Our First Project

Tl;dr

• A biotech with a single marketed product needed to connect with HCPs in a highly efficient way
• Their sales team sought targeted opportunities in institutions (IDNs), universities, and medical societies.
• Leveraging SponsorMotion's database, they found new paths to entry that were both compliant and cost-effective: we uncovered 155 new opportunities.
  
• You can download a one-pager view of the case study here.

A Biotech needed more opportunities...

Our first client was a growing biotech company. When we met them, they told us that they needed to accelerate an awareness campaign for a rare cardiac indication to hit their targets.

However, they found out that there were a few obstacles in their way:

1. Access constraints were limiting the ability to connect personally. Field representatives knew whom they needed to talk to - but, often, they could not due to access restrictions.
2. National events were challenging for a small company. Most of the airtime was taken up by big pharma - it would be very challenging to get their message out and to meet physicians 1:1. They would keep a solid presence there for marketing and relationship purposes. Still, they didn't believe those events should be considered field activation opportunities.
3. Attending local events was in their strategic plan, but neither marketing nor sales had a comprehensive map of what was possible. Given the volume of cardiology events, the small field team was challenged to fully investigate and prioritize - on top of their significant existing commitments.

That's when we connected with their head of sales: Could we help them figure out a cost-effective way for their field team to connect with HCPs nationwide?

We had heard this before. Both Karen and I had witnessed many situations where the sheer breadth of what was possible led to paralysis. The answer was out there: most field activation opportunities are advertised. But they're not easy to find. Dozens of institutions in each State offer commercially sponsorable CMEs,  organize seminars and conferences, and publish newsletters. However, there's no single source of truth that industry players can use to make decisions.

... and we found them.

First, we met with the client and discussed their objectives - in detail.

• What kinds of engagement opportunities were they most interested in from a strategic perspective?
• What geographies were their top priority?
• What topics matched their value proposition and narrative?
• Were there deadlines that were important for them?

After this kick-off session, we started our internal search process, which yielded more than 100 organizations and 155 opportunities meeting our client criteria around agenda, budget, timing, and attendees.

A structured prioritization exercise narrowed down this list to 54 opportunities across the US, facilitating a multi-channel field activation strategy.

The impact

First and foremost, our client was happy: within a few weeks, they had obtained a new roadmap for connecting with their target physicians. One of our favorite quotes was their VP of marketing saying that we had helped them find opportunities they might not have come across otherwise. 

The project also had a significant impact on us: it validated our methodology and our approach and very rapidly yielded tangible benefits to our client. We knew for sure that we were on to something at this point.