Global products for local people: tailoring your brand strategy
pharmafile | September 25, 2007 | Feature | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing | branding, global
Deciding which aspects of a global brand should be defined centrally and how much freedom there is in any given local market are matters very much open to debate, and opinions will vary widely across the industry. There can be very limited room for manoeuvre, because not only are the brand essence, brand proposition and strategy defined by the global marketing team, but often so are the straplines, imagery and even the structure of the sales aid – right down to the last detail.
From a purely marketing perspective, there are good reasons for employing global marketing and branding strategies. But conversely, there are also good reasons for not employing them – it all depends on your point of view. But one thing is clear the marketing and compliance challenges of branding are inextricably linked; add in the desire for global branding and the material outputs can be very challenging for all concerned.
The 70:30 principle
Companies such as Interbrand promote the 70:30 principle of global branding, saying 70% should be absolutely consistent, with 30% reflecting flexibility from market to market. Interbrand quotes McDonald's as an example of a brand with a core theme, but with a nationally flexible presentation; for example, customers in France are able to enjoy readily-available espresso coffee, but without having to endure moulded plastic chairs while they drink it.
Since the development of medicines is a global business, it makes sense to some people that the branding should be globally defined, too. Strategically, it is important for corporations to ensure a consistent proposition for the brand and to employ a consistent overall approach to communicating it. Tactically, there is also a strong role for the global team to play. It is highly appropriate that the release of new data is coordinated centrally and that the global team generates the supporting information. This would typically include briefings for the board and the national subsidiaries, and the development of materials; for example, core press releases. A central global marketing team is needed to liaise with corporate functions such as R&D, manufacturing, in-licensing and PR. And, of course, there are always global organisations with whom the company needs to maintain a single and central point of contact.
There is also a role for the global teams to play in the development of tactical promotional material and since, in many countries, the size of the local marketing subsidiary is typically too small to operate completely independently, global marketing team support may extend to market research to ensure the communications resonate with the target audience.
Where do global strategies end and national ones start?
Obviously, there is a degree of compromise involved because, by definition, globally commissioned research is international and can only reflect national (or regional) differences to a certain extent. For the type of tactical and strategic activities described, international generalisations are acceptable compromises.
However, beyond this point is usually where the debate gets noisy. The key question is typically about where the global strategy should stop and where the national tactics should begin. To what extent is it appropriate for global marketing teams to define the focus of an individual promotional campaign? Is it right for them to determine the emphasis of promotional claims? To what degree is it acceptable for the global team to determine the imagery for a campaign – or even the structure of a sales aid – down to the actual wording of the promotional claim and the determination of specific wording and graphs to be included?
The global teams argue that it is essential for them to maintain control to ensure, first, that the brand proposition is correctly represented and, second, that at any point in time, a physician travelling anywhere in the world will get a consistent set of messages about the product.
The national teams argue that very few physicians will travel internationally and that even if they do, they are intelligent enough to recognise and even enjoy the differences in the way the brand is promoted in different countries. National teams also point out the need to ensure that brand messages resonate with the local population. History is full of examples of international campaigns that failed because the imagery and/or wording were lost in translation, or (worse) translated accurately, but were badly received.
For example, it may be great to have consistent colour themes or logos, but colours and shapes are not internationally consistent in their meaning. Take the colour pink, for instance. It may be an appropriate colour for a breast cancer or HRT product in the UK, but it is not consistently recognised internationally as the colour for femininity. Some flexibility may need to be incorporated – even international relief organisation the Red Cross operates as the Red Crescent in countries where the cross is seen negatively as the symbol of Christianity.
The more freedom given to the national marketing team, the greater the likelihood those messages will resonate with the local target audience, but it is also more likely there will be greater variation from the central message.
The problem of risk-aversion
The UK is a classic case in point. UK physicians are typically risk-averse and, as a result, are less likely to use newer medicines. Not only does that make market penetration more difficult for UK companies, it also means that the products they are competing against may be different from those used on the continent and elsewhere. UK gold standard medicines are typically the original, post-patent molecules in the given therapy area.
For me, however, there is another risk that is inherent in global marketing campaigns: the risk of non-compliance with promotional regulations and codes. There is an increasing trend for global marketing teams to mandate the inclusion of specific phrases, images and graphs in promotional campaigns. If the national subsidiary wants to deviate from the central message, they have to justify any changes, but there are a number of factors that need to be considered. First, the global teams are not always aware of the nuances in local regulations and codes of practice and don't always understand the explanation from the national team. Second, where there is consistency in the wording of the regulation, the interpretation may be different between national authorities.
