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Pharmaceuticals

Scientific breakthroughs over the last two decades have advanced the cause of medicine through the development, manufacture and marketing of a host of new drugs.  The capacity of pharmaceutical companies to move these drugs through clinical testing, receive FDA approval, and get the drugs to market dramatically affects acceptance and profitability.  The ability to market these prescription drugs directly to consumers (DTC) impacts consumer awareness, builds incremental volume, and according to the AMA, generally benefits the population by identifying and providing relief for many ailments.  

Pioneer's pharmaceutical research studies are available to the industry's market research and information sources in pharmaceutical companies, pharmaceutical service firms, medical device manufacturers, healthcare delivery organizations, and life sciences industries.  Pioneer provides customer or patient awareness and satisfaction studies, market studies, prescription, dosage and use studies, and advertising effectiveness studies.  

Direct to consumer advertising (DTCA) and OTC medicines imply communicating specialized information with clarity to a broad public.  Effective DTCA transcends traditional target group definitions.  It has a societal educative effect that constructs a pharmaceutical culture.  In today's institutional healthcare environment, DTCA is increasing the dialogue between doctors and patients.

This industry trend makes it crucial for pharmaceutical marketing to 1) base advertising concept development upon solid preliminary insights, and 2) pre-test DTCA in order to ensure comprehension and understanding of the factors that determine effectiveness.

MART - Pioneer Marketing Research's comprehensive DTCA measurement program
MART, our Multi-Audience Reaction Test includes consumers, chronic patients, pharmacists and physicians.  Effective DTCA goes beyond the individual consumer; it affects and shapes attitudes in all these buyer, user and prescriptor groups.

MART measures the major effectiveness factors:

• Attention - The ability to pierce through the clutter of diagnoses recall

• Communication - Message clarity and comprehension

• Attitudinal response - Conviction to take action

• Stimulus - Commitment to action

Typical studies include one or more of the following objectives:

I. Exploration / Concept Development
 1. Gather insights of target audiences
 2. Determine usage and purchase habits related to healthcare 
     products
 3. Understand key issues for the consumer, including their 
     evaluative criteria
 4. Awareness, recall and comprehension of DTC brands and their 
     advertising
 5. Measure the degree of contact or dialogue with the physician
 6. Differences with ethnic groups (Hispanics, African-Americans)
 7. Identify possible fears, inhibitions, prejudices - areas affected by 
     a lack of knowledge
 8. Identify key concepts and attitudinally "charged" words
 9. Develop a consumer friendly style
10. Build a key identity element

II. Pre Testing
  1. Prestest and compare effectiveness of alternative approaches, e.g., 
      educational vs emotional
  2. Identify elements that determine clarity of language
  3. Develop language with "instant comprehension"
  4. Are you communicating both brand and purpose of the drug?
  5. Are you communicating in ways that people feel touched or involved?
  6. Is intent or the stimulus to action high?  Will patients bring DTCA to the 
      doctor's attention?
  7. Are you building comprehension of the purpose of the drug (brand)?
  8. Risk:  Are you promoting the category as a whole?
  9. Do you have key identity elements?  Use symbols that differentiate
10. Test and retest for comprehension

III. Tracking
  1. Compare effectiveness vs general DTC advertising
  2. Identify strengths and weaknesses in general DTC advertising
  3. Understand what determines quality of advertising in DTCA
  4. Measure brand awareness
  5. Measure corporate awareness and correct association

IV. With Patients
  1. Establish physicians' approval of the molecule or brand
  2. Evaluate physicians' perception of detailing
  3. MDs perceptions of the whole DTCA picture, for all brands
  4. MDs preference ranking of all DTC advertising

Partial Client List
  Bayer
  GlaxcoSmithKline
  Johnson & Johnson
  Pfizer
  Roche
  Solvay