Following on from last month’s article examining the importance of tracking brand success, Neil Dobson and Vicky McLellan examine the uses and backgrounds for five common tracking and monitoring studies.
Neil Dobson 
Vicky McLellan 
19 May, 2009
Tracking and Monitoring – ‘Knowing Where You Stand’ (Part 2)
Last month we discussed:
- Why it is important to track the performance of the brand
- What should be measured within tracking studies
- Who should be included in tracking and monitoring studies
This month, we will be providing a brief overview of some of the most frequently
used tracking and monitoring studies. Five of the most common studies are:
- Awareness and Usage (A&U)
- Message Recall
- Detail (or Sales) Follow Up (DFU / SFU)
- Brand Equity
- Promotional Mix Assessment
For each of the above mentioned study types, we will review:
- What each study could cover
- Why each study should be conducted
- When the study should be conducted
- How the study could be carried out
Awareness and Usage
What does an A&U study cover?
This type of study focuses solely on assessing awareness and usage against key criteria (as specified below).
Awareness will assess:
- How much share of voice and noise is surrounding the brand
- What communication channels (representatives, website, journals, advertising or media) are currently raising awareness
- Level of noise and anticipation surrounding any emerging competitors
Usage can measure both the breath and depth of customer prescribing - allowing a Pareto analysis. This will provide a clear indication of where customers sit on an adoption ladder and a top line view on their positioning of the brand.
Adoption ladder
Why should A&U be tracked?
An A&U study is a quick and cost-effective way of tracking awareness and usage of a brand, and its competitors, across a wide range of customers. Although pharmaceutical companies often buy continuous data, a tailored A&U study can supplement this and provide valuable insight into brand specific elements or within target customer groups that would not be covered in standard data.
Tracking awareness and usage over time – and versus pre-defined targets - will provide a general assessment of whether the marketing effort is on target or if elements need to be refined to increase their impact.
When should an A&U study be conducted?
As soon as the brand has been launched and then at regular time periods
How should it be conducted?
A short internet questionnaire is often the most cost effective and fastest approach.
Message Recall
What does a message recall study cover?
This is often seen as a ‘cut down DFU’ study as it covers some of the key elements of this type of research, but is a smaller or less detailed project.
Tracking message recall throughout the brands life cycle will ensure:
- That the key messages are resonating with customers and are felt to be appropriate
- Customers have a clear understanding of where and when they should use the brand
- That the messages are having a positive impact on customer prescribing behaviour
Why should message recall be monitored?
In the early post launch phase, message recall can be used to check that customer understanding of the messages is correctly aligned with the brand strategy and positioning - before a full DFU would be appropriate. Later on, this type of study can be used as a ‘temperature check’ to ensure brand health without the costs of a more comprehensive DFU
Whenever this is run, it is crucial to understand how the messages are being received by customers so that any amendments that may be required can be made quickly.
When should message recall research be conducted?
This should be run within 2-3 after launch of a new campaign – to ensure that it is working effectively – and then at various time points throughout the lifespan of the campaign
How should it be conducted?
A short internet based questionnaire is often appropriate, but tele-depths can also be considered if there are specific areas that need a more qualitative approach.
Qualitative interviews with sales representatives can also be included within this type of research to ensure that they are clear on the messages – or if not to identify potential areas of training - and provide them with an opportunity to feedback on how customers are reacting to the campaign.
Detail (or Sales) Follow Up (DFU / SFU)
What should be covered in a DFU study?
Unlike a message recall study that simply focuses on customer recall of messages, a DFU can assess how effectively the sales force and the campaign are working together to communicate key information about the brand to customers. It will also provide an insight into customers’ relationship with the representatives, the campaign and the brand.
A wide variety of elements can be assessed in a DFU, but some common areas (over and above message recall) are:
- Relevance and credibility of messages
- Missing or superfluous data
- Differentiation from key competitors
- Positioning
- Style and flow of information
- Impact the sales call has on brand perception and prescribing behaviour
- Sales force quality metrics
Why should DFU/ SFU be conducted?
