The pharmaceutical industry represents one of the biggest spenders on marketing, with some estimates approaching 30% as a percent-of-sales, and seen as a critical component to achieving brand success. Understanding the solutions to the following marketing spending questions occupy a significant amount of time among pharma executives, such as, what is the optimal overall marketing spending budget, what is the optimal allocation of marketing spending by channel for a given brand, and, what is the optimal allocation of marketing spending by brand across the company portfolio? This research paper will tackle the marketing-mix problem in four steps:
| 1. | A look at the evolution of pharma marketing spending models over the last 45 years, focusing on publicly available review studies from the academic literature, categorized by type of demand model and level of data analytics, aggregate versus individual demand models, and aggregate category versus brand level demand models. |
| 2. | Review two marketing-mix case studies from actual project engagements. |
| 3. | What future challenges exist for marketing-mix analytics as the pharma environment continues to evolve. |
| 4. | A review of innovations that have been recently generated to address practical marketing-mix issues facing pharma industry executives. |
This article was originally published in the Journal of the Pharmaceutical Management Science Association, Spring 2018 issue. It is posted here with permission from the Pharmaceutical Management Science Association.
Dr. Devesh Verma is currently a Principal at Axtria where he leads the Marketing Solutions practice. His team is responsible for bringing cutting-edge data, analytics, and technology together to connect marketers with their customers. The team is also focused on implementing the Axtria MarketingIQ™ platform at various life sciences organizations. In addition to the Marketing Solutions practice, Devesh also leads Axtria’s artificial intelligence and machine learning center, digital analytics center of excellence, and a design team.
Dr. George A. Chressanthis is currently a Principal Scientist at Axtria. He brings a unique combination of professional experiences into the analysis of strategic and operational issues affecting the biopharmaceutical industry.
To download a copy of this article, please provide the required information. Contact us at insights@axtria.com with any questions.
