The paper sets out to discuss some general aspects which affect the communicative value of pharmaceutical advertising effectiveness in general. After some general statements on international campaigns as a means to communicate with doctors a relatively simple study is presented which indicates what type of creative execution suits best in Holland and Great Britain given a certain product. This as a part of the total marketing research effort necessary to back up the (international) communication strategy.
So far as the innovative sector of the pharmaceutical industry itself is concerned, the paper describes the extent to which various manufacturing companies have developed an international dimension and the broad categories into which they fall in terms of corporate structure and organisation, particularly as these touch upon central or national survey research requirements. The paper continues with a brief description of the pharmaceutical industry's evolution as an international operation and of the internal and external factors which have prompted such developments.The paper describes some of the underlying attitudes towards this subject which, from the point of view of an agency, appear to obtain amongst some components of the industry, especially where the relevance or value of centralized approaches are called into question. Several examples are given of situations in which centralized projects have encountered problems and of the failure of communication which has generally been a primary cause of such incidents. The paper concludes with descriptions of measures taken to minimise the likelihood of such problems recurring, whether or not surveys are organised centrally or are decentralized, and the suggestion that, whatever its nature, international research is most useful conducted with a maximum involvement of all interested parties.
The paper is based on the past years experience of a worldwide operating pharmaceutical company in the area of international survey research among the medical profession. The company has tried different approaches from the very decentralized approach to the centrally planned and managed international survey. Three types of standard-approaches are identified and the factors influencing the decision as to the centralized/decentralized approach to international survey research are discussed in the light of the companies recent experience. The influencing factors are grouped into company- or circumstance- specific factors variable factors based on both sets of factors on one hand and the three standard centralized/decentralized approaches on the other hand, two decision matrixes are presented and discussed. No standard recommendations can be given to companies regarding the problem of centralized/decentralized approach to international survey research, but the two matrixes are offered as a help to rationally evaluate the desirability of a centralized/decentralized approach in a given situation.
Brand mapping is being discussed at the 1981 ESOMAR conference when as a marketing research approach it could be argued that the technique is old fashioned and therefore ill-suited to the needs of pharmaceutical management personnel in the 1980's. In giving this paper I will attempt to demonstrate why I do not believe the above statement to be true. The paper will point out the improvements which have been made in: 1. Data collection methods; 2. Data interpretation both having lead to a significant advance in the overall value of the technique. However emphasis will be given to the different case histories which will illustrate the types of marketing problems for which brand mapping can be used.
The paper considers the implications of patients' reactions, attitudes and behaviour in the overall marketing mix for ethical pharmaceutical products. Having considered the patient's influence on the choice and use of drugs, it looks at the use of research amongst patients to identify the best means of marketing to reach them. The problems of conducting research amongst patients are explored, and a suggested protocol for any such research is appended. Finally, a number of surveys amongst patients, which Fisons have conducted recently, are described, with reference also to a patients survey in Germany in a different therapy area conducted by GFM for the German Hheuma-Liga.
Japan has only rudimentary pharmaceutical distribution capabilities overseas where competition is also intense. Thus, the outlook for the current core of the national Japanese pharmaceutical industry is bleak. There is no clear evidence that a detailed, national master strategy has been developed to restructure Japan's pharmaceutical industry. However, the government is offering an attractive pharmaceutical investment package and is expected to encourage the formation of a limited number of distinct pharmaceutical groups, probably including 1large non-pharmaceutical Japanese firms and some foreign pharmaceutical multinationals. Such an approach would he based on pro-competition measures, private enterprise and entrepreneurial skills, and limited financial support direct from the national treasury. Thus, in the pharmaceutical sphere, Japan faces great challenges in the 1980s and beyond. How the country and individual corporations will deal with these challenges deserves close monitoring by everyone connected with the global pharmaceutical sector and enterprise. Some companies, Japanese as well as foreign, will prosper. But it will take time.
The paper argues the case for international market intelligence systems and identifies the key factors that need to be taken into account in developing such a system. The industry is becaming increasingly competitive, more international and managers need to be aware of their business environment to ensure the long term success, of the company. Sophisticated computer systems are essential if market research departments are to provide a comprehensive market intelligence service to the whole company. The factors that need to be taken into account are data requirements, report generating facilities, analysis capabilities and personnel. The MIDAS system developed at IMS is an example of such a system, where a variety of IMS data for a number of countries has been assembled on a carman databank for clients to access using a 'friendly' user language.
Because of fundamental changes in the nature of pharmaceutical marketing, there has been a considerable increase in the demand for pharmaceutical market research. There is now: increasing competition, increasing need for marketing skills and increasing need for product differentiation. Research has therefore become more pragmatic and techniques have evolved to meet these demands. There is more emphasis on qualitative techniques and the scope of research has extended.
The changes in computer technology have inevitably affected the ease with which the traditional marketing research data - IMS audits - can be manipulated in response to marketing enquiries. This in particular gave the marketing research departments' at The Wellcome Foundation Ltd., the opportunity to assess the many other data sources, mainly in textual forms, in terms of the valuable information they offer on the pharmaceutical industry and it's changing environment. To maximise the use of these other types of information, the decision was made to store the material in an abridged form on a computer, with the ability to access the data- base on-line using a free text retrieval system. In practice this offered the ability to search the stored text on any word, phrase or reference and to view the resulting abstracts on a VDU screen subsequent to printing the relevant sections. The planning of the information system involved consideration of the company's interests, the information available, the software packages offering free text retrieval and the resulting cash and manpower requirements. The effect of this development has been to better maximise the company's use of information and to develop the marketing researcher's skills into broader areas than those previously covered by reviewing numerical or market data alone.
One of the most significant developments over the last decade has been the growing importance of environmental considerations. This has affected all walks of industrial life and there can be few manufacturing companies that have not been exposed to these pressures. The pharmaceutical industry, with its unique role in the provision of healthcare, has probably experienced these intrusive elements more than any other sector. In addition to the universal demands for pollution-free factories and risk-free products, pharmaceutical companies have had to suffer harsh jibes like "profiteering from illness". When this particular concept first surfaced, manufacturers were ill-prepared to meet such an abrasive style of criticism (and probably lost the first few rounds as a result). However, since those early skirmishes, the industry has learned fast and marshalled its counter-arguments well.
I have chosen to present to you some comparative statistics between on the one hand an under-developed country, and on the other a developed one. The case study I am now going to present to you concerns the practice of anaesthesia, that is to say this is a hospital study - a difficult area to survey even in developed countries. The study was a multi-country one, and I have chosen the Philippines for the reasons previously mentioned in relation to the definition of an under developed market - to determine the current market characteristics regarding the practice of anaesthesia, the specific approaches employed, and the market shares and profiles enjoyed by anaesthetic agents.