A representative visit is the main access point that the company has with the customer. It is therefore crucial to check that this interaction is optimised, both from the information being disseminated as well as the ability of the representative to convey this information in a meaningful manner.
Regular DFU studies with both customers and the representatives will highlight
any training needs, required amendments to the marketing materials and fit
with the brand strategy. This ensures that field based communication to customers
is clear, concise and having the desired impact.
When should DFU research be conducted?
This is likely to be dependent on three key factors:
- The outcomes of the message recall research – are there any issues that need to be followed up on quickly?
- Time since the last campaign review – the longer a sub-optimal campaign or salesforce is out there, the lower the ROI
- Key sales meeting dates – The outputs from a DFU are best presented back to the fieldforce face to face at sales meetings / cycle briefings so results will be required for these
Generally, a DFU should be run within 6-9 months of a new campaign and then followed up at regular – if not frequent – intervals to ensure that the materials and representatives are still being impactful.
How should it be conducted?
Interviews need to be conducted with customers within 10 days of the sales call taking place. Given the often qualitative nature of a DFU, telephone interviews are often the preferred methodology.
However, a DFU can be conducted via the internet if there is a need to review only specific elements of the detail aid or if a larger sample is required. There is also the option of supplementing an internet study with a few qualitative interviews to gain feedback on any areas of issue.
To provide a more holistic perspective on the customer ? representative interaction, it is also recommended that interviews are conducted with the sales representatives.
Brand Equity Tracking
What should be covered in a brand equity study?
Tracking brand equity will define and measure the strength of a customer’s relationship with the brand – and competitors - and how this changes over time.
There are three core measurements of brand equity.
Why should brand equity be tracked?
As we mentioned in our previous Post Launch Evaluation article, developing a drug from a product into a brand takes a significant amount of time and money. Therefore it is important to frequently track brand equity to ensure that marketing and sales activities are portraying the right brand image and helping to foster a positive emotional connection to the brand.
When should equity tracking be conducted?
There is no precise time when the initial baseline wave of research should be conducted, but any follow up waves should either be conducting bi-annually or annually, depending on developments with the brand or market
How should it be conducted?
An online methodology is often favoured as more qualitative enabling techniques can be incorporated into this approach as well as providing the ability to collect quantitative information quickly.
Promotional Mix Assessment
What should promotional campaign research assess?
This type of research attempts to assess which channels the customer has been exposed to, what messages or brand attachments these have conveyed and what the impact of these have been.
Typical promotional channels that can be included are:
- Company employee interactions (not just representatives)
- Mailings
- Company websites
- Advertising
- Medical education
- Media coverage and articles
- Conferences and symposia
However, generally when it comes to assessing promotional mix, most people focus on company employee interactions, the advertising campaign and, to a slightly lesser extent, websites. This is mainly due to the fact that the other channels are more difficult to measure, but there are various methodologies that can be employed.
Why should the various promotions elements be measured?
There are a number of elements to a marketing campaign and it is essential that these work synergistically. It is also imperative that any communications to customers fit with the brand strategy, are congruent with each other and provide a consistent and compelling brand platform.
This type of study can also provide some insight into how successful each of the promotional channels is so that resource can be allocated appropriately.
When should the promotional campaign be assessed?
Throughout the brands life cycle, depending of the frequency of the activities associated with the promotional campaign
How should it be conducted?
Online so that recall of specific images / phrases that are contained with the different promotional elements can be assessed.
This should be undertaken with a range of customers including some that may have been exposed to specific elements of the promotional mix such as those involved in medical education or conferences. This will help to assess the success of the various elements of the mix on different subsets of customers
In summary, throughout the brand’s life cycle it is crucial to track and monitor the success of the brand and the inputs that are driving customer behaviour. This will bring to light any issues with the brand and enable it to adapt to changes in the marketplace to ensure that it continues to reach its potential.
Within this article we have provided an overview of five of the most common tracking and monitoring studies that should be considered when seeking to assess the performance of a brand. Each study has its own distinct advantages and disadvantages, but should fit together to provide a comprehensive overview of brand health.
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