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Digital strategies in marketing to the physician

In: Digital Strategies in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Leonard Lerer
  • Mike Piper

Abstract

The personal contact between a pharmaceutical company and physicians, epitomized in the sales representative visit to a doctor’s office, is the gold standard against which all marketing interventions in this sector are judged. However, pharmaceutical companies are now caught in a vicious cycle, as they employ an ever-increasing number of sales representatives for the same pool of target physicians. A few years ago, 2000 sales representatives in the US affiliate was considered a reasonable target. Now, the major pharmaceutical companies employ 5000 or more, and are spending more than twice the amount on sales, marketing and administration as they spend on R&D [22]. US sales forces nearly doubled in size between 1996 and 2001, but the number of detailing visits to physicians rose by only 15 per cent, as doctors succumbed to ‘salesperson fatigue’ [95]. The competitive environment demands that pharmaceutical companies continue the sales force arms race in the absence of viable alternatives.

Suggested Citation

  • Leonard Lerer & Mike Piper, 2003. "Digital strategies in marketing to the physician," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Digital Strategies in the Pharmaceutical Industry, chapter 0, pages 101-130, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-59879-9_9
    DOI: 10.1057/9780230598799_9
    as

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