We have worked with a number of companies to develop and implement analytical solutions to marketing problems. Below are vignettes describing how DecisionPro concepts and tools have helped. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information or to discuss your particular needs.
Segmentation (Major Pharmaceutical Company)
Situation:
A major pharmaceutical company needed to better understand how physicians perceived the effectiveness of their products for treatment of Glaucoma and how that influenced their decision to prescribe such medication to their patients. (We have implemented similar studies with a number of pharmaceutical companies.)
Results
Approach:
Data was collected via a physician panel to identify the factors/situations that physicians used to prescribe different products, as well as how physicians perceived various available products.
Results:
Our 4-segment solution of physicians along with dynamic positioning maps allowed the firm to modify its advertising and channel promotions to better match physician perceptions in the different segments.
Segmentation (Major Pharmaceutical Company)
Situation:
A major pharmaceutical company wished to gain an improved understanding of patient attitudes in the treatment of high cholesterol conditions. In particular, the company was concerned about the perceptions consumers had of drug prices, effectiveness, side-effect factors, company reputation, etc. The products to be evaluated included both existing products and a new product ready to be launched.
Results
Approach:
We helped design a proprietary “adaptive cascading questionnaire” to obtain significant amounts of information from consumers with high reliability and validity. The information obtained included critical information about the relative importance of various product attributes (e.g., those related to product safety, efficacy, convenience) that drive customer perceptions and behaviors.
Results:
The resulting segmentation scheme and typing tool allowed the company to target specific types of patients who placed high importance on attributes associated with a new product, and also to position the new product and craft advertising messages for the selected segments.
Segmentation (Regional Snack Distribution Company)
Situation:
A regional snack distribution company needed to determine if its advertising spending could be better allocated/directed.
Results
Approach:
We analyzed data collected by the distributor (1600 snack purchasers) seeking segments that differed in terms of ethnicity, location and purchase motivation.
Results:
The segmented output demonstrated clear differences between ethnic groups in terms of snack purchase motivation, allowing advertising spend to be allocated differently across geographies and messages tailored to appeal to differing ethnic motivation factors.
Segmentation and Resource Allocation (A Pharma Company)
Situation:
A pharma company selling drugs for migraine was concerned about the decreasing effectiveness of detailing effort targeted to physicians. The company wanted to identify segment(s) of physicians who would be most responsive to detailing effort.
Results
Approach:
Using prescription data, past detailing data, as well as covariates related to physician, practice, and location characteristics, we developed a latent class regression model to identify the most responsive segments, after taking into account the effects of the covariates.
Results:
We were able to identify an unexpected and distinct group of physicians who were already detailed intensively, but were expected to be even more responsive with additional primary details. These physicians were located in areas with larger population sizes but with fewer members in a household. Further, we were able to pin-point the physicians in the entire database who fit into this category.
Positioning (Major Energy Supplier)
Situation:
A major energy supplier needed to differentiate itself from other second-tier companies.
Results
Approach:
ME>XL positioning analysis was used to determine that customer preferences were more associated with the characteristics and offerings of second tier companies, especially price. Further analysis identified an opportunity for re-positioning towards more customer focus, reliability, and value.
Results:
New advertising campaign with the revised theme increased customer awareness and interest by 45% in 3 months.
Advertising Design (A Leading Advertising Agency)
Situation:
A leading advertising agency specializing in reaching ethnic markets was interested in determining the relative efficacies of using different types of cast members (e.g., African Americans only, Caucasian only, and mixed casting) for reaching both African American and non-African American audiences.
Results
Approach:
Designed an experimental study to collect data about how various audiences reacted to advertisements for products in five different product categories (e.g., fast food, cars) when different types of cast members were used. Measured a number of constructs (perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, and intention) related to consumer assessments of those ads. Analyzed using perception and preference mapping and latent class segmentation.
Results:
In some product categories, there were significant differences in how different types of audiences reacted to the type of cast members used in the ad. Our results and insights were very useful to the ad agency in projecting its expertise in developing ads that are effective in reaching specific ethnic audiences.
Resource Allocation (National Residential Health Care Provider)
Situation:
A national residential health care provider was opening a new major facility on the East Coast, and needed to review, optimize and reallocate its multi-channel advertising efforts.
Results
Approach:
We analyzed existing data, supplemented this data with managerial insights, and integrated a geographic model into a comprehensive sales funnel. The resulting analysis showed effectiveness of the overall level of spending and how best to allocate that budget across media and geographies.
Results:
The approach clearly demonstrated that (1) the firm was underspending in marketing overall and that new spending would be needed to support sales in a different geography whose sales were going to be cannibalized by the new facility.
Resource Allocation (Major Pharmaceutical Company)
Situation:
A major pharmaceutical company was considering splitting its sales force into two product-specialized sales forces to target effort on 15 products in 80 target segments.
Results
Approach:
A custom resource allocation model was developed to determine the optimal structure, size and deployment of the sales force.
Results:
6% profit gain by maintaining current sales force size but effort re-deployed to products and markets based on model recommendations.
Resource Allocation (Large Food Products Company)
Situation:
A large food products company was concerned about efficiency and effectiveness of its promotional spending across US markets and wanted to investigate strategies for improvement.
Results
Approach:
We developed market response analyses and resource reallocation models to demonstrate that the company:
- had significantly different share positions/per capita spends across markets
- was misallocating spending and that
- the firm could substantially reduce overall spending without sacrificing national market share
Results:
Reduced promotional spending 40% AND increased market share from 34% to 37%.
