Goodbye, Sales and Marketing. Hello, Integrated Commercial Models

Goodbye, sales and marketing.
Hello, integrated commercial models
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Goodbye, sales and marketing. Hello, integrated commercial models 2
Contents
Executive summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Goodbye sales and marketing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
What challenges have companies encountered? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
What is the impact on customers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
How are these models impacting pharma companies? . . . . . . . . . 11
What does the future hold? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
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Executive summary
In a 2015 survey, a majority of executives believed their companies would be restructuring
their commercial models over the next two years. This change is already happening, driven by
shifts in the healthcare landscape – shrinking brand size, the need to demonstrate value, more
complex medicines and more sophistication in the payer environment, as well as downward
pressure on cost and the impact of digital transformation.
In this evolving landscape, companies are moving well beyond the simple promotion of
products – from ‘pile it high and shout about’ to genuine efforts to develop multifaceted, in-
depth and long-term relationships. They are engaging prescribers, payers and patients – among
many other stakeholders – to better understand their needs and to deliver solutions that are
tailored to the individual preferences of each stakeholder and customer.
To embrace this complexity, internal silos are breaking down. Sales and marketing, already
close companions, are converging into integrated commercial teams. The role of the sales rep
is evolving once again as customer service reps and medical science liaisons engage customers
in more sophisticated ways. Driven by a focus on 'customer experience', companies are
increasingly using key account management and multichannel marketing, while the realities of
patient-centricity are further shaping new commercial strategies.
Beyond sales and marketing, the entire pharma organization is working cross-functionally more
than ever before, drawing on internal expertise from silos as diverse as R&D, health economics
and outcomes research, regulatory and medical, to develop and deliver these new solutions.
Change is never easy and challenges abound. Companies still struggle to create truly customer-
centric digital content, while strategic planning is often hampered by the need to ‘do something
fast’. The logistics of integration are a major challenge, establishing the boundaries between
functions and linking front and back office capabilities. Resistance to change continues to
slow progress, often hidden behind the mask of ‘compliance’.
New models are emerging in forward-thinking companies, offering glimpses of possible

futures, although with no single model coming to the fore many companies lag behind. While
there will always be a place for sales, marketing and medical capabilities, in the near future, all
may be working together as an integrated ‘customer engagement’ department.
Disclaimer
The information and opinions in this article were prepared by eyeforpharma Ltd. eyeforpharma Ltd. has no
obligation to tell you when opinions or information in this report change. We would like to thank the authors
for the extensive primary research that went into the production of this article. eyeforpharma Ltd. makes every
effort to use reliable, comprehensive information, but we make no representation that it is accurate or complete.
In no event shall eyeforpharma Ltd. and its partners be liable for any damages, losses, expenses, loss of data, loss
of opportunity or profit caused by the use of the material or contents of this paper.
No part of this document may be distributed, resold, copied, or adapted without our prior written permission
from the authors.
Introduction
The value of a medicine used to be low down the list of messages that pharma companies
delivered to HCPs, but not anymore. In Europe, Health Technology Assessment (HTA) requires
pharma companies to demonstrate value to the healthcare provider either through improved
clinical outcomes or some other benefit to the patient. In the US, an increased focus on drug
pricing during the 2016 presidential election has led to greater attention on the work of third-
party value-assessment bodies like the ICER – Institute for Clinical and Economic Review –
National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Within pharma, trends towards specialty care and more complex drugs, as well as factors like
patient-centricity and customer experience, are adding yet more layers of complexity to the
job of the commercial team. Traditional simple models of sales and marketing can no longer
deliver levels of success demanded by companies.
The shrinking size of brands is a key driver, says Florent Edouard, VP Marketing GI-RIA,
Commercial Excellence and IT at AstraZeneca. While a few hundred million dollars of revenue
still represents substantial business, it has required companies to reconsider how they can make
the best of available resources to drive efficiency, remain nimble and eliminate complexity.
With healthcare providers evolving and consolidating, the health landscape and systems are
also becoming more complex. Access is not a straightforward business and the HCP is no
longer the only person who makes the decisions about what product to prescribe at a local
Florent Edouard, level. They have not been relegated in importance but they require much more information on
AstraZeneca
medicines – and their value – to justify their prescribing choices.
