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OCTOBER 2003

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Reprinted from Pharmaceutical Representative, October 2003, by permission. Copyright © 2003 Advanstar Communications

COVER STORY

The detail aid is one of the mostvaluable tools pharmaceutical representa-tives have to sell medications to physiciansand other healthcare professionals. Alsoknown as a sales aid or visual aid, the detailaid has been and continues to be vital in help-ing representatives foster engaging and pro-ductive dialogue with customers.

For those who are unaware or who arenew to the industry, the sales aid is a book-let or brochure composed of the followingelements: key messages about the product’sefficacy, supportive clinical data with illus-trative charts and graphs, pragmatic usage

guidance (dosing and administra-tion), and information pertaining

to the product’s tolerability andsafety. Sales aids also incorporate creative

elements such as imagery, headlines, taglines and branding logos.

Sales aids are used by pharma-ceutical sales representatives to edu-

cate physicians and other healthcareprofessionals about a new medication

or to remind them about an existingbrand. New sales aids often are devel-

oped for in-line brands at various pointsin the product life cycle, such as when the

brand attains new treatment indications, whennew data are available to support the brand or when

competitors are introduced into the market.The process of developing a detail aid typically involves

the following six steps: market segmentation analysis, estab-lishing the positioning theme, developing and testing key selling

messages, creative concept development and testing, developing andtesting the black-and-white detail aid, and final detail aid testing.

Some companies also use additional steps, such as conducting brand per-sonality research, assessing the effectiveness of the detail aid in a competitive context

(also known as “marketing warfare”) and field-testing the detail aid with actual representatives.Although the focus of this article is the creation of a detail aid, these procedures can also be

applied to the development of other marketing materials, such as medical journal advertisementsand continuing medical education, as well as emerging modes of promotion, such as e-detailing.

Market segmentation analysisThe process of creating the sales aid used for a product launch usually begins when a

developmental medication is nearing the end of phase III clinical trials. Phase III clin-ical trials are pivotal in that they determine the product’s main usage indications, andthus the promotional claims the company can legally make about the medication. By

this stage in the process, the brand marketing team hasalready selected an advertising agency to

b y R i c h a r d B . V a n d e r v e e r a n d N o a h M . P i n e s

serve as the primary designer of its promo-tional materials, such as the detail aid, the jour-nal ad and continuing medical education. Inaddition, the company typically engages amarketing research organization to conduct amarket segmentation analysis, a crucial stepin producing the detail aid.

The goal of market segmentation analysis isto determine whether groups exist within thecustomer population that are different enoughand large enough that the pharmaceutical com-pany will need to tailor its promotionalapproaches to each group. Segmentation is alsouseful in examining whether certain groupsexhibit a greater inclination to use the medica-tion than others.

Segmentation analysis often entails a two-step process involving qualitative and quanti-tative primary marketing research to evaluatewhether discrepancies exist in terms of physi-cians’ attitudes and opinions, product utiliza-tion behaviors, or demographic characteristics.Companies typically conduct qualitativeresearch first to explore the existence of thesesegments and to identify the key disparitiesamong segments. They then conduct quanti-tative research involving multivariate method-ologies to verify the existence, size andcharacteristics of these segments. The resultsof this research indicate whether segments existthat are different enough and large enough towarrant an approach tailored to each segment’sspecific needs – or whether a broader or moreuniform approach would be more effective.

Establishing the positioning themeThe next step in the process involves estab-lishing the brand’s positioning statement. Thisstatement, which typically consists of one tothree brief and simple sentences, specifies theunique place that the company would like itsbrand to occupy in the mind of its target cus-tomer audience. Ideally, the place the brandoccupies in customers’ minds is one that willlead them to prescribe it appropriately andpreferentially over alternative, competing med-ications. The positioning statement is crucialbecause it serves as the basis for all subsequentmarketing communications, and it is kept inter-nal – confidential – to the company. Althoughsegments may exist in the customer popula-tion, most companies maintain only one posi-tioning statement per brand.

