Positioning — An Untapped Opportunity? A good brand positioning should represent a goal, the place where, as marketers, you want to take your customers. The achievement of the brand positioning should result in the ability to meet future commercial objectives. Brand Positioning Palio Communications In the marketing of pharmaceuticals, there is a tendency to get caught up in the day-to-day management of the brand and asking such questions as “are we increasing market share?” and “how effective is the salesforce?” Even during the annual planning period, the focus tends to be more on tactics than anything else. Too often, overlooked are the most important questions, such as “what should the brand represent?” and “what place should the brand hold in the customers’ minds?” The answers to these questions can give the brand great power for both the marketing team and its customers. Positioning Is the Future A good brand positioning should represent a goal, the place where, as marketers, you want to take your customers. The achievement of the brand positioning should result in the ability to meet future commercial objectives. Conversely, if the positioning is currently where the brand is, then there’s probably nowhere to go (this is okay if you are already exactly where you want to be). Harnessing the Opportunity The clear articulation of the product positioning with the broader marketing team can be incredibly powerful in myriad ways: • Motivating the internal team — A shared understanding of the positioning can have everyone on the team fired up to get the brand’s customers to the same place. In one example, conveying “the chance for a cure” in a serious cancer provided constant incentive and singular direction to everyone in the organization. • Identifying barriers to success — Critical evaluation of what customers think of the brand against the desired positioning will uncover the things that need to be overcome to achieve the set-forth goals. Such evaluation also allows for the opportunity to reassess the timing, credibility, and achievability of the objectives, as well as the positioning itself. • Crystallizing a strategic direction — Creating and checking every element of the strategic plan against the positioning will illuminate priorities and determine the consistency of the platform. Everything from pricing to clinical development should be held against this benchmark. • Evaluating progress — Over time, the distance between how customers think about the product and the desired positioning is a reliable surrogate marker of success. Closing this gap over time will likely be matched with greater sales and market share. Little or no movement signals a commercial shortfall or a “red flag” of vulnerability in the marketplace. Making It Actionable The product positioning is a powerful tool and should meet specific criteria for maximum impact: • Single-mindedness — While many positioning templates exist, some of which are more comprehensive than others, it’s important that the positioning can be summarized in three to five words. It’s also important that everyone on the team can easily articulate the positioning statement. • Relevancy — It’s important that the positioning is relevant to the customer. It’s one thing to take the customer where you want to go, but he or she has to feel the trip is important. • Ownable — The brand should possess a “uniqueness” profile and it should be able to be differentiated in the marketplace to stand out as “yours.” • Sustainable — Make sure the positioning can remain relevant and ownable over time. Alternatively, can the positioning be a stepping stone to a bigger place once new indications, data, and so on are forthcoming? Along the way, it is easy to step into the trap of using a key message for positioning or the desire to test positioning statements with key customers. A product’s positioning is the answer to the questions that will drive longer term success. As marketers, if you do nothing else different in this planning season, critically assess your positioning and leverage it as the internal driver it can be. Your customers will tell you in the market whether you have achieved your goal. Palio Communications, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., an inVentiv Health company, is a full-spectrum advertising and communications agency that excels in brand creation to change the way people think and feel through execution that will never be forgotten. For more information, visit palio.com. September 2006 VIEW on Marketing Carl Kuebler Senior VP, Account Services

Download PDF