Cost is another driver pushing the traditional sales rep model out of favor, says John Gerow,
Service Team Strategy Partner, Ashfield, noting that it is expensive to keep a large sales team
out on the road. Time is another factor, with doctors often dealing with a greater administrative
burden than in the past, restricting the time available to meet with reps.
Digital is taking its time to filter into pharma’s consciousness. “They haven’t cottoned on to the
way digital is changing things,” is the verdict of Paul Runeckles, Marketing and Sales Operations
Director Europe at Merck (EMD Serono in North America). “The old world of ‘throwing lots of
John Gerow, Ashfield reps at it’ has gone, yet pharma comms is still prehistoric, or in the Stone Age at least.”
Resistance to the power of digital is inevitable – as with other industries, pharma is comfortable
with its ‘push’ model, whereas digital is a ‘pull’ model that sees people go to the place they
find the most value.
Above all, patient-centricity is changing the way pharma operates as it comes to realize that
what matters most to physicians are their patients. “People tend to think ‘customer-centric’
but it is important to think ‘patient-centric’,” cautions one senior executive.

Goodbye sales and marketing?

Pharma comms is still Customer experience (CX) is growing in importance as a consideration for pharma in its dealings
with HCPs and patients (Michels, Rebhan, Ghosh, 2014). In other areas of their lives, both these
prehistoric, or in the
groups access services instantly, ordering cabs, booking flights or having restaurant-quality
Stone Age at least.
food delivered to their homes through easy-to-use apps. They expect the same experience
Paul Runeckles, Merck from pharma companies and don’t see why they should be forced to wait or have their
interaction mediated through a rep.
Patients in particular require their ‘moments of truth’ – those interactions which are of most
relevance to them – to be handled by pharma with care and with insight into the problems
they face (Kumli, Felber, Gittermann, 2016).
For this reason, whatever channels pharma uses in its interactions with customers, the general
movement of travel is towards adopting a more individualized approach – whether convincing
HCPs of a drug’s value, using patient data to inform patient support programs or attracting
patients to clinical trials. To deliver this, companies are increasingly looking at how to integrate
different functions into a single commercial team.
Key elements of such integration will be multichannel marketing (MCM) and key account
management (KAM), already widely employed in the industry, says Rick Edmunds, Leader of
Pharma Life Sciences for Strategy&, part of the PWC network. “Most pharma companies have
moved to a KAM approach, in addition to direct physician detailing,” he says. “However, while
they have adapted their channel model, they are still struggling with how to evolve the value
proposition side of their customer approach to this newer channel.”
For Steve Wooding, Head, Global Commercial and Market Access Strategy Organization at
Janssen, thinking of ‘commercial’ teams as ‘market access’ teams can help focus thinking around
the need to integrate functions such as sales, marketing, medical affairs and regulatory. “People
talk about strategic marketing and selling but that model doesn’t really work anymore,” he
says. “We’re tending to back away from the notion of marketing and sales and taking a broader
view of access.” (See box).
In a similar move, Merck's KAM team in the UK has brought together sales, market access and
Steve Wooding, Janssen reimbursement using a relatively simple project plan, which the company believes can be
followed across different countries, territories and franchise teams. “There is an element of
Case Study
Janssen: The Access Model
On the basis that integrating disciplines will serve customers better, Janssen is moving
towards a broader view of access. The company has brought together teams from
commercial strategy, medical affairs, health economics and market access, new business
Rick Edmunds, Strategy& development and business intelligence to create an integrated market access function.
marketing and sales thus sit within the access unit, disseminating information and
communicating with customers, thereby ensuring consistency of messaging.
Under a heading of market access – or even ‘patient access’ – the idea is to design a model
to facilitate the greatest interaction in what is increasingly an HTA environment. Although
HTA tends to be thought of as a European phenomenon, some observers feel that since
insurers and other US stakeholders make decisions based on factors such as price and best
supporting data, the US system is not so far from HTA by another name.
getting people to speak the same language, understanding the needs of the person they are
talking to,” says Runeckles. “Face-to-face contact is still king, but close behind comes digital
and online contact.”
