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SKILLS FOR SUCCESS

March/April 2004

A Fresh Perspective for New—and Mature—Brands

Mary Cobb, CEO/President &
Nina Wachsman, Senior VP, Director of Strategy,
PACE, Inc., A Lowe Healthcare Company

Think Fresh … So Brands Flourish
We have hopes and aspirations for our brand; we try to identify its unique profile and personality. We tap our experience and market knowledge to create a powerful brand that will live, grow and flourish. Unfortunately, too many products in the world of pharma languish because a focus on the rational features of the product does not differentiate and distinguish it. A brand with truly unique benefits is rare. Many new pharma products offer only incremental benefits, which can be indistinguishable from others in the category. This makes differentiation difficult and reduces launch impact. The result is that physicians stick with their tried-and-true brands.

Building a brand requires so much more than just creating launch materials; it requires crafting a sustainable identity so all stakeholders recognize it and appreciate its value over the long term.

Think Expansively… Like the Customer
Brands become multidimensional but often lack the luxury of meaningful features that are distinguishing, especially over time. This has long been recognized in consumer marketing. Branding gurus such as David Aakers and Trout & Reis have recounted processes, values and assets that can be attributed to or associated with brands. What’s needed? An open mind to allow for creative interpretation of the brand’s true benefits and ways to reach all customers. Many marketers fail to recognize that pre-launch work—medical education, thought leaders, investigators and patient organizations—is developing and growing the assets and values of the brand dreamed of by consumer marketers.

At PACE, we start with taking time to evaluate, assess and determine how best to leverage associations, values and unique product features and benefits. Then we determine which assets and values will form deeper emotional connections to the brand and make it BIGGER than its features and benefits. Our “Brand Halo” process is then applied to identify the right assets to form the powerful emotional connection and get into the minds of the customers—to uncover customer attitudes and aspirations, needs and desires—and how the brand can answer these. The result: A differentiated and distinguished brand that forges an emotional connection with the unmet needs of the customer. Brand Halo is a powerful way to influence behavior, create preference and develop brand loyalty.

Treat Brands Holistically… From Strategic Insight to Creative Expression
It’s not just about strategy or creativity. It’s about creative strategy and strategic creative. It’s about finding that unique place in the customer’s heart and mind where a brand can flourish. Take a step back to look at the brand from a different, “fresh perspective.” The “big ideas” and creative expressions that truly embody the personality and promise of the brand will come naturally.

Launching into Satisfied Markets
It’s a challenge to launch into a satisfied market with many choices and raised expectations for new products and benefits after years of consumer marketing. For the launch of the first extended-cycle OC, gaining insights into both the healthcare professional and consumer was critical to developing the Brand Halo. By applying these insights to the launch, the promise of “A Whole New Way to Live,” a truly powerful, emotionally compelling brand with a meaningful benefit to the customer was created.

Building Mature Brands
Our goal at PACE is to create long-term success. But mature brands with positive experiences offer unassailable advantages and established emotional values few pharmaceutical marketers take time to uncover. Through innovative market research approaches, we know successful brands project images. And we ask: What does it say about the physician who prefers this brand? How does the physician feel when prescribing it?

Assuming physicians’ decisions are entirely data-driven limits thinking and creativity. By applying the Brand Halo process to a glaucoma drug and viewing treatment from the eyes of the prescriber within the context of their entire practice (to understand the drug’s true value), we uncovered an identity that leveraged existing customer beliefs of the brand as the “gold standard.” The campaign blunted the launches of new competitors and identified new opportunities to expand the market through both prescribers and consumers.Overall, we have found that new and mature brands can flourish and have long-term success by:

• Maintaining enthusiasm and a fresh perspective
• Getting a 360˚ perspective of the brand
• Thinking expansively about its true potential
• Looking at the rational and emotional
• Treating brands “holistically” from strategic insight to creative expression.