MedIntelliBlog™

Just a simple thought this week…share your company’s competitive intelligence across your organization. DO NOT restrict it to a few senior management team members or within a specific department. If you do not share it, your company (and YOU) are more likely doomed to an inevitable blunder.

Case in point, a few days ago an associate and I were talking about a recent peripheral vascular clinical trial…(the name of the companies and trial are withheld to protect confidences. But to make it real, insert one of your past company’s names and a pivotal trial that was critical at the time. The salient point is the lesson learned.)…Each week the clinical research team tracked medical conference proceedings, The Gray Sheets, press releases, any source that had hints of what the outcome of the competing sponsor’s trial would mean for its own stent. But the marketing team was confident that trial results would prove in favor of stenting. The team was preoccupied with executing its marketing strategy – developing collateral materials, demo kits, communications for its customers, patients and sales team. The list went on. However, no one in the marketing department, not even the senior managers bothered to meet with the clinical research team until the trial results were within weeks of release. The results did not favor stenting. It caught managers in marketing and up the line flat-footed. Heads rolled and many were demoted or fired.

There is major lesson to be learned here – enlighten all the members on your project team. Give them access to the same intelligence that you subscribe to. Your companies have enterprise subscriptions, so use them to keep your teams informed.

And don’t be cheap. If there is a per-user subscription fee, pay it for each of the key folks on your team. Everyone has to be informed and up-to-speed to do his/her job well. The few extra dollars spent are inconsequential compared to the expense of an entire 5-10 year development program derailed and jobs lost.

Next week, we’ll explore a new breed, a hybrid between clinical research and traditional marketing…”clinical marketing.”

Stay alert, be intelligent -

Victoria Hunsicker Sanko

Senior Editor