Pharmaceutical/Biotech Marketing Excellence: Leveraging the Sales
Force to Drive Re-Packaging, Re-Branding and Re-Launching Success

Winning and developing sales force excitement about a re-launch
product is critical to its success during re-launch. More than 65%
of benchmarked pharmaceutical and biotech organizations find
creating excitement, expanding coverage and enhancing incentives
most effective for placing the re-launched product in their sales
force(s), according to a recent study by pharmaceutical research
firm Best Practices, LLC. To drive sales enthusiasm, executives
involve sales leaders from the field at every stage of planning to
ensure complete understanding of the business case for re-launch.
Obtaining sales force buy-in is a change movement process, but
involvement is a critical lever that can be used to impact overall
buy-in.

Best-Practices' study "Product Re-launch Excellence: Transforming
Lackluster Pharmaceutical Products into Market Success Stories" --
complimentary summary available at www3.best-in-class.com/rr605.ad --
provides insights into how leading companies win the hearts and
minds of their sales organization. For example, poor sales force
training at one company was responsible for a lackluster first
launch. As a result, the brand team is now using a distance
education program, from which the team has seen some positive
results.

In addition to insights into re-launch sales force management, this
study also provides a comprehensive overview of field-proven re-
launch strategies, practices and experiences from 14 leading
pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the following critical
areas:

* Setting Re-launch Strategy -- A leading company needed to cut
the price
to re-launch its lackluster drug. However, the sales
organization was
resistant to the proposed cut due to fears of increased
difficulty in
meeting the sales quota. To win their support, the brand team
made the
case to the sales organization that increased volume of sales
would
easily make up for the lower price.
* Re-defining Product Character -- 95% of surveyed companies find
adjusting core message effective or highly effective for
redefining
brand character and brand story in the marketplace.
* Re-launch Marketing Investment Metrics: Companies essentially
share the
same approach to resource allocation for re-launching: the
majority of
investment -- roughly 75% -- is shared by sales, various
promotional
channels, KOLs and advocacy initiatives.
* Case Studies: Read about what made the re-launches of
Zithromax &
Wellbutrin XL so successful.

The research findings are drawn from surveys and interviews of
executives from leading companies including: Abbott Laboratories,
AstraZeneca, Aventis, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novartis,
Pfizer and Roche.

To download a complimentary summary or purchase the full
report, "Product Re-launch Excellence: Transforming Lackluster
Pharmaceutical Products into Market Success Stories," visit
www3.best-in-class.com/rr605.ad .

ABOUT BEST PRACTICES, LLC

Best Practices, LLC, a pharmaceutical research and consulting firm,
conducts work based on the principle that organizations can chart a
course to superior economic performance by studying the best
business practices, operating tactics and winning strategies of
world-class organizations.

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