To develop this statement, themarketing research agency

typically will first conduct a series of exploratoryfocus groups with physicians who are high pre-scribers within the therapeutic area, often includ-ing those who are key opinion leaders. Thephysicians are shown a realistic profile of themedication and instructed to suggest severalstatements summarizing the unique advantagesthe medication offers relative to others in itscompetitive set. Advertising agencies with moreexperience in the therapeutic area often canbypass this initial step and develop several alter-native positioning statements without the inputof physicians or key opinion leaders.

The next step in the process involves test-ing these potential positioning statements usingqualitative focus group research. During thesefocus group sessions, physicians are againshown a realistic profile of the product andthen asked to respond to the various alterna-tive positioning statements. Specifically, thephysicians are queried with regard to the cred-ibility, appropriateness, clinical relevance,uniqueness and motivational influence of eachstatement to determine which is most effec-tive overall. During these sessions, physiciansoften recommend important modifications tothe statements or identify parts of a statementthat are problematic or inappropriate. Oncethe number of potential positioning statementshas been narrowed to three or four, manypharmaceutical companies conduct quantita-tive research with a national sample of physi-cians to ascertain which positioning statementis most effective in terms of the aforementionedcharacteristics, especially motivational influ-ence to prescribe.

Developing key selling messagesSince the positioning statement represents thecentral theme for marketing the brand and isinternal to the organization, the company thenneeds to determine how to effectively com-municate this statement to customers; this isthe function of key selling messages. Thesemessages are intended to capture and conveythe most advantageous aspects of the product,which are then used in developing subsequentmarketing materials, including the detail aid.

The first step in the process of message devel-opment is for the pharmaceutical companyand advertising agency to examine the prod-uct’s label and produce a comprehensive inven-tory of all the claims that are likely to beapproved by the Food and Drug Adminis-

tration. Once this roster has

been generated, companies typically conducta round of quantitative multivariate market-ing research to learn which of these claims aremost effective in causing physicians to pre-scribe the product. Various methodologiesexist that pinpoint not only the most effectiveselling messages, but also which message com-binations are most effective in driving utiliza-tion. Such processes are important as a wayto pare huge lists of potential claims down toa manageable quantity of 20 to 30 messages.

The second step in the process generallyinvolves taking the list of messages and assem-bling them into a logical and compelling “story.”This can be achieved through such method-ologies as information architecture, whichinvolves qualitative focus group research inwhich physicians assign the various messagesto play specific roles within this story:• Attention-getters get physicians’ attention andmake them want to listen to what the repre-sentative has to say about the product.• Benefits describe the key advantages offeredby the product to physicians and their patients.• Reasons to believe substantiate the key bene-fits by highlighting important findings fromthe clinical data.• Obstacle handlers proactively allay physicians’potential concerns about and objections to pre-scribing the medication.• Closes/calls to action provide the physicianwith direction and impetus to act in terms ofprescribing the medication.

The result of this research is typically an out-line of key messages the advertising agencycan use as the basis for constructing a black-and-white mock-up of the detail aid.

Creative concept developmentAs noted earlier, detail aids not only containkey product messages and supportive infor-mation, but also creative elements such asimages, headlines, tag line and brandinglogos. Once the positioning statement is final-ized, the creative department within theadvertising agency typically produces a seriesof potential creative concepts that visuallysupport and convey the statement to physi-cians. The purpose of including such cre-ative elements in the detail aid is to getphysicians’ attention or to help physiciansremember the brand. Images can beextremely powerful in helping physicians

recall brands and keep them top-of-mind.Once a set of creative materials is devel-

oped by the advertising agency, the mar-keting research agency will typically evaluatethese materials using qualitative one-on-oneinterviews. Specific areas investigated bythis research usually include the extent towhich the imagery reflects the positioningstatement, how eye-catching the imageryis, how motivating the imagery is, andwhether there is anything potentially offen-sive or problematic about the imagery.

