Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - (Page 11) KOL MANAGEMENT What happens if development on a product is stopped? This is a hotly debated issue. On the one hand, if the company stops its programme, particularly if it abandons initiatives mid-stream, it risks losing a lot of good will built up over time, generally at great expense. If, however, it continues the programme, the company is spending money where there is no product to support. The decision should be based on a consideration of how long the investment has been going on, how many other products there are in the pipeline, and how soon the next product will be coming on stream. If the decision is taken to halt the programme, it is essential that opinion leaders are told quickly and honestly. What does the opinion leader want from the relationship? Opinion leaders need the industry as much as we need them, but they do not necessarily need to work with any specific company. The more successful companies, therefore, look at these relationship as much from the point of view of the opinion leader as from what they themselves want out it. They ask why he or she would want to get involved with it? Opinion leaders tend to look for a long-term relationship with clarity from the company about what they can expect and what the company wants from them. What they want specifically will depend on their interests. Reasons for getting involved may be the opportunity to get to know the product early; to participate in educational initiatives; to get sponsorship for themselves or their juniors to attend congresses; or maybe just because it is rewarding to advise on marketing matters through an ad board. Although for some reason companies are reluctant to do so, the best way to find out what opinion leaders want is simply to ask them, and then record their responses in a place where their colleagues and successors can find it. What should a company want from opinion leaders and in which activities should they involve each individual? A company will be looking to build and maintain relationships with a number of different types of opinion leader and a number who hold various views about the disease and the product. www.pharmexeceurope.com Many of them will hopefully be product advocates, but by no means all will or should be. Non-supporters in the opinion leader mix will often be big names who will chair company meetings and give non-promotional presentations designed to attract an audience. They may also sit on advisory boards to balance the advice of product champions. The company will also want to ensure that they work with each individual in a way that best fits his involvement with a company’s opinion leaders. These might different brand teams in the same therapeutic area, global and the affiliate in which the opinion leaders is located, and different functions. The biggest problem of course, is the disconnect that often exists between marketing and medical. Part of the problem is that there is little joint planning about opinion leaders or sharing of relationships. The most visible failing, and therefore the one that is apparent How to ensure continuity of plans and relationships across functions and geographies? This is the sixty-four thousand dollar question. strengths, desires and attributes. This will include understanding what his research interests are; what type of research he is best suited for; what marketing and communications activities he is happy to be involved in and is good at. What are they like as speakers? Do they want to be involved in educational activities or like to talk to the media? Again, as much of this information as possible should be recorded but whilst it is fine to record their likes, recording skills and abilities can be difficult in an age when opinion leaders can ask to see what records a company holds on them. The stage the opinion leader is at in his career should also influence the ways he is involved. They will be more suited to, and more interested in, undertaking particular activities depending on whether they are a rising star, at the peak of their career, approaching retirement or even recently retired. How to ensure continuity of plans and relationships across functions and geographies? This is the sixty-four thousand dollar question. No one has absolutely cracked the problem although some companies certainly do it better than others. At any one time many people in a company are likely to have to the opinion leaders themselves, is simply a lack of internal knowledge about the scale of the opinion leader’s activities for the company. Less visible, but more damaging, is that no one is planning the optimal involvement of the opinion leader, who will often have a formal or self-imposed limit on how much involvement he or she can have in the company’s activities. The more successful solutions require an audit of what currently happens in the organisation; discussion amongst the various functions to seek solutions that meet all needs; and clear and measurable processes governing opinion leader activities and internal communications. About the Author Neil Kendle is managing director of Kendle Healthcare, a consultancy specialising in opinion leader identification and development. 11 http://www.pharmexeceurope.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 Contents The Brand Exchange Focused and Flexible Making A Global Vision Work Leading the Way The OnlineConsumer Wired to the Future Co-ordinate Your Communications In the Public Interest Seek First to Understand Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - (Page 1) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - Contents (Page 2) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - Contents (Page 3) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - The Brand Exchange (Page 4) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - The Brand Exchange (Page 5) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - Focused and Flexible (Page 6) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - Focused and Flexible (Page 7) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - Making A Global Vision Work (Page 8) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - Making A Global Vision Work (Page 9) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - Leading the Way (Page 10) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - Leading the Way (Page 11) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - The OnlineConsumer (Page 12) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - The OnlineConsumer (Page 13) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - Wired to the Future (Page 14) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - Co-ordinate Your Communications (Page 15) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - Co-ordinate Your Communications (Page 16) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - In the Public Interest (Page 17) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - In the Public Interest (Page 18) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - Seek First to Understand (Page 19) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - October 2007 - Seek First to Understand (Page 20)
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