However, companies are starting to find ways around these problems. When Allergan was preparing for the European launch of glaucoma treatment GANfort, it worked directly with the main markets to develop cohesive marketing material. "It was important to develop claims at the outset which would be approvable in all countries," said Philip Haldar, European Marketing Manager, Ophthalmology. "We established a cross-functional team with representation from medical, marketing and regulatory in the top five European markets. We were then able to develop claims that we knew would receive regulatory approval and we tested them with enough customers in each country to ensure the messages were effective."
Retaining core brand values
One organisation, the Pharmaceutical Marketing Society, recognises the challenges for global and local teams alike. At a recent PM Society meeting, members were presented with a number of flowcharts to help determine how well-proposed global campaigns work in the UK market. Steve Mackenzie-Lawrie, deputy chairman of the society and independent consultant, says: "This is an area that our members increasingly have to deal with. Based on my experience, I strongly advocate an inclusive approach to global branding with effective consultation and communication between the global team and market affiliates. This will help ensure buy-in to the overall global strategy, help define its content and provide a framework for how it can be utilised and applied at a local/national level.
"This consultation and a degree of flexibility will allow both global and local teams to assess if a global brand is consistent with local needs. It also provides the opportunity to put forward a case for a local adaptation that can operate under the overall global strategy, where core brand values can be retained, but can be expressed in a way that meets the demands of local markets.
"This process requires commitment from both global and local teams. If handled correctly, it can provide resources and insight that are beneficial to both parties and contribute towards a successful product for the company. Ultimately, the local marketer has a stake in developing the marketing support for their product, access to funds and resources, while the global team can ensure consistency of brand positioning, access to insight from local customers and the delivery of appropriate and consistent key messages to support the product. The company can achieve economies of scale and potential efficiencies in the costs of developing a global brand."
Sanctions and regulations
It should be remembered that the sanctions and penalties for breaches of promotional regulations are applied locally. The MHRA and PMCPA will not usually take into account the geographic origin of any material used in the UK, nor will they consider the wider European or global context of a claim. If it breaches UK law or the ABPI Code of Practice, then it is a breach – no argument.
Of course, the job of global marketing teams isn't easy. They have to be aware of a wide range of rules and regulations and then work out which ones apply – which is where it starts to get tricky because it depends on a wide range of factors.
Let's say a global marketing team wants to run an ad in an international journal. The editorial team is based in Vienna, but the journal is published in Germany, and printed and distributed from Singapore. The journal has a genuinely international audience, but the publishing company's legal entity is registered in the UK and, therefore, the UK address is listed inside the journal, while the global marketing team is based in Switzerland.
This scenario is based on a case considered by the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA), which regulates the code on behalf of the ABPI. Essentially, the ABPI code applies to international journals produced in English in the UK, even if only a small percentage of the circulation is to a UK audience. This particular case was further complicated by the fact that the publishers stated that they were a UK legal entity and so, from a legal perspective, the journal should be considered as being produced in the UK. In the event, the PMCPA decided that as the journal was physically produced outside the UK, the ABPI code did not apply – but the German, Austrian and Swiss codes probably did.
Code complexities
Aside from the fact that the product licences in the three countries might be different, determining which national code applies might have implications for the style and content of the advertising. For example, under the Austrian code, it is not permissible to refer to a competitor brand in advertising unless you obtain that company's permission first.
Of course, under the terms of the EFPIA code, if the global marketing team had been physically based in the UK, or if the UK national marketing team had requested the placement of the advertisement, then the ad would have fallen under the auspices of the UK's ABPI Code of Practice anyway.
It could be argued the above case was straightforward because it dealt with a hard-copy journal. Naturally, the various codes also apply to web-based advertising and then the considerations might include where the server is based. Thankfully, the PMCPA currently regard the target audience for most hard-copy and web-based journals as one and the same.
There is, of course, a wide range of other compliance implications arising from global branding. Common packaging and a single worldwide brand means a huge potential market for counterfeit goods and lower-cost market penetration for parallel importers. Other impacts include the need for harmonisation of trademarks and greater awareness of international legislation.
The essence of any successful product is to have a clear brand proposition and a strong strategy for communicating it to a market that is receptive. In the current environment, promotion also must comply with marketing regulations. An empathetic cross-functional approach and a little flexibility will deliver.
Steven Gray is a chartered marketer and former compliance officer who specialises in providing business-friendly compliance services to the pharmaceutical industry. For further information, visit www.stevengrayconsulting.co.uk
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