Savvy Strategists

Today's brand teams play for extremely high stakes when fighting off competitor challenges. Only now are some companies beginning to place dedicated marketing-oriented medical experts on brand teams. To fill the growing void, innovative pharma companies are beginning to contract medical/scientific strategists to serve on brand teams. For teams like these, outsourcing offers a strong value proposition. This is particularly useful when companies approach the critical go/no-go development decisions and want to ramp up capabilities while mitigating financial risk. When selecting an outside medical/scientific strategist, companies should look for PharmD or MD credentials, and for brand-team experience inside top-tier pharmaceutical companies. Most strategists available for these jobs are affiliated with medical/scientific strategy firms, medical-education companies, and consulting organizations. Savvy marketers say that companies should interview strategists now, in an effort to anticipate future needs.