Excellence in Product Marketing Developmental Program™

This five module program was designed to teach participants the product lifecycle from early development through launch and into an initiation of a Direct to Consumer campaign. Each module covers the key aspects of pharmaceutical marketing, ensuring a thorough understanding of all the strategic and tactical issues that impact the success of a product introduction. By course conclusion, the student has been exposed to more issues, made more strategic and tactical decisions, and developed skills that would have taken years of on the job experience to learn. Modules may be taught individually or as stand alone developmental events.

Module 1 – Situational Analysis

Learning Goals: The first module of Excellence in Product Marketing presents the students with corporate challenges given to them by senior management of a simulated company. The issue at hand is to decide which one of three product possibilities in a given therapeutic area should the company invest and bring to market. The module offers the students the opportunity to assess the company needs, product candidates, the therapeutic market, and the market conditions including managed care influences. By the conclusion of module 1, the students must choose a product candidate and justify their decision to the Marketing Board of the simulated company.

Objectives: Upon completion of this module, the pharmaceutical professional will be able to:

• Realizing the implications of change on your company, it’s management, self and customers
• Understand the difference between strategy and tactics
• Gain insight into your current marketing practices
• Complete a competitive analysis in order to develop proactive tactics to give you the ability to set the buying criteria for a particular competitive opportunity

Module 2 - Develop the Marketing Strategy/Positioning and Drug Development Plan

Learning Goals: In the second module of Excellence in Product Marketing, students are given clear definitions and examples of goals, objectives, strategy, positioning and tactics. Students learn how to tap into key research audiences: thought leaders, customers, emerging influencers, and consumers, to help them in their marketing plan. Students learn to look into the future to determine their needs at launch and beyond and to consider what it will take to get them there. By understanding this process they are better able to develop the strategy and positioning for their product. Experts on Drug Development are brought in to help students understand the Drug Development process and to actually develop the Drug Development Plan for the product hopefully resulting in the desired New Drug Application and resulting Prescribing Information as well as Marketing studies that will allow you deliver the necessary messages within the regulatory requirements that the sales force requires for promotion.

Objectives: Upon completion of this module, the pharmaceutical professional will be able to:

• Determine the single thing we can rely on to win
• Determine the information that we ideally need in our NDA an in our Prescribing Information
• Determine what additional information we need to support our Marketing efforts
• Understand the Drug Development requirements
• Develop the objectives for the best Drug Development plan keeping in mind timelines, financial constraints and company limitations

Module 3 - Thought Leader Development, Publication Planning and Branding

Learning Goals: In module 3 the students learn what it takes to develop a good thought leader and publication plan that they will leverage throughout their tactical plans. There are interactive lectures, discussions and assignments on these topics that lead to an approved Thought Leader and Publication Plan. Also in module 3, students will learn the importance of branding elements of a product. Lectures and hands-on assignments result in a brand personality, trade name and logo for the product.

Objectives: Upon completion of this module, the pharmaceutical professional will be able to:

• Understand the process behind Thought Leader development and determine the objectives for a Thought Leader plan
• Understand the process behind Publication Planning development and determine the objectives for a Publication plan
• Understand and apply the “Branding Process” including Trade name, Logo and Brand Character development

Module 4 – Creative & Tactical Development

Learning Goals: In module 4 the students will apply the brand character and creative blueprint for their product. The creative blueprint will help guide the students in assessing the results of their clinical development program and to develop the messages, message flow and creative concepts. In essence, they will be creating the sales aid for the sales force. As they are developing the sales aid they will also be learning how to utilize the brand personality to develop creative insights and resulting creative executions. The difference between an insight and an execution will be come readily apparent. Students also learn the fundamentals of tactical development including personal and non-personal promotion, new media, disease management and peer influence programs. By the modules conclusion, the creative execution and messages will be decided upon that will support the promotion of the product as well as the recommended tactical plans for personal, non personal, disease management, peer influence and new media.

Objectives: Upon completion of this module, the pharmaceutical professional will be able to:

• Understand and apply the Creative Blueprint development process
• Understand and apply the difference between a creative Insight vs. a Creative Execution
• Understand and apply the promotional tactics such as Personal promotion, non personal, new media, peer influence
• Apply the previous information to develop a promotional plan

Module 5 – Direct to Consumer

Learning Goals: In module 5, the participants will look at their product and determine if they should recommend a DTC campaign. If DTC is appropriate, when should they launch it, what type of campaign (branded vs. help seeking), what type of strategic focus (direct response, awareness) should be employed and what should the media mix be? All of these questions will be addressed in interactive lectures, discussions and assignments. Students will participate in consumer research to determine the consumer insights that need to be met in order to have an effective campaign for the product. By the end of module 5, students will actually develop a 60-second storyboard for a TV ad as well as a creative execution for a print advertisement.

Objectives: Upon completion of this module, the pharmaceutical professional will be able to:

• Understand the value of a DTC campaign
• Understand the type of DTC campaigns
• Understand the value of consumer insights
• Understand and apply the creative process in developing DTC advertisements
• Understand the Production considerations