The nature of face-to-face contact is changing, he adds. In the UK, a look at open-source data
made available by the NHS to improve healthcare delivery has shown Merck that patients are
often caught up in primary care for a long time – 8-10 years from the appearance of symptoms
to sitting in front of a specialist. As it would clearly be more cost-effective – and better for
Paul Runeckles, Merck the patient – to speed this up, the company’s KAM team works with clinics to understand
referral pathways and identify patients in primary care, then, once patients are in treatment,
the KAM works with payers, each leveraging the other’s expertise. Merck offers patient
support to shoulder some of the increase in cost. What’s more, multichannel communication,
such as sharing scientific publications, sending email newsletters to certain customers or using
targeted mini-websites, is also part of the mix. Although these are relatively simple things, they
tend not to be not done particularly well in pharma, says Runeckles.
"Face-to-face contact
As has been widely noted, while most pharma companies talk about the importance of
is still king, but close
patient-centricity, the strong sense from informed observers is that many are only paying lip
behind comes digital
service. However, some companies are waking up to the idea that they need to concentrate
and online contact. on ensuring that patients’ moments of truth – for example, when they feel vulnerable or
Paul Runeckles, Merck. confused – are memorable for the right reasons. Support could be something as simple as
offering easy access to an online ‘product champion’.
Case Study
AstraZeneca: One Brand Team
AstraZeneca in Japan has codified cross-functional working with the creation of its One
Brand Teams (OBT). For every brand, a core group of representatives from R&D, medical,
marketing, sales, operations and commercial excellence works together to design and drive
programs. Each OBT has a leader (the brand ‘CEO’), who could come from any function and
whose job is to ensure that the agenda is driven and that everyone understands their area
of accountability.
There is an element of entrepreneurship about this – in effect creating micro-companies

within an overarching structure – with P&L responsibility, and control of clinical studies,
marketing, sales and so on. Their remit is to achieve success for their brand from two years
before launch to five years afterwards.
It has taken AstraZeneca two years to set up and run the OBTs, while extra training has
been required, not least in becoming less risk-averse and more actively interested in other
people’s roles. Leaders have been moved between various functions to help this process.
Among the most complex issues was the push to ensure that everyone understood the
need to apply a rigid framework, in order that the country’s management team could see
at any given time what was going on with the development of each brand.
For the customer, the advantage is complete alignment on product positioning and
supporting material. “Once you work like that, you can put the customer at the center,”
says AstraZeneca's Edouard.
In the US, where direct communication with the patient is permitted, patient-centric efforts
will inevitably take a different form to those in Europe but the goals remain the same. Patient
We haven’t seen a support, education and adherence initiatives continue to become an integral part of what
‘SWAT team’ added to pharma is trying to achieve, wrapping support and a focus on outcomes around the product.
the general team. It is
more of an evolution This is not to say that the traditional one-to-one rep interaction does not work, says Janssen’s
Wooding – in different countries and at different stages of a drug’s life cycle, it is still an
towards the clinically
important cog in the wheel. However, its ubiquity has receded; moreover, what reps are
oriented rep.
required to say has changed as treatments have become more sophisticated.
Rolf Fricker, Strategy&
There is also an increased emphasis on communication that does not directly touch on the
product. Customer service reps – often with no pharma background but hired for their service
sector experience – are an indicator of this trend. “Service reps focus on supporting the
interaction that HCPs have with their patients; the objective is to provide value to patients,
not to promote a brand message. As a result, this model resonates really well with clinician
customers,” explains Ashfield’s Gerow.
The medical science liaison (MSL) role has also risen in pharma, responsible for facilitating
the flow of information about a particular therapy area. “Some physicians prefer informing
themselves online, on their phones or by going to meetings – or they want to have scientific
conversations with MSLs,” says Sebastian Heinzmann, a consultant at InterPhase Consult.
An early forerunner of the current trend towards greater integration of commercial teams
is the regional account director (RAD) model first pioneered by Takeda 12 years ago. RADs
developed a local business plan with the agreement of the senior leadership team, and were
Sebastian Heinzmann, then measured against it, with P&L responsibility. They had access to senior internal decision
InterPhase Consult
makers and were tasked with building relationships with purchasers. Rather than being micro-
managed, RADs were free to act on their own experience and local knowledge, hiring nurses
and pharmacists, for example to help with medicines management schemes, and hiring sales
reps to get pull-through on a local formulary.
