Tracking interactions with KOLs can be a daunting task if you don’t have the right systems in place. Similar to the children’s mythology-themed boardgame, “Key to the Kingdom,” the odds of mastering it at first try are slim—but over time, you learn from mistakes, become familiar with the rules, and ultimately succeed.

Michael Schaffer, senior district manager, virology, at Abbott admitted a few “I wish we did that the first time around” actions with his company’s integrated, Web-based application for internally tracking KOLs.

Here are a few ways to hit (not miss) when assessing opinion leader utilization and outcomes:

— Decide what a KOL is to your organization. Schaffer says that clearly defining these terms up front will improve your success. Clinical, marketing, and legal/ethics departments should be included in the discussion. “Sales and clinical teams have very different definitions of a KOL,” he said, while reinforcing that KOL data should be completely separated from sales.

— Peer influence mapping, although intricate and expensive, is vital to understanding how peer influence impacts a provider and his/her connections. You always want to make sure this information is current or else “you might as well throw out your KOL database,” says Schaffer.

— Who’s in your sandbox? Recognize the key players or departments involved and ensure that proper training occurs. You wouldn’t want something to be recorded in a way that would “look bad if subpoenaed,” Schaffer said. The Golden Rule at Abbott remains: “How would you feel if our database was exposed on the nightly news?”

With better understanding of KOL outcomes through interactions with their respective industry counterparts, pharmas can avoid underutilizing key information that is vital to their organizations.

It is all about the pull and less about the push when it comes to delivering an effective and valuable message to physicians without comprising compliance. And the panelists and speakers attending the Center for Business Intelligence’s Premier Opinion Leader Management Systems conference in King of Prussia, PA, couldn’t agree more.

Over the next five years, if not much sooner, the evolution of sales, marketing, and medical affairs will dramatically shift. Speaking from a global prospective, Andreas Tsukada, associate director, sales operations, at UCB Pharma, said that a lot more coordination will be necessary. He noted that if leveraging KOL via the Internet works abroad, it might also be extended to the US as well.

Michael Schaffer, senior district manager, virology, at Abbott, believes that there will be fewer, more important KOLs (especially in the specialty marketplace) and less funding. As a result, pharma will be forced to do more with less, engaging MSLs instead of sales reps. However, it will be important to determine necessary roles for each organization, and go with that strategy. “The key is communication internally within an organization,” said Deb Kientop, president of MSL360.

Meanwhile, Dale Hagemeyer, research vice president of Gartner, cautioned that risks still apply with MSLs. “If it walks like a duck, it talks like a duck” was the analogy he used to describe the comparison of sales rep vs. MSL. In order to separate the two, organizations need to understand what is and what is not permissible in terms of on- and off-label discussions. Until then, credibility and value will continue to be the driving forces behind sales.

Last but certainly not least, pharma will need to keep abreast of the MSL’s changing role. Sivakumar Nadarajah, director of global CRM solutions at Cegedim Dendrite, points out the various roles of a MSL. He or she spends most of the time managing KOL relationships, performing research on KOLs, responding to medical inquiries, providing the commercial side of the company with knowledge, and collaborating internally (see above) with sales teams.

“All these activities are done either manually or using multiple applications,” says Nadarajah. “Providing a unified software platform so that all these activities can be tracked and co-coordinated in a reportable manner will not only help MSLs become efficient, but also help them provide management visibility into their activities.”

Beth Rogers, CEO of communications training firm Point Taken Consulting, led HBA workshop attendants through PowerPoint Karaoke. The random display of information on slides, like lyrics that roll on a screen, is behind this training tool that allows participants to think on their feet and clearly present information.

Rogers founded the company in 2002 after experiencing stage anxiety due to a lack of technical support. As a product manager of RPR Pharmaceuticals at the time, she found herself in front of thousands of people without any slides and only knowledge of techniques on how to look confidant. (more…)

I was amazed at the more than 700 women attending the 2008 Women’s Healthcare Business Association (HBA) national conference today. As a first timer at the event (distinguished by the bright orange sticker on my name badge), it was easy to engage in conversations—even for those weary of the press. And for marketers, there was only one thing on their mind:

“The first thing out of everyone’s mouth when they come to my table is, ‘How are you handling the new PhRMA guidelines?’” said Tammy Kornfeld, senior account manager of Beyond Branding at Compas. The new marketing code is set to take effect in January 2009.

