A New Era For Pharmaceuticals: New Commercial Models

The pharmaceutical industry is undergoing a commercial evolution. Traditional sales and marketing tactics — such as the classic in-person sales rep model — have declined, straining under the pressure of rising costs, new regulations, increasing provider consolidation, changing operating models, and greater market complexity. The result is that pharma companies and their sales teams are losing critical access to providers and patients. In response, they are investing in new commercial models (NCMs) in an attempt to better engage and sell to customers.

Strategy& recently surveyed and interviewed more than 150 senior sales, marketing, and strategy pharma executives across the U.S. and Europe to determine the extent to which NCM elements had been deployed, what lessons had been learned, and which elements the executives consider worth investing in as they go forward.

The results are highlighted in a short video along with recommendations for companies struggling to find commercial success in a rapidly changing market. Key findings from this year’s Global Marketing and Sales Study include:

No one has cracked the code just yet. There have been successes and failures, but no model or combination of models is truly hitting the mark.

Personal selling is here to stay. Adaptations to this broadly used model are where the most success has been found so far.
Increasing value and relevance to customers remains the biggest challenge. Although much has been tried, pharma companies have generally fallen short on customer-centric offerings that enhance their position materially.

Work remains to be done with digital. Executives ranked digital among the least successful new commercial model elements they’ve tried — and yet they plan to increase digital investments significantly.

There is no silver bullet strategy, but there are some key steps companies can take to get ahead. Watch the video to find out more.