The RAD model has since been refined and KAM is still evolving, so companies are only at
the beginning of this learning curve, with some starting to use data from sales reps to inform
their approaches, and piloting schemes around predictive analytics. However, this is not highly
advanced as yet.
While there is experimentation in creating cross-functional teams, the diversity of the

market means it cannot be as simple as moving from model A to model B. “We’re not simply
Case Study
The Orchestrator of Channels
The proliferation of new channels open to pharma, along with the increasing availability of
data, will require a “completely new type of animal” to manage it, says Andy Holgate, SVP,
International Business Development at Ashfield.
This ‘orchestrator of channels’ will be a RAD or KAM who has the experience and authority
to act as lead co-ordinator, bringing together the skills of head office marketers who have
access to Big Data so they can profile populations, and the skills of those on the ground.
Thus, this model balances the use of data to segment at a macro level with the use of
people who know their customers best and understand the nuances of the market in a
specific territory. Local knowledge and pragmatism will be a key element of this approach.
substituting one model for another,” says Strategy&’s Edmunds. Yet, sales forces are evolving;
for example, some observers have identified an increased use of clinically expert talent in the
rep role, reflecting a greater emphasis on specialty brands as the importance of primary care
products is reduced. This suggests that customers are demanding this extra capability and a
higher degree of specialization in the field in order to discuss the value of a medicine. “We
haven’t seen a ‘SWAT team’ added to the general team. It is more of an evolution towards the
clinically oriented rep,” says Rolf Fricker, Partner/Vice President at Strategy&.
Rolf Fricker, Strategy& In short, pharma is shuffling its existing cards rather than inventing a completely new game.

What challenges have companies encountered?

A report on new commercial models for pharma published last year found that the clear
majority of executives expected to restructure their commercial model in the next two years
(Danner, Edmunds, Fricker, Padilla, 2015). Yet, the report also found question marks over the
effectiveness of digital.
The type of digital content that (up to now) has been generally created by pharma is not
customer-centric, which is a symptom of a structural problem, says Rick Edmunds of Strategy&.
People are asking for something with a broader reach than pharma can generally provide; most
of what pharma produces is not service, it is just a digital version of promotion. “It’s a mistake
and we are trying to avoid this,” says Yves Lavail, former Executive Director of Commercial
Operations Europe at BMS. “The same message as before is just being pushed through 10-20
channels. The customer is not pleased.”
Also, while using patient data is an obvious way of getting closer to the customer, pharma
companies have been reluctant to share, suggests Strategy&’s Edmunds. Consequently, they are
not seeing the benefits that can flow from collaboration with third party experts.
It is perhaps small wonder that quality control has been lacking in the stampede towards
digital. One pharma company’s head of global commercial excellence admitted that the
Yves Lavail, formerly of company had produced “thousands of apps” but that “nobody cares if they are being used
Bristol-Myers Squibb
or not”. Companies need a clear understanding of what they are doing and why. “With digital,
there’s the potential for your own internal ‘dotcom bubble’ if you’re not careful,” says Janssen’s
Wooding.
The desire to ‘do something fast’ is understandable, given the speed the world is moving. Yet, to
succeed, companies need to be talking to clinicians and national/international payers, while,
at the same time, fully understanding the payer pathway and patient journey, says Merck’s
Runeckles. Companies need longer and deeper trusted conversations with these audiences;
understanding who you are talking to and what they require from you are crucial parts of the
process.
While it is highly likely that insufficient time is being spent on planning for new commercial
strategies, it may not actually be realistic to have everything in place in advance, given the
rapidly changing landscape. “It comes back to communication,” says Runeckles. “With any big
project, there are lots of moving parts.
The logistics of integrating commercial teams is another major challenge, says Interphase
Consult’s Heinzmann. Within the boundaries of compliance, sales and marketing have
traditionally been quite closely aligned, but integrating other siloed functions – market access,
medical, clinical – into a new team across the organization is another challenge entirely. Even
if that is achieved, linking up front and back office functions presents fresh challenges, warns
Runeckles.
