As PR professionals become more integrated into the marketing team, they may very well find themselves partnering with a new breed of contract sales organizations (CSO).
These new CSOs are now branding and promotional champions, having made a natural progression from simply selling to carving out a more comprehensive marketing edge.
By integrating PR into the marketing mix of strategic contract selling, drug firms are armed with more powerful ammunition when fighting for a stronger market position.
In the early '90s, traditional CSOs were basically small companies offering temporary sales support to introduce new products, re-launch mature products and supplement existing
sales initiatives.
The CSO representatives consisted almost entirely of part-time independent contractors, whose calls on physicians often amounted to little more than dropping off product
samples and literature. They were not an integral part of a company's branding and marketing strategy, but rather an important, but basic, as-needed sales force. PR professionals
usually had little exposure to CSO activities.
The Model Evolves
In the late nineties, pharmaceutical marketers became increasingly aware that their products needed consistent sales and marketing support during the entire product life cycle
to gain market share and maximize return on investment. They knew their brands were jeopardized by patent expirations, competition from new compounds and shorter product
"survival" windows.
So as pharmaceutical companies began developing new creative strategies to accelerate product success and maximize sales, they depended on CSOs to evolve with them to implement
those strategies.
Now a new breed of CSO is emerging that truly partners with their pharmaceutical company clients as part of a comprehensive marketing plan. They deploy highly focused sales
teams to tackle specialized functions, like:
- identifying and mobilizing thought leaders,
- helping to educate advocacy groups,
- managing speaker bureaus and enrolling patients in clinical trials.
In addition, these CSOs invest heavily in information technology and sales automation to qualitatively and quantitatively track the impact of their representatives, and ensure
representatives have access to the most effective selling tools available.
Pharmaceutical clients now expect non-traditional sales services - such as PR, professional and direct-to-consumer advertising, medical education, symposia and event planning -
to work in tandem with the traditional sales support that contract sales companies have always provided.
This formidable level of integration is providing drug companies some of the most flexible and cost-effective marketing programs in the industry.
By integrating PR into the marketing mix of strategic contract selling, drug firms are armed with more powerful ammunition when fighting for a stronger market position.
Ilyssa Levins is chairman and chief creative officer of GCI Healthcare in New York, a global full-service healthcare agency. She is responsible for new business development,
new ventures and acquisitions.
She can be reached at 212/886-3500.