ASSET AND BRAND STRATEGY

THE CLIENT

The EMEA leadership team of a mid-sized pharmaceutical company, seeking to revitalise their strategic planning approach across the whole portfolio

THE BUSINESS CHALLENGE

The client was concerned that their existing strategic planning approach had become overly process driven with insufficient focus on insight and critical thinking. In addition, the process did not support alignment across functions or engagement between the central Region and affiliate marketing teams. The goal was therefore to develop a new brand planning process which would maximize collaboration and move from template filling to decisive thinking and improved implementation

OUR APPROACH

In order to understand the strengths and weakness of the current process we undertook a comprehensive survey and series of interviews with functional and affiliate stakeholders. Based on the issues uncovered we formed a core team drawn from key functions and geographies. Working closely with that team we firstly developed a new process and governance structure aimed at maximising collaboration. Secondly, using Cello’s proprietary Red Thread planning process as a foundation, we produced a new brand planning framework tailored to meet their specific needs, based on best industry practice and enabling decisive strategic choices
We supported the launch and implementation of the new approach through engagement workshops with Regional leads and, by working directly with the brand teams to support strategic plan development in each therapy area

THE RESULTS

The new brand planning approach was universally viewed as a significant improvement on the previous process. Collaboration became the norm with co-creation meetings becoming embedded in ways of working. A follow-up meeting after the first planning cycle confirmed that the final output was superior- as judged by the quality of the plans and brand strategies- with the opportunity to introduce further refinements for the following year.