Market Landscape Research: Time your study appropriately to guide strategic decisions

This is the second of a two-part series on market landscape research. It explores several appropriate times for bio-pharmaceutical companies to conduct a market landscape study. The September issue highlighted common objectives and general considerations related to this type of research.

Market landscape research provides a bird’s-eye view of the marketplace in which you are preparing to enter or currently competing. These studies generate information ranging from market size and perceptions of a drug class to the competitive environment and opportunities for growth. They can help you develop strategy based on current market conditions and typically have a lifespan of several years. However, certain product lifecycle stages and market events warrant a new study.

To develop effective marketing strategy, brand teams benefit greatly from up-to-date information about the market at the following three points in a product’s lifecycle:

Pre-Launch Stage

Market landscape research can help you plan launch and promotion strategies by providing valuable insight about a therapeutic environment. It can help you better understand treatment flow, physician perceptions of a drug class, drivers of use, barriers to adoption, and other market dynamics that can impact your brand’s performance significantly.

Growth/ Mature Stage

When a product begins losing market share or its share stops growing prematurely, then a market landscape study can help identify what’s happening in the market that may be affecting performance. Current marketplace data can help you appropriately adjust outdated promotions or ineffective strategies.

Decline Stage

It’s usually a good idea to reevaluate the market when your brand is preparing to lose patent and you are planning to extend its portfolio to include a new indication. This is also an appropriate time to explore market potential for a new molecule of the product or other revised version of the existing brand.

In addition to situations related to a product’s lifecycle, market landscape research can help your team adjust promotion strategies whenever a major market event occurs. These situations include:

• Launch or withdrawal of a competitor brand
• Major litigation involving the therapeutic class
• Significant change in regulatory standards
• Industry merger or acquisition
• Pandemic or natural disaster affecting the therapeutic class

This type of research helps market researchers and brand teams step back and evaluate a market situation in a general sense. They provide valuable baseline data for forecasting¹, brand equity², segmentation³, and other brand-specific research.

¹See June 2005 eTip: “Forecasting Market Research: Make better, more strategic decisions with accurate performance predictions.”

² See March 2005 eTip: “Brand Equity Market Research: Leverage your brand’s equity to capture and retain market share.”

³See November 2003 eTip: “Physician Segmentation Research: Understanding Physician Needs to Maximize Marketing Effectiveness.”