Branding Science: Where Variety is the Spice of Market Reasearch

An English graduate, a human biology graduate and a business graduate walk into a bar… no this isn’t the start of a terrible joke. This is a tale about how Branding Science’s newest cohort of graduates met, at a Branding Science assessment centre hosted in a pub nearby to the beautiful riverside offices in Wandsworth. So how did such a motley crew from such different paths in education all end up at Branding Science? I will speak on behalf of my fellow grads, Ahmed and Vanessa, when I say that we did not grow up with fanciful dreams of working for a pharmaceuticals market research agency. It was not until after leaving university that we began to consider the existence of this profession.

Vanessa stumbled across pharma market research whilst working for a healthcare communications company, following completion of her masters in pharmaceuticals sciences. Ahmed wanted to take the data analysis and literature skills that he had developed during his PhD in English literature and exercise them in a commercial context and, with a family in healthcare, Branding Science seemed like a great fit. I landed in a consumer insights facility for a global pharma company during a year in industry as part of my business management degree, fell in love with market research and decided to take the small leap from consumer health to pharmaceuticals to indulge in my interest in medicine some more.

Perhaps to the untrained eye there is not an intuitive connection between the worlds of marketing and pharmaceuticals. You might think that in pharma the science speaks for itself, the right medications will get to the people who need them, guided by the healthcare professional’s rational decision making and the functional power of the product. Conversely, in the flash creative world of marketing we imagine a desperate dash to upsell more products at higher prices and increase profit. But this disconnect is a misconception based on false assumptions. Allocating optimal medications to the patients who need them is not as simple as one might like to think. Healthcare professionals are irrational, because human beings are irrational. We all make strange decisions from time to time. The ‘why did I eat that?’ ‘Why did I buy that?’ irrationality that plagues us all also plagues doctors in their prescribing behaviour. The key to success in pharma is understanding healthcare professionals and key decision makers, what drives their decisions and how you can tailor your approach to best meet theirs and patients’ needs. That’s where the marketing comes in: Branding Science can help to develop solutions to overcome the disconnect between patients, prescribers and pharma with a clever repertoire of unique research methodologies to uncover insights which guide our data driven recommendations.

At Branding Science, as new graduates we joined a team with a huge range of backgrounds, skills and experiences, and bring their own wide range of skills to the mix. It is this array of talent and knowledge that has shaped our methodologies, market understanding and understanding of people. Medicine, psychology, philosophy, business, neuroscience…we’ve got the lot! 

 It’s the diversity within the Branding Science team which helps us to deliver superior market research that is carefully tailored to meet our clients’ business needs. 

Whether it’s quantitative or qualitative, strategic or exploratory, concept testing or gaining an understanding of the market landscape, every research project is different and we have the right team to do the job.

If you’re interested in finding out more about our holistic approach to market research please contact info@branding-science.com. 

Bad habits, take a hike!

How market research can get to the heart of a habit and help change customer behaviour

The dreaded habit. We all know what they are and we all have our own, and whilst some may be positive everyone will definitely be able to say which habit, or habits (!) they would like to eradicate.

But I have a secret for you: habits cannot be destroyed.

Don’t lose hope though. There are ways to alter those pesky habits that strike at the heart of your good intentions.

Science has shown that habits are stored in the brain, and as we now know, the brain can be re-programmed. Which means whilst they cannot be destroyed, changing a habit is possible.

Firstly, you have to understand a habit. In Charles Duhigg’s book ‘The Power of Habits’ he shows that habits have 3 core components:

In order to change a habit, Duhigg postulates, you have to identify the routine (that’s the behaviour, for example walking to the food point to steal a biscuit). Next, experiment with rewards to find out what’s driving the habit (are you going to the food point because you want to satiate your hunger?), and also isolate the cue (is it hunger pains you’re experiencing?).

Working with Brand Teams within Pharmaceutical companies, we often get asked to help our clients understand why their customers (Physicians, including GPs, specialists, pharmacists) prescribe a product over theirs, even though their drug has ‘better data’, and how they can change such behaviours.

What they’re essentially asking us is: How can we change our customers’ habits?

Well, that is where market research comes in.

We work with physicians, asking them to describe their prescribing practice (the routine), why they prescribe a particular product (the cue) and what outcome they are looking to achieve (the reward). We can do this by having in-depth conversations with physicians, either individually or in a group, or map these behaviours out through online surveys, looking at perceptions of drugs and patient numbers.

As a result, we provide our clients with direction on how to change prescribing behaviours, by giving physicians new cues and rewards that lead them to alter their original habits, helping our clients to position themselves as the brand of choice.

So as you can see, there is hope for you quitting sugar and eating healthy yet! You just need to work out how much you want those cookies, or if there is some other reason you are craving them, and how to break that routine!

Email us at info@branding-science.com to find out more about how Branding Science can help you understand and change your customers’ habits.