In this series, we highlight specific functions or departments within typical pharmaceutical company organizations. We also feature the perspectives of women working in these different functions and their career journeys. Special thanks to Smruti Ghag for providing insights on pharmaceutical marketing and the Marketing function.
What is the Marketing function responsible for in a pharmaceutical company?
Marketing is responsible for developing brands for the pharmaceutical company. Pharmaceutical marketing involves creating brand strategies, working on the brand’s messaging and its positioning, defining the customer segments to target and also charting out a budget (sales as well as expenses) for every brand.
In addition to developing brands, the most important work for the Marketing function is to provide the product-related medical information to prescribing doctors. Pharmaceutical marketing involves transferring information on medicines to physicians and updating them with knowledge about the drug. Many doctors rely on pharma companies to update them with drug and disease-related information. Based on this information, they can make important clinical decisions on therapy for their patients.
Overall, the Marketing function helps achieve the business goals of a pharma company.
What is the impact of Marketing on the work of a pharma organization?
In a way, Marketing serves as the face of a pharma company. Successful pharmaceutical marketing can help build a positive reputation of the company.
In contrast to the Research & Development (R&D) divisions of a pharma company, which is critical for bringing an idea to reality with the drug molecule, Marketing is responsible for giving life to a product. The Marketing function does this by developing the brands of these products, in terms of giving the drug a name and creating its unique identity and audience of prescribers. Thus, pharmaceutical marketing comes into play between the drug’s development and the process of selling it.
While Marketing is not responsible for selling the drug (that’s the Sales function), this function is involved in driving the sales of the company’s brands. Therefore, this function supports the sales team with required product training as well as promotional and educational materials. With the training and materials, the sales teams will have effective interactions with customers (usually, doctors).
What are the types of positions within the Marketing function?
The Marketing function typically comprises of a team of product managers. Each product manager is assigned a single brand or an entire disease category of specialty brands to manage.
Thus, someone new to the Marketing function would generally start as a product executive or junior brand manager, then move up to become an assistant product manager and product manager. From there, the product manager may become a group product manager. Someone in this position may handle an entire disease category or oversee brands handled by individual product managers.
In pharma companies that have global operations, the product manager would also have the opportunity to become a global product manager. Being in this global position, the individual would interact with the pharma company’s brand managers who are located in the other countries. The global product manager shares the global strategies and communications for the brand.
In some pharma companies, the career ladder for product managers may include the role of marketing manager, the global director of marketing and executive levels (e.g., Vice President) of sales and marketing.
What does a typical day look like for a pharmaceutical marketing professional?
In any typical day, a product manager in the Marketing function may be involved in the following job activities:
- Creating marketing plans for assigned brand(s)
- Developing promotional materials and brand campaigns (with internal colleagues or external agency)
- Coordinating with sales team to gather customer responses, customer requirements, complaints and queries
- Ensuring successful execution of promotional campaigns
- Doing field visits to interact with physicians who are leaders in their field
- Giving presentations and analyzing internal sales and expenses of their brands
- Conducting market research to understand new trends, customer needs and tracking competitor activity
What are the other pharma functions that Marketing may interact with?
Marketing interacts with almost every department of the pharma company. The most important functions that Marketing interacts with are the Sales, Training and Medical Affairs.
In addition, Marketing interacts with the R&D and Quality functions to understand the product and any of the nuances of its use. Marketing collaborates with the Production and Distribution functions for planning product quantities and to ensure timely product availability in the markets. Plus, Marketing enslists the Finance department to assist with pricing and brand-related expense information. Marketing also works with an analytics team to gather the company’s sales data. Moreover, Marketing works closely with the Legal and Regulatory functions because they offer guidance on brand communications, which need to be in compliance with guidelines and regulations.
What type of training, education, or experience is needed for someone to work in Marketing?
Individuals with a science, pharmaceutical or medical background, with further qualifications in marketing and business management are much preferred. Plus, those who have a few years of sales experience can perform well in this function.
What skills/attributes are needed for a candidate to excel in pharmaceutical marketing?
Pharmaceutical marketing is quite dynamic, and those working in the Marketing function often juggle many deadlines. Therefore, one needs to be able to handle multiple tasks in a day. For example, they may sometimes be working on sales analyses or campaigns, then working on marketing plans for their brands. Professionals in the Marketing function frequently conduct meetings and give presentations.
A marketing professional must have strong communication and presentation skills. That is because much of the work is dependent on coordinating with people from other pharma functions to get things done. Plus, the marketing professional should have quick decision-making skills. They should have the ability to critically analyze information and then bring creative solutions to problems.
Function Feature:
Smruti Ghag
Freelance Marketing and Brand Consultant
1. Briefly describe your educational and professional background up to your current role.
I have a degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences, with further education in business administration. When I started my pharma career, I was in Sales. Then I moved into the Marketing function, handling various therapeutic categories in acute and chronic segments. In addition, I had the opportunity to provide marketing support to some international markets. Currently, I work as an independent Freelance Marketing and Brand consultant for pharma and healthcare brands. In this role, I help pharma companies with market research reports, brand communications and content development.
I now have over a decade of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. However, I still believe that it is important to keep learning and upgrading my skills. I regularly blog and like to share trends, resource guides and best practices in pharma digital marketing for healthcare marketers to succeed in the marketing challenges of today.
2. What do you currently find most challenging in pharmaceutical marketing?
With the recent COVID-19 crisis, pharma companies have taken a big leap into going digital with its marketing efforts. Pharmaceutical marketing is more digital now than ever before. Pharma marketing professionals will now need to equip themselves with new skill sets in the area of digital marketing.
3. What do you know now that you wish you knew earlier in your career journey?
I realized now that I had probably not invested enough time in networking and building professional connections. Today, when it has become so easy to instantly connect through social platforms, working on personal branding can be quite impactful. Also, utilizing the support and guidance provided by mentorship programs can be crucial to career progression.