In the competitive pharmaceutical and biotech landscapes, the strength of a brand can often be the determining factor between success and stagnation. At the core of any brand is its “north star” – its guiding principle or mission to support the business and its stakeholders. With the rapid pace of innovation, regulatory challenges, and the high stakes involved in patient outcomes, having a clear understanding of how a brand is perceived in the market is more critical than ever.
Brand equity research, when done well, provides companies with deep insights into how their brand is performing at every stage of the customer journey—from initial awareness to long-term loyalty. It helps identify the key factors that drive brand success, uncover areas for improvement, and offer strategic guidance for the future. Without successful execution of brand equity research, companies risk losing market share to competitors who are more attuned to the needs and perceptions of key stakeholders.
Most brands have some sort of equity tracking system in place; sometimes these studies even directly feed into strategic brand planning processes. Unfortunately, current approaches often fail to support the activation of a brand’s “north star.”
Key limitations of typical research approaches include:
- “Kitchen sink” approach – over time, tracking research tends to become cluttered with too many topics, losing sight of the critical research objectives
- Rigid design – while study objectives should be clear and limited (to avoid the “kitchen sink”), market dynamics continually evolve, and so should the research; core performance indicators should be consistent, but the contents of the design should be responsive to the market
- Infrequent insights – yearly tracking studies are not sufficient for keeping a pulse on your market. Ideally, tracking is continuous to ensure you can course correct
- KPIs that aren’t tailored – syndicated approaches to assessing brand performance don’t take into account the unique dynamics of your market; you need an approach that is specific to your product and your market landscape
- Surface level analytics – while dashboarding is a common request, it often results in performance assessments limited to superficial data points; truly impactful brand equity studies employ advanced analytics to provide actionable insights
- Poor participation – many tracking studies require too much of a respondent’s time, resulting in poor quality and potentially biased results
- Technological limitations – many tracking studies are still being designed like they were 10-15 years ago, forgoing meaningful integration of AI to enhance insights
Brand EquiTrackSM – KJT’s Comprehensive Solution
To overcome the limitations of many existing equity tracking research approaches, we developed Brand EquiTrackSM, which leverages primary research with key stakeholders — such as healthcare providers, payers, and patients — to deliver a holistic view of your brand’s performance. Paired with activation workshops, Brand EquiTrackSM improves the foundation of your strategic brand planning.
Brand EquiTrackSM follows a consistent, and time tested, process with the details tailored to your brand:
- Assess
We start with an evaluation of your brand’s position within a traditional marketing . Next, we evaluate your brand and competitors on a variety of key metrics. This uncovers areas of competitive advantage and disadvantage for your brand and your competitors.
- Predict
Key performance metrics are transformed into a single, holistic, brand score. Using predictive analytics, we then identify what aspects of the brand truly drive performance. Together, this informs a map of what is important that is easy for senior management to digest.
- Strategize
Finally, we synthesize the insights into our EquiTrackSM construct that provides a simple, yet actionable, view of how to adjust your brand strategy. In other words, this enhances your ability to find, and support, your brand’s “north star.” This construct is then used as the focal point for our proprietary activation workshopping where we truly transform insights into action.
Driving Success Through Brand EquiTrackSM: A Case Example
To illustrate the power of this solution, let’s consider a recent example from one of our pharmaceutical clients. They were launching a new product in a highly competitive therapeutic area and needed to understand how their brand was perceived by healthcare providers.
Through Brand EquiTrackSM, we assessed the brand’s position in the market and its competitive standing across various product attributes. Our predictive analysis revealed that healthcare provider concern about a specific aspect of the product’s delivery mechanism was primarily holding back conversion.
Armed with this insight, we further synthesized the findings into an easy to digest construct that clearly conveyed areas of excellence versus competitive disadvantage on the features that truly matter. This was instrumental in clearly communicating the results up to senior management.
With this framework, the client was able to address these concerns directly in their marketing and educational efforts. They also adjusted their sales strategy to emphasize the product’s strengths more effectively. As a result, the brand saw a significant increase in consideration and trial rates, ultimately leading to higher market share and stronger brand loyalty.
Conclusion
In today’s competitive landscape, understanding and managing brand equity is not just important—it’s essential. Brand EquiTrackSM provides pharmaceutical and biotech professionals with the insights needed to drive brand success and achieve long-term goals. Whether you’re launching a new product or seeking to strengthen an existing brand, Brand EquiTrackSM provides the clarity and strategic direction you need to succeed.
Authors
Ellen J. Gordon, PhD
Client Strategy & Growth, SVP
Ellen is an accomplished senior insights professional. Her understanding of client needs spans R&D, digital health, and commercial strategy, positioning her as a trusted partner for life science companies. Ellen is passionate about using emerging technology such as genAI to enhance market research. Ellen holds a PhD from the University of Michigan.
Alex Castello, MBA
Marketing & Client Strategy, VP
Alex is a passionate insights marketer and seasoned healthcare researcher with over 15 years of experience delivering impactful business insights for life sciences companies. As part of KJT’s leadership team, Alex is focused on marketing and research solution development, with a goal to create the foundation for marketing excellence at KJT.
October 2024
Enhance Your Insights to Elevate Your Brand Equity Overcoming Limitations of Tracking Research
A strong brand is crucial to unlocking market success, but typical tracking methods fall short of providing insights you can truly act on. KJT created Brand EquiTrack(SM) to overcome common barriers, including limited actionability and perceived value, to ensure lasting brand salience, resilience, and competitive advantage.
- Ellen Gordon, PhD
- Alex Castello, MBA
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