Kornfeld said the company is distributing flash drives with presentations explaining the tactics pharma companies can employ under the new regulations. “Reps may not be able to pass out pads and pens anymore, but there are many things that they will still be able to do,” she said. Kornfeld also added that, though the gifts are gone, corporate material can still be distributed. (more…)

Pharma snagged five out of 30 spots designated for the marketing elite on Ad Age’s Power Players 2008 list. Each individual represents a company that is making milestones in terms of signature accomplishments and advertising spending. Let’s take a closer look:

#5 Brian Perkins, vice president, corporate affairs
Johnson & Johnson
Ad Budget: $2.41 billion
Key attributes: company’s sponsorship of the Beijing Olympics; conversion of Pfizer allergy drug Zyrtec to OTC; continued innovative marketing endeavors with expansion of its BabyCenter portal

#8 Susan Edwards, vice president, marketing
GlaxoSmithKline
Ad Budget: $2.46 billion
Key attributes: consumer business up with diet drug Alli (a $200 million brand); Sensodyne growing at double-digits speed; new CEO Andrew Witty outlines plan for more emphasis on consumer products and less on pharmaceuticals

#21 Ian Read, president, worldwide pharmaceutical operations
Pfizer
Ad Budget: $1.25 billion
Key attributes: Lyrica and Sutent both up more than 50 percent in the first half; Viagra sales were up 13 percent in the second quarter despite competition; agreement made to forestall direct generic competition against Lipitor until 2011

#23 Herb Ehrenthal, group vice president, global advertising and marketing communications
Schering-Plough Corp.
Ad Budget: $1.09 billion
Key attributes: strong pipeline of drugs in the making; big acquisition of biotech company Organon; organic sales rose 1.4 percent in second quarter

#24 Bernard Poussot, CEO
Wyeth
Ad Budget: $1.08 billion
Key attributes: raised full-year expectations with its second quarter earnings; acquired the Thermacare analgesic-heat-wraps brand from P&G; Thermacare can be coupled with its Advil ibuprofen brand

For a more complete list of agencies, see the 100 Leading National Advertisers 2008 database on AdAge.com

Promotions and hires for September 26, 2008:

• Merck named Barry J. Goldstein, M.D., vice president of clinical development for diabetes and obesity

• Sanofi-Aventis announced that Chris Viehbacher will succeed current CEO Gerard Le Fur in December

• GlaxoSmithKline named Ellen Strahlman chief medical officer

• Questcor Pharmaceuticals appointed Gary Sawka CFO

• Encorium appointed David Ginsberg president and CEO

• Wyeth named Daniel J. McIntyre vice president, corporate communications

• Genesis Pharmaceuticals appointed John Yang Wang to its board of directors

• Zosano Pharma appointed Gail Schulze chair and CEO

• Lilly named John Lechleiter its board of directors chairman

• Merz Pharmaceuticals named Jack Britts president and CEO

• Ferring Pharmaceuticals appointed Paul Korner, M.D., vice president, medical affairs

• Zafgen appointed Thomas Hughes the company’s first CEO

When 5,742 physicians opt in voting for their favorite medical journal ads over utilizing spare time that never comes, you know it’s a big deal. And yesterday at The Doctor’s Choice awards luncheon sponsored by the Association of Medical Media (AMM), their input was not only showcased on a most refined level but also indicative of what they want pharma marketing to deliver.

It became quite clear to me early in the ceremony that physicians weren’t selecting ads based on how fun and fancy they were, but rather on how they delivered a message straight and to the point. William Castagnoli, director of The Doctor’s Choice awards, echoed my thoughts. (more…)

Pharma sales forces were out, well, in force for a two-day leadership summit put on by the Center for Business Intelligence this week in Philadelphia. As a newbie on the pharma reporting scene, I eagerly await these conference opportunities…especially the ones that deal with important sales management topics. This conference, in particular, presented sessions on just about every topic under the sales force sun—from cool new ways to reach physicians to interactive detailing and closed-loop promotion. In particular, I appreciated Matt Pammer’s presentation on examining the benefits and challenges of a rep-facilitated e-detailing program, and how it can complement a sales force strategy. (more…)

Call me old-fashioned, but the one low-tech item I never expected to see threatened with extinction was the humble but indispensable business card. After Last Thursday’s re:think08, the fifth edition of the seminar on event marketing and team building put on by the communications company Impact Unlimited, I’m not so sure. The event had some terrific speakers and ideas (more about them in a minute), but my top takeaway was . . . the name tags.

Not just any name tags, of course, but nifty high-tech numbers called nTAGs that let participants automatically swap contact info, plus data about interests and skills, (more…)