With digital, there’s the As with all change, it is crucial not to underestimate the importance of personalities; some
potential for your own people will seek to block innovative ideas if they feel their own empire is threatened. “Pharma
internal ‘dotcom bubble’ is its own worst enemy sometimes,” admits one senior pharma exec.
if you’re not careful. It takes time to assess how any integration strategy is impacting customer relations, says Lavail.
Steve Wooding, Janssen “General managers have targets to reach and require short-term action to deliver quickly. Their
attitude might be characterized as: ‘If I don’t make this target, then I won’t reach the end of the
year, and, if I don’t reach the end of the year, I’ll never see the benefits of a CX program anyway.’
Senior management must understand this contradiction and act to ensure that there is a happy
marriage between short-term and long-term priorities.”
Show me the legal
text that says that you Measuring success is a continuing issue; in many industries, the concept of net promoter score
can’t ask the customer (NPS) is common currency, unsurprisingly given that studies have shown a positive correlation
between NPS and organic growth. “Outside pharma, everybody knows NPS but, inside pharma,
whether he is satisfied
the majority of people haven’t even heard of it,” says Lavail. “You do it for drinks or cars but
with your company.
not drugs, yet it’s the same; physicians handle your products.”
Yves Lavail, formerly of Bristol-
Myers Squibb Pharma can often hide behind ‘compliance’ when it should be taking steps to find out what its
stakeholders want, he says. “Show me the legal text that says that you can’t ask the customer
whether he is satisfied with your company. It’s good for Coca-Cola but not us? How many
pharma CEOs are missing out on using NPS?”
What is the impact on customers?

Patients and their care givers want better health outcomes, as does the HCP, while healthcare
systems are trying to get more patients through the system at a lower cost and with better
outcomes. Integrated commercial teams could be a step towards achieving a range of
stakeholder demands, says Runeckles
Take patients first; if R&D can work with medical and commercial to develop a greater
understanding of what motivates patients – for example, through advisory boards, focus
groups and patient panels – this would, in turn, help to create clinical trials that attract a more
representative group of patients and, importantly, achieve full recruitment in a shorter period
of time, says Heinzmann. When it comes to doctors, a greater emphasis on individualisation by
the new commercial teams may help to convince HCPs that pharma is adding value.
Yet, pharma needs to understand the pressure their customers are facing, says Runeckles. In
the last five years, there has been a move from nurses simply visiting patients’ homes and
administering the product, for example, to initiatives which make use of various touchpoints
with the patient, such as apps, helplines and proactive text messages from a specialist nurse.
In the North America marketplace, companies such as Biogen have, through its Biogen ONE
support programme, helped multiple sclerosis (MS) patients navigate reimbursement while
offering disease education and nursing support. Its regional support nurses (RSNs) work with
neurologists and MS clinics to co-ordinate the services which patients need; patients can
contact them directly, establishing a relationship which aims to keep them on therapy.
While pharma’s customers routinely receive both face-to-face and online communication,
in future these interactions should be tailored to meet their preferences, says Runeckles.
Through this kind of segmentation and real-world data (RWD), it is possible to show how
interventions are working, plus patients can be tracked to the pharmacy level, thereby closing
the loop. Getting the pharmacy involved creates another interaction with an HCP, as well
as producing data; for example, a pharma company can see whether an asthma patient has
picked up eight inhalers for the year rather than 12, which allows questions to be asked and
help offered. Such programmes would be much more ‘two-way’, from patient to provider.
“One of the most difficult things to do is stopping patients dropping off therapy,” says Mark
Gibson, Director, International Business, at Ashfield Healthcare UK. “Pharma has done patient
programmes before but they are often not as targeted or specific as they should be.”
It is worth bearing in mind that, for greater commercial integration to work, there must be
something in it for the prescriber, he adds. Doctors will appreciate information – such as
how to manage side effects more effectively – that improve or enhance the patient pathway.
Above all, pharma’s customers benefit through receiving instant information; the ability to
connect with people quickly and to respond fast is important.
