Success Story 4

Background
The client requested a Study on Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Direct to Consumer (DTC) Promotional Programs to determine the desirability of creating a suite of DTC services for pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Objectives
The objectives of this study were to uncover the following information about DTC programs:

Where does responsibility for DTC and Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) reside within the organizational structure of pharmaceutical manufacturers?
What is the purpose of DTC programs over the course of the product life cycle?
What is the typical development process for a DTC program?
How are participants/patients located and how is the patient database maintained?
Which services in the proposed suite of DTC services are most appealing?
What is the value of an integrated package of DTC services?
What are the pharmaceutical manufacturers' unmet needs?
What recurring theme(s) are heard across brand teams?

Study Methodology
This study was conducted through in-depth interviews with key contacts at pharmaceutical manufacturers and advertising agencies. Interviews typically lasted 20 to 50 minutes.

Results
We provided a report describing the role of CRM in the development of pharmaceutical manufacturers' DTC programs, the changing role of DTC during the product life cycle, and the development process for a DTC campaign. We also defined the most appealing DTC services and uncovered unmet needs. The client used the study results to design a DTC services program that emphasized its core strengths and satisfied the unmet needs of pharmaceutical manufacturers -- especially the need to measure the ROI on DTC programs. The client avoided incorporating commodity services in its program as the study indicated that pharmaceutical manufacturers already had established arrangements for these low margin services.