Finalist
Fragmin – the 22-year-old brand coming of age
Summary of work
Fragmin is a Low Molecular Weight Heparin (LMWH) used to treat Venous Thrombo-Embolism (VTE). The brand is 22-years-old and forms part of Pfizer’s Established Products Business Unit.
From 2003 to 2008, Fragmin had not been promoted in the UK and its performance was suffering as a result. In 2008/9 the decision was taken to revitalise Fragmin as a brand and simultaneously seek a licence for extended treatment of VTE in solid tumour oncology patients.
The Oncology licence, granted in May 2009, was to form the basis of the main differentiation from other LMWHs. Extensive customer insight guided the messaging around the treatment of VTE and the importance of VTE in Oncology patients, in addition to other clinical positioning.
The core internal cross-functional revitalisation team were selected due to their experience in strategic repositioning and insight development, in addition to their strong brand and market knowledge. They were then empowered with strong senior management support. Around them, were assembled some of the best agency minds from the fields of market research, creative, PR and medical education.
Objectives for the revitalisation were set and measured around expectations for Pfizer, customers and patients.
The resulting revitalisation focused on repositioning Fragmin via a hard-hitting, insight-driven campaign to both existing and competitor Hospital Trusts – seeking to drive both breadth and depth of usage. The revitalisation included a comprehensive, fully-integrated campaign (online and off-line) featuring both above and below the line tactics. It was aimed at supporting our HCP customers so that they may more fully support our patients.
Work with centres such as Salisbury NHS Trust, further cemented a new relationship with our customers – with Pfizer becoming seen as part of their team.
In 2010/11 we saw the full campaign impact the market. The reversal in the decline of market share was staggering for such a mature brand and a significant market share gap has been placed between Fragmin and its nearest competitor. Forecast estimates for 2