December 17, 2014 HOW PHARMA MARKETERS FIND AND SELECT DIGITAL MARKETING AGENCIES

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1 December 17, 2014 HOW PHARMA MARKETERS FIND AND SELECT DIGITAL MARKETING AGENCIES by Dennis van Rooij with Tim van Tongeren EXECUTIVE SUMMARY More than half of pharma marketers don t or can t leverage in-house capabilities to produce digital campaign materials and instead turn to external agencies. The digital agency landscape is crowded with specialist firms, large full-service organizations, and traditional consultancies moving into the creative space, making it difficult for marketing managers to identify which of the many players are the true pros. To find a good agency, pharma marketers rely on their colleagues, mainly in procurement. Once they have assembled a short list, marketers make their final selection by looking for the agency that best understands their business needs and exhibits creativity and strategic thinking. These characteristics matter more than an agency s reputation, previous collaboration, or client references. Table of Contents Pharma Marketers Use A Mix Of Tools To Find And Select Digital Agencies Methodology Online survey with 41 marketing managers (brand managers, brand directors, marketing directors) in global pharmaceutical companies 2 7 Companies Surveyed For This Report AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer- Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline, Leo Pharma, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Shire, UCB 7

2 PHARMA MARKETERS USE A MIX OF TOOLS TO FIND AND SELECT DIGITAL AGENCIES We surveyed forty-one marketing managers to understand how they found and selected a marketing agency to produce their latest digital campaign material (see Figure 1). Identifying the true pros in a crowded field of agencies is difficult for most marketing teams, but it s very important given the agency s vital role in the overall campaign. Our survey found that most marketing managers: Short-list based on recommendations from procurement and colleagues. On average, marketers use three sources of information to find digital marketing agencies to put on their short list (see Figure 2). Seventy-three percent of marketing managers pick agencies from their procurement department s preferred supplier list; two-thirds ask their colleagues for a recommendation. Agencies that the company has previously used, or is currently using, to deliver a digital marketing campaign also stand a good chance of being selected. On the other end of the spectrum, marketing managers report that cold-calling, white papers, trade magazine promotions, and social media campaigns have very little influence on their decision to short-list an agency. Choose the agency with the best strategic thinking and needs assessment. On average, marketing managers use four criteria to evaluate the offerings of shortlisted digital marketing agencies (see Figure 3). When examining agency proposals and pitch documents, brand managers primarily look at whether the agency displays strong strategic and creative thinking. Forty-nine percent of marketing managers think that it s very important that the agency understands their business needs. Other factors that play a key role are the cost-effectiveness of the proposed solution and the agency s technical skills and capacity for innovation. Conversely, neither previous collaboration with an agency nor an agency s list of client references and case studies are of much importance. Face obstacles with on-time, within-budget delivery. About one-quarter to onethird of marketing managers see the agency they selected struggle to keep to deadlines and budgets once the project is underway (see Figure 4). Another strong roadblock is agencies lack of attention to detail in the final campaign deliverables. When marketers selected an agency primarily due to its strong strategic and creative thinking and skill in interpreting the business need, they generally found that they chose well those factors did not prove to be agency-side obstacles to getting the job done. Don t see outstanding digital agency performance. Marketing managers have to overcome multiple obstacles before actually getting their campaign material in hand. When we asked them to rate the digital agency they selected and applied the Net Promoter Score methodology, the consequences of this struggle became clear: with an overall NPS of 31, very few marketers would actively recommend the agency they used to colleagues asking for suggestions (see Figure 5). However, nearly half of our respondents gave their agencies a 7 or 8, which represents a reasonable level of customer satisfaction.

3 Figure 1: Pharma marketers turn to agencies for apps and MCM campaign support Figure 2: Pharma marketers use time-tested means to select digital agencies

4 Figure 3: Creativity and business savvy are the top characteristics that digital agencies need

5 Figure 4: On-time, within-budget delivery of well-executed projects challenge digital agencies

6 Figure 5: Digital agencies can t make their mark on customer satisfaction

7 METHODOLOGY DT Associates fielded its survey to forty-one marketing managers in pharmaceutical organizations using an online survey tool plus a personal invitation by . We fielded the survey from October 2014 to December Respondent incentives included a copy of this report and a donation to a charity. Our sample is not guaranteed to be representative of the population. Unless otherwise noted, data is intended for descriptive purposes. COMPANIES SURVEYED FOR THIS REPORT AbbVie AstraZeneca Bayer Boehringer Ingelheim Bristol-Myers Squibb Eli Lilly Ferring Pharmaceuticals GlaxoSmithKline Leo Pharma Merck Novartis Pfizer Roche Shire UCB

8 ABOUT THE AUTHORS Dennis van Rooij Dennis is a recognized expert on how pharmaceutical executives can take full advantage of new digital technologies to bolster their commercial objectives. He brings a strategic yet pragmatic perspective on digital channels for the healthcare vertical in general and the pharmaceutical industry in particular to every engagement. In his current role as Managing Partner, Dennis is responsible for managing client relationships with a number of leading global pharmaceutical companies and spends a significant amount of his time working directly with clients. Dennis was the Global Head of Digital Transformation and Acceleration at Novartis pharmaceutical based in Switzerland. He also served as an interim advisor for an innovative pharmaceutical company, supporting its global digital capabilities and engagement team. Prior to that, Dennis led the digital marketing strategy for Asia Pacific, Japan, and emerging markets for GlaxoSmithKline, where he earned the prestigious President s Award for innovative marketing in emerging markets. Dennis also has seven years of commercial and digital strategy experience outside the global pharmaceutical industry as a senior consultant at MetrixLab and Forrester Research, where he worked with many of the world s top companies. Tim van Tongeren For more than ten years, Tim has specialized in helping commercial and marketing leaders navigate the strategy and operational transformations required to deal with technology change. In his current role as Managing Partner, Tim spends most of his time managing our international associate network alongside his work with leading global pharmaceutical companies to improve their digital excellence. Tim s primary achievements include developing digital capabilities for marketing managers, setting a long-term digital strategy, and adjusting the brand planning process for digital excellence, all for Tier 1 pharmaceutical companies. Most recently, he has guided business leaders in formulating and implementing their digital road maps, making sure that they don t overlook the necessary change management elements of marketing organization digital transformation. Tim has an extensive background in management consulting across a number of industries, which supports his digital excellence work for healthcare companies. As a senior strategy consultant at global marketing agency SapientNitro, he worked with clients across industries to develop and execute digital marketing strategies. Prior to that, Tim was an analyst at Forrester Research, where he produced thought-provoking research on technology innovation and customer experience management when it was still a relatively new discipline. ABOUT DT ASSOCIATES DT Associates is a specialist digital consultancy that enables healthcare companies to achieve digital excellence an essential component of continued business success in an age of digital disruption. We help leading innovators in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry successfully assess, launch, accelerate, and optimize digital excellence initiatives. DT Associates addresses firms digital business challenges in ways that no other consultancy can. Our clients face complex marketing and technology questions every day; we help them make the right decisions. DT Associates bespoke consulting services have a strong focus on digital marketing, strategy, and capabilities and our consultants bring deep digital and pharmaceutical knowledge and expertise to the table. Over the past ten years, we ve helped dozens of executives and teams at leading healthcare firms achieve digital success. Discover how we can partner with you to achieve digital excellence at prohibited. Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change.