While the pharmaceutical market may be in a constant state of flux and change, it seems that there is a definite trend away from the marketing of big brand, wide reach products to more “niche” medicines and that this change seems to be accelerating. This poses an additional challenge for the pharmaceutical company’s sales staff, especially in the arena of professional education.

All-important product branding must now be determined at a very early stage of the development cycle and pharmaceutical companies must be even more aware of how volatile the market can be and how constraints can emerge as the company seeks to enter, penetrate and extend into niche markets, which are often more focused and narrow minded. It is possible that resistance could be significant and this can mean that more attention should be paid to branding as a critical early component of the marketing cycle.

Increasingly so, pharmaceutical markets are overcrowded. So many choices are presented to a consumer and a wide variety of external forces often come into the purchasing decision, including advice given by the petitioner or front-line professional. We live in an age when information is instantaneously available and we are, in increasingly surprising numbers, spending our time interacting on social networks. As a consequence, we are becoming much more educated about every aspect of our existence. While the consumer becomes more educated and the market becomes more crowded, the efficiency of a marketing program must be in sharp focus for a company’s senior executives.

Pharmaceutical companies are finding that they now need more time to shape and condition the market to ensure that the product is more accepted when it rolls out. This only helps to emphasise the fact that marketing should be considered interactively during brand creation phases and that educational channels are explored.

While niche product areas are the subject of greater marketing emphasis, more emotions are involved in the end-user decision process as well and the professional is less likely to advise the consumer to go down the more beaten track. The pharmaceutical company must be fully in control of its marketing message and methodology, or it will not be able to differentiate itself from competitors in the marketplace. This clearly puts pressure on the company’s sales force as these executives must now try and penetrate a sceptical barrier at the professional level and ensure that the message is stronger, yet more targeted than before.

The sales force is of primary importance to the success of the company and senior officials are turning in greater numbers to pharmaceutical consultants and pharmaceutical consulting firms to help them train and focus the force accordingly. In most cases, pharma consulting plays a great role in helping the organisation to identify shifting marketing forces, especially when associated with niche concentration. The distant professional must be the subject of more attention and sharper skills will be needed, with more training required to ensure that the sales executive breaks through all barriers and achieves the results. Effective implementation requires an equal amount of experience, ability and training.

Alan Gillies is the Director of L2L Consulting, an elite pharmaceutical consultancy firm which specialises in Strategy Development and Implementation Excellence for prestigious multi-national organisations.

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