The type of individual
who will be successful How are these models impacting pharma companies?
in 2020 is very Pharma is a naturally conservative industry and change management is a major challenge. By
different from the one integrating teams, you are changing the way colleagues interact with each other, and with the
who was successful outside world. This requires people to step outside of their comfort zones, with all the usual
10-15 years ago. potential for disquiet and pushback.
Karen Bell, Ashfield With reps, for example, focusing on the disease and not the product during a call is a major
shift, yet, many experts believe that this will increasingly need to happen if pharma is to offer
more value-added services through customer service reps. To meet the challenges of a more
complex pharma market, companies will need people who have the skills to talk to a wider
range of customers. They will need to be comfortable with multichannel marketing, especially
digital, and have the ability to reach a range of HCPs over a diverse area.
“We’re looking for someone who is comfortable with technology, simultaneously managing a
laptop, phone and iPad, delivering promotional calls over the phone or a web platform, rather
than face-to-face, says Karen Bell, Business Development Director at Ashfield. “The type of
individual who will be successful in 2020 is very different from the one who was successful
10-15 years ago.”
There is a constant struggle to understand the art of the possible, says one pharma executive.
“The first answer from medical or legal is often ‘no’ because it is easier to say that something
can’t be done.” Resistance to any change is inevitable in some quarters of an organization and
respondents report that there is still some way to go in terms of lining up people internally
to pull in the same direction. Pharma’s existing models are, broadly, financially successful; that
being the case, the reasons for change may seem opaque to some. “People like ‘the old share-
of-voice model’,” says Janssen’s Wooding. “But there is no doubt that there is a need to change.”
While patient support, education and compliance programmes may be useful differentiators
in more expensive products, there is a need to keep them separate from the company’s
Karen Bell, Ashfield commercial offering. Far from being a problem, this means others within the organization will
also play a role; for instance, someone from Medical can talk to a health centre about the
product while marketing works on broader brand messages, leaving others to handle issues of
quality, governance and cost-effectiveness.
The question of who owns these activities may also provide a catalyst for change, says
Ashfield’s Gibson. In the past, a lot of patient support programmes have sat under marketing,
but these are increasingly falling under medical, he says. Training is needed to help medical
people to communicate with stakeholders they are not used to dealing with.
This may only go so far, since it is possible – indeed, probable – that the changes required by
the new integration models open a skills gap in many areas. In truth, new models may call for
skillsets that simply do not exist currently within pharma. “Companies need to look at how
they structure themselves and the skills they need to be developing within their teams or
recruiting,” explains Ashfield’s Bell. Hiring from other industries or taking graduates – in much
the same way as pharma has from the service sectors for customer service reps, for example
– is an obvious way forward.
Whatever internal changes are made, everything must come back to demonstrating value. In
Europe, where the market has been heavily driven by payer demands for several years, this
comes as no surprise, but this is something to which even the US market must now give due
consideration. “There are three certainties in life; death, taxes and HTA,” says Janssen’s Wooding.
There are three
certainties in life; What does the future hold?
death, taxes and HTA. In both the short and long term, there will always be a place for sales and marketing, says
Steve Wooding, Janssen Merck’s Runeckles. While storytelling and communication will remain vital, “who tells which
part of the story will change, within compliance restrictions,” he says. For example, medical
functions are likely to become more customer-facing, as different kinds of customers come to
the fore. Market access is likely to take a greater role in communication.
Internal training will need to reflect this, says Janssen’s Wooding, while cross-pollination of
ideas within an organization will be helpful. For example, while medical and market access
teams will require training in communication skills, they will be able to provide expertise in
area such as the science behind drugs and how to measure cost-effectiveness.
Many of senior leaders interviewed for this paper believe that both cost and changes in
technology will continue to drive change. A field-based pharma rep is about twice as expensive
as a remote rep, and the way that people communicate is changing making a rise in digital
contact inevitable. People expect fast response to questions and requests for information, and
that information will be better differentiated. The data that allows companies to do this will
be increasingly prized.
Perhaps the most sensible – and manageable – way of looking at this situation, is to think of it
in terms of a continuing evolution. Frightening though it sounds, the ultimate goal might even
be to lose some of the traditional departments that have contributed to the fragmentation of
approach to customers. “In the future, there may not be separate sales and marketing; it may
just be the customer engagement department,” suggests Ashfield’s Holgate.

Conclusion
You need complete There is no single model for how companies are integrating their commercial teams. With
and visible multichannel and digital as well as reps to deploy, pharma finds itself with a broader arsenal of
sponsorship from the weapons with which to talk about the value it brings, so no single model will suit all companies.
leadership team. However, there is a common factor between the models that pharma is currently trying on for
size – each is designed to create the maximum interaction with the most important customers
Steve Wooding, Janssen
in a therapy or geographical area to ensure the most productive relationships possible.
Most pharma companies expect to restructure their commercial model in the near future, and
two major reasons for this state of flux suggest themselves. The first is that pharma companies
are only just getting to grips with the changes required, the second – and perhaps more
compelling – is the general realization that this process of change does not stop. Adaptation
and evolution of pharma’s commercial model is, and must be, ongoing.
The influence of existing innovations such as the customer service rep and regional account
director are likely to be recognizable in the new integrated solutions. Pharma needs to build
up the clearest possible picture of who its customers are and what those customers are trying
to achieve. Organizations must know where those customers are on their journey – what their
ideas, beliefs and goals are at any given time. Only then can pharma give them the information
they require at the time they need it. There is much more that pharma could do to work with
healthcare groups and there needs to be a greater understanding that there is only so much
money available in health systems.
Pharma has woken up to the fact that its customers need to be given a positive experience, and
that cross-functional working offers one way to deliver it, using the varied and complementary
expertise of its internal units to deliver information that HCPs, payers or patients want, at a
time that suits them and in a way they prefer.
Most companies are towards the bottom end of this curve; the pharma industry is conservative
and has, in many ways, not moved with the times. Even among those companies which are
embracing new ways of working, there is no consensus.
For these changes to work, “You need complete and visible sponsorship from the leadership
team,” says AstraZeneca's Edouard. The problem is that many of those now running pharma
organizations have come through the ‘golden age’ of pharma and so may be reluctant to
change. However, change must come; it is not only sales and marketing that need to be brought
together – it is the whole company.
Acknowledgments
With grateful thanks to our contributors, without whom this white paper could not have been
written:
Florent Edouard, VP Marketing GI-RIA, Commercial Excellence and IT, AstraZeneca

Yves Lavail, former Executive Director, Commercial Operations Europe, Bristol-Myers Squibb
Paul Runeckles, Head of Marketing and Sales Operations, Europe and Canada at Merck (EMD
Serono in North America)
Steve Wooding, Head, Global Commercial Strategy Organization and Market Access
Organization, the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson
Additional thanks to:

Karen Bell, Business Development Director; John Gerow, Service Team Strategy Partner;
Mark Gibson, International Business Development Director; and, Andy Holgate, Senior Vice
President, International Business Development, at Ashfield, part of UDG Healthcare plc.
Stephan Danner, Partner, Vice President; Rick Edmunds, Leader of Pharma Life Sciences; and
Rolf Fricker, Partner/Vice President, at Strategy&, part of the PwC network.
Sebastian Heinzmann, Consultant, InterPhase Consult
References
Danner, S., Edmunds, R., Fricker, R., Padilla, N. (2015) New Commercial Models: What’s working and
what’s not. PwC. Available through: http://www.strategyand.pwc.com/reports/new-commercial-
models [Accessed October 21 2016]
Davis, A. (2014) The skill set of KAMs of the future. eyeforpharma. Available through:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a39coQBM16E [Accessed October 16 2016]
Kumli, F., Felber, M., Gittermann, V. (2016) Embracing customer experience in the pharmaceutical
industry. EY. Available through http://performance.ey.com/wp-content/uploads/
downloads/2016/08/EY-Performance-Embracing-customer.pdf [Accessed November 24 2016]
Michels, D., Rebhan, C., Ghosh, P. (2014) Beyond the pill: How to improve the customer experience
in pharma. Bain & Company. Available through: http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/
beyond-the-pill-how-to-improve-the-customer-experience-in-pharma.aspx [Accessed 24
November 2016]
15th Annual | Sheraton Philadelphia Society Hill | April 20-21st
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