Tips for building a successful pharmaceutical brand plan.

The brand plan is a marketer's best friend. Every new pharmaceutical marketer needs to carefully review the brand plan for that existing year. This is the roadmap that was set up to make the brand as profitable as possible and successful for the future.

Usually once per year, the marketing team sets up the process to develop a new brand plan. A brand planning team is assembled to provide insight in the market situation and input into the plan itself. Sometimes an external facilitator is used to create a neutral environment, whereas other times somebody internally manages the meetings and the process flow. Either way, a lot of planning is required, particularly on behalf of the marketing team. Careful planning is critical to ensure that all brand plan timelines are met.

Here are the components that are typically included in a pharmaceutical brand plan;

1. Executive summary

2. Financial and script objectives

3. Situational analysis

4. Competitor analysis (brand and company)

5. S.W.O.T. analysis

6. Key issues / Critical success factors

7. Strategies

8. Tactics

9. Sales plan

10. Contingency plan (if required)

11. Co-promotion considerations (if required)