed with this information, we can now model the results,
assigning every doctor in the market to their appropriate segment,
and provide the sales force with prescriber names, addresses, segment
identification, and targeted message to emphasize when calling on
them.
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Moreover, we can segment prescribers based on their
responsiveness to sales and marketing activities (e.g., sales calls,
samples) and identify which individual physicians are most or least
responsive to such approaches. Through our OptimixSM
analysis, we then provide your sales force with names and addresses
of individual prescribers, how many times to call on them per year,
and how many samples to leave with them, in order to optimize your
return on investment.
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Naturally, once the sales and marketing teams implement
the plan, attitudes will start to shift in the marketplace, and physicians
will change segment affiliations (with more becoming writers of your
brand). Thus, ideally, one should carry out a re-segmentation of prescribers
and shortened versions of the subsequent steps, on a regular basis,
to continue the momentum and prepare for the next planning cycle.
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As you can see, in MSP's truly integrated process all
of our activities are driven off the initial behavioral segmentation
of physicians. Our goal is to understand each key segment thoroughly:
who they are, what motivates their prescribing behavior, how responsive
they are to your sales and marketing efforts, and what key promotional
messages will induce them to write for your brand. The answers will
be different for each key segment, and MSP can help you take maximal
advantage of those differences! Naturally, because of our considerable
experience in pharmaceutical marketing, some of our clients select
MSP to carry out individual components of this process or to do more
"standard" research projects (e.g., awareness, trial, utilization
studies, product positioning, individual depth interviewing, etc.)
Increasingly, however, we are asked to partner with our clients for
a complete cycle of segmentation, qualitative and quantitative understanding
of motivations underlying prescribing behavior, message development,
target marketing, and evaluation of results. It is through this complete,
coordinated cycle that the most benefit can be gained for your brand.
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