A prescription acne treatment was struggling to find a unique angle for positioning that would help it successfully enter a highly crowded market. To complicate the matter further, the treatment works on both facial and truncal acne, making the business case for launching in both indications right at the get go too attractive to turn down. While the functional needs were quite similar, the emotional needs were vastly different in truncal vs facial acne.

Robust needs-based human-centric segmentation provided unique insights on the strategic value target amongst the acne treating healthcare professionals (HCPs), patients and their caregivers (PTs/CGs). It also shed light on potential positioning territories with synergy between the two indications. Combining deep human insights with medical insights on the unique angle of the compound in treating acne, we moved from ‘mechanism of action’ to ‘mechanism of meaning’, unearthing a compelling positioning that works well across the target audiences, and for both facial and truncal applications.

In partnership with a top-tier management consulting firm, we pulled through from the segmentation study and brand positioning strategy to a robust Go-to-market (GTM) approach to inform and optimize launch planning for the US as well as key markets globally. The rigor of the strategic thinking ensures the red thread from human insights to in-market execution.

The brand is now well on its way to become a formidable player in the Rx acne space, successfully transformed from a me-too to breakthrough.

A top-tier pharmaceutical company was looking for potential synergy across many support services for healthcare professionals (HCPs) and patients/caregivers (PTs/CGs) that many brands within the company were offering. A pilot was initiated for Oncology and Immunology therapeutic areas.

To ensure a meaningful solution, we approached the business synergy question first and foremost from the human perspective - the HCPs, PTs and CGs - to see them as the holistic humans beyond the healthcare roles they play. Careful analysis of findings, combined with a series of cross-functional workshops leveraging Design Thinking principles shed lights on the optimum portfolio architecture design for these support services.

The end solution took our client team to a great place, with a hybrid model where HCP support services were combined based on shared (mostly functional) needs across both therapeutic areas, while PT/CG support services were kept separate based on distinct (functional and emotion) needs in Immunology vs Oncology, yet with certain back-end synergies.

Subsequent naming strategy for each service portfolio reflected the human-centric customer insights and needs uncovered, ensuring seamless service brand identity.

The rigor in strategic approach, depth of insights, and resulting creative solutions raised the bar in helping our client provide meaningful support services for the HCPs, PTs and CGs.

A leading global brand in the spread category (butter, margarine, etc.) was hitting a stagnant stage in a declining market. There was significant pressure to cut cost and improve profitability. The R&D team discovered a technology that would bring down fat content, and as such, reduce cost of goods. However, the high price tag in capital expenditure (capex) of $30MM+ required significant growth to justify the business case.

We started out with robust market and consumer analysis, including future-scaping scanning signals for potential new growth opportunities. Even though the brand was in functional foods with cardiovascular benefits, the net was cast far and wide to include all potential angles for growth drivers.

In parallel, very close collaboration with the R&D team took place to mine for potential competitive advantages from deep understanding of the technology and its applications in the manufacturing process. Technical insights combined with marketplace and consumer insights unearthed surprising angles for the development of compelling new value propositions.

We took several steps further, working on and reinventing the whole marketing mix, with new packaging design, label and claim strengthening, pricing strategy, go-to-market strategy, etc.

Consumer research and retail customer feedback showed significant sales potential, paving the way for capex approval and subsequent relaunch for the brand soon after; returning the brand to sustainable growth.

Our client, a top-5 pharmaceutical company, was preparing for a global launch of a potential first-to-market treatment in the Respiratory space. With high expectation for the launch, we set out to help our client crack the code for a best-in-class campaign that would resonate across the targeted healthcare professionals (HCPs) and patients (PTs), in the US and all key global markets, in order to maximize campaign impact at launch and beyond.

Integrated brand strategy started with an integrated team. We kicked off the work with a US/Global cross-functional client-agency ‘Lighthouse’ workshop, crafting the Purpose, Vision and the core elements for the Brand Essence, to guide us on the journey.

Rigorous brand positioning work followed, with audience and market insights from the ground-up, that helped us strategically mine for areas of synergy while honoring the key differences across the target audiences and local countries. We also worked very closely with the Medical colleagues to pull-through the human tension to the product’s ‘mechanism of meaning’.

Positioning research was thoughtfully designed to allow space for positioning territory evaluation first, before getting to the details and nuances of various positioning statements.

The global research came back with resounding success. We ‘nailed’ an optimum positioning that resonated across HCPs, PTs and CGs; in both US and the selected international markets. This winning positioning served as the platform guiding and inspiring communication and activation development for launch.

A well-known medical device company with headquarters in Japan was preparing for its first launch in the US market. Beyond the ambition for commercial success, the CEO also aspired to transform the culture from one centered on engineering and science to one that had human empathy at the heart, science in service of the patients.

Starting with in-depth stakeholder interviews getting inputs from the company’s leadership team, it was clear that for the culture to shift, it had to start with the people at the top, to get them buy in the CEO’s vision whole-heartedly. Combining our expertise and passion for human-centricity in healthcare, and taking into account where the individuals on the leadership team team were, we designed an immersive two days training with four modules packed with inspiration and curated exercises, thoughtfully sequenced to take them along the journey.

The functional leads in the Leadership team went from skepticism to embracing the vision, sharing their heart-felt personal pledge at the closing session.

As the CEO has put it in his thank-you notes to us, “[Our company] was formed to make a contribution to mankind through human centricity… To be honest, I had a slight concern [as] to how this workshop goes before we started. And I saw that the individual members had different thoughts about [the brand]… In the last two days, our human centricity spirit has improved dramatically. Now it’s time for us to prove it through our actual performance. I thank you again for the two days and to those who supported us to make this possible.”