The 2006 Product Management Today Team Awards.

BP SUCCESS ZONE 140/90 120/80

THE BLOOD PRESSURE DOWNSHIFT TEAM

Executive Director, Employers/Payers John Herrick

Associate Director, Employers/Payers Richard Sabatino, RPh, PharmD

Associate Director, Marketing Communications Sharon McLoughlin Fabris

Postdoctoral Fellow, Customer Development Buu M. Chung, PharmD

Silver Award Winner: Managed Care Marketing

Pathways for Performance

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

In the Fall of 2005, the Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (BIPI) Managed Markets Marketing Team faced a dilemma. They had developed a wealth of tools and tactics that the account managers could use to drive formulary access and pull-through with key customers, but helping account managers understand the most appropriate resources and programs to offer their customers with challenging business issues was not always easy.

The Solution: Introduce a New Paradigm for Performance

Together, the BIPI Managed Markets Marketing Team and Sudler & Hennessey New Jersey (S&H NJ) developed a new internal model to segment and map customers according to criteria related to performance and loyalty. This new model revolutionizes how BIPI Managed Markets views their customers and their challenges, and, ultimately, how account managers' selling activities can help move customers from brand skeptics to brand advocates. Specifically, this new approach helps account managers more easily identify the most appropriate pathways to communicate with colleagues and customers, collaborate to overcome challenges and meet goals, connect account needs with valuable programs and resources, and create deep and lasting relationships.

Integrating Multiple Brands and Channels

Adapting to a new model is always a challenge, but because multiple brands, namely Spiriva HandiHaler (tiotropium bromide inhalation powder), Flomax (tamsulosin HCI) capsules 0.4 mg, Mirapex (pramipexole dihydrochloride) tablets, Aggrenox (aspirin/extended-release dipyridamole) 25 mg/200 mg capsules, Micardis (telmisartan) tablets, and Micardis HCT (telmisartan/hydrochlorothiazide) 40 mg/12.5 mg, 80 mg/12.5 mg, 80 mg/25 mg tablets, and multiple channels (commercial, federal, state, trade, senior care) needed to be considered, integrating this new model was especially complicated. The strategies behind each channel and each brand had to be aligned and coordinated.

Giving the Performance Model a Creative Spin

Once the strategy was in place, the S&H NJ creative team developed an internal campaign to promote the new model to the Managed Markets Field Force, which was recently unveiled at the fall Managed Markets Plan of Action (POA) Meeting. Previously, each biannual POA was thematically based on a key strategy or goal. Under the new model, S&H NJ proposed that future campaign themes be pliant enough to support upcoming POAs. The new campaign, Pathways for Performance, speaks to BIPI's past progress, as well as their renewed promise for higher performance and is a compelling endorsement of the new managed markets performance model.

Measurable Results

Although in its seminal stages, Pathways for Performance has already begun to change the way BIPI Managed Markets conducts business. The company has undertaken a comprehensive initiative to map all of its customers to the new selling model and integrate these criteria into its sales-force automation tools. They also have begun to develop in-depth training protocols tied specifically to individual customer needs that include individual sales plans, motivational videos, and break-out sessions to help the managed markets field force embrace the new model. All of this was produced in one short POA cycle--a testament to the strong relationship between BIPI and S&H NJ.

PATHWAYS FOR PERFORMANCE

MANAGED MARKETS

THE MANAGED MARKETS MARKETING TEAM

Dave Adams Larry Brooks Chuck Collins Shawn Czado Jaylynne deLaroche Kurt Hartman Chaundra Hoover Robyn Peters Rich Sparago Pat Van Buren