Developing the black-and-white detail aidBased on the message development research,the agency will construct a black-and-whitedetail aid mock-up. Testing this mock-up inblack and white — without imagery — is crit-ical, since physicians generally consider thewords, graphs and charts to be the mostimportant components of the detail aid.Black-and-white detail aid mock-ups aretypically tested using one-on-one depthinterviews with physicians. During the inter-view, the physician is presented with themock-up in conjunction with a taped voice-over of a sales representative to simulatethe way the aid will ultimately be presentedto the physician. At the conclusion of thistesting, the marketing research agency rec-ommends any final changes to the content,flow or specific wording of the topics cov-ered in the aid. Although many of the largerpharmaceutical companies elect to conductblack-and-white sales aid testing, somesmaller companies skip directly to the finaldetail aid testing.

Final detail aid testingUsing the combined input from the black-and-white detail aid testing and the creativeconcept testing, the advertising agency blendsthe most effective elements into a final detailaid, which is then tested in a manner simi-

lar to the black-and-white detail aid — pre-sented to physicians using a taped voice-over of a representative. The goal of thisresearch is to ensure that the detail aid isclear, flows well, includes all necessary infor-mation, and contains nothing problematicor offensive. This stage of research also isuseful in fine-tuning the relationship betweenthe imagery (as well as other branding ele-ments such as the tagline and logo) and thewording to ensure that these componentsare consistent. This research also usuallyinvolves one-on-one depth interviews witha variety of physicians who may or may notbe likely to use the product; it is importantat this stage of the process to involve a sam-ple of research participants who are mixedin terms of their potential intent to prescribethe medication, which helps to simulate thereal-world environment sales representa-tives will face in detailing the product.

Other types of researchOther types of research that contribute tothe development of the detail aid are:

Brand personality research. The goalof this research is to develop the brand per-sonality that is most consistent with thebrand. It entails evaluating potential state-ments that communicate the human per-sonality traits the brand encompasses. Inpharmaceutical marketing, such traits ofteninclude intelligence, reliability or trustwor-thiness. The role of marketing research inthis context is to ascertain which personal-ity best compliments the brand’s position-ing statement and communicates a favorablehuman “feel” to the brand.

Marketing warfare. Once the finaldetail aid has been developed, many com-panies conduct marketing “war games” toensure that the document is ready to beused in actual marketing. This researchinvolves having real representatives con-

duct mock sales visits in front of actualphysicians using their detail aid and thecompetitor’s detail aid. This research helpsilluminate the way physicians will react tothe detail aid in a competitive context andcan be extremely helpful in detecting theweaknesses in a detail aid. In addition,such research can be used for training pur-poses or in generating rebuttals to poten-tial questions raised by physicians basedon details by competitors’ reps.

Field testing.As a final step in the process,some companies will give prototypes of thesales aid to representatives for actual use inthe field. The reps then report how effectivethey find the sales aids to be, how they flow,where their strengths and weaknesses are,how physicians respond to them, etc.

Detail aids have long been one of the mosteffective promotional instruments sales rep-resentatives use in persuading physicians toprescribe their products. The extensive, sys-tematic process companies employ in devel-oping such brochures is largely driven byfeedback from the physicians themselvesthrough various types of marketing research.

Since this process is complex and involvessequential steps, it can take as long as ninemonths to a year to develop an effectivedetail aid. However, as companies are aware,an effective detail aid and a successful mar-keting campaign can pay hefty dividendsin physician prescribing behavior. PR

Richard B. Vanderveer is chairman and chief executive officer of V2 GfK, aninternational pharmaceutical market-ing research and consulting firm basedin Blue Bell, PA.

Noah M. Pines is an executive vice president at V2 GfK. The authors can be reached at (215) 283-3200; for more information, visit www.vanderveer.com.

F R O M T H E PA G E S O F

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Reprinted from Pharmaceutical Representative, October 2003, by permission. Copyright © 2003 Advanstar Communications