Case studies

Branding

CLIENT INDUSTRY: PHARMACEUTICAL
FUNCTIONAL TOPIC: MARKETING & SALES

Challenge

Our client, a leading OTC pharmaceutical products company was facing a difficult decision with one of its portfolio brands: it had some of the highest brand awareness ratings on the market but has been steadily losing market share for the past 5 years. Our client decided to launch a new communication campaign to revive the product and needed help in reshaping the brand’s strategy, its key attributes and messaging.

What Strategy Labs did

We developed a holistic view of our client’s brand and market as a whole. We started by analyzing internal sales data where seasonality patterns revealed that the product plays across two different categories. We then interviewed a professional pharmacologist to better understand the properties and differences between active ingredients. The team has then analyzed GRP-weighted media messages to map brand communication strategies used by key competitors. We have also conducted over 10 mystery shopping visits to major pharmacy chains which helped us understand the pharmacist decision tree.

Drawing on insights from sales, market communication, mystery shopping visits, and expert interviews we developed 5 distinct communication strategies each aimed at a different stage in the customer decision process and tested them in focus groups and quantitative survey. One of our core findings was the discovery of a major stage in the customer purchasing process that has not yet been exploited by competitor brands and provided an attractive communication opportunity for our client.

Highlighted deliverables

  • Product seasonality pattern analysis
  • GRP-weighted brand communication message strategic map
  • Over 10 secret shopper pharmacy visits and pharmacist interviews
  • 5 strategic communication options
  • Communication strategy brief to a creative agency

 

10

NuMBER OF MISTERY
SHOPPING VISITS 

 

 

5

DISTINCT COMMUNICATION
STRATEGIES DEVELOPED