Getting strategy execution right

Pharmaceutical teams often have access to a wealth of information and insights to design their strategies. However, only a few of them may be relevant and the execution of the strategy may rely on a few key people. 

Hence, it is critical for brand teams to carefully examine their strategy and define very precisely how they are going to go about making sure it is executed to perfection.

Here is a short video from Michael Jarrett, INSEAD professor, introducing a few important points to consider in order to get strategy execution right.

The author: Axel Rousseau is brand scientist (SRE) at Branding-Science and has been working on international market research and consultancy since 2008.

Technology wonders

The article Coming Next: Using an App as Prescribed recently published on the New York Times discusses recent innovations in smartphone applications dedicated to healthcare.

In particular, it gives examples of applications designed to collect patient data, take those through a specific algorithm and send treatment recommendations to healthcare professionals in charge of managing the patient.

Although the level of precision of recommendations may vary, such a process would clearly represent a major concern for pharmaceutical companies, who would need to ensure their treatments are included - and fairly presented - amongst the available alternatives that will shape the recommendation.

Physicians will also consider these applications and their recommendations with extreme caution, particularly in the early days, but could the current trend for cost-saving accelerate their adoption?

If you are a brand manager in the pharmaceutical industry, you certainly want to keep an eye on these apps and even more on the guidelines the FDA will publish later this year, as it could mean opportunities  not to be missed.

The author: Axel Rousseau is brand scientist (SRE) at Branding-Science and has been working on international market research and consultancy since 2008.

Fancy reading our annual report?

Market research, like financial reports sometimes face the same challenge. They need to get important information across about a specific market, various stakeholders or the way a company is going, so that the audience (or readers) can digest the information and make the most of it.

Listing a series of facts and figures can very quickly become exhausting for the audience, yet market research and financial communications need to fairly describe the reality - and if you are at the receiving end, you certainly want the most comprehensive picture that you can get!

This is why, at Branding Science, we strive to deliver our presentations using different media and engaging methods. Now, I have to apologise here for the misleading title of this blog as it isn't our annual report I would like to share with you, but rather, United Therapeutics' 2010 annual report (PDF).

As a great example of delivering information through an engaging story, they published this report as a comic book. Could your next detail aid be done in the same way?

The author: Axel Rousseau is brand scientist (SRE) at Branding-Science and has been working on international market research and consultancy since 2008.

The value of teamwork

A few weeks ago, one of the workshops we facilitated was introduced to the team with the following video:

The point was to emphasise the value of teamwork:

• Each of these 5 people perfectly play their role in delivering the song
• The coordination of the band doesn't tell how much rehearsal and training has been invested in this video - but we guess it's been hard work!
• They only have one guitar - Even with relatively little means, what a fantastic achievement for these guys!?

Although it is a bit of a long video and everyone got the point in the first minute, I found this example extremely inspiring. To me, it shows that with creativity and the right energy, you can achieve extraordinary results. And what is more relevant when your key challenge is to do more with less?

The author: Axel Rousseau is brand scientist (SRE) at Branding-Science and has been working on international market research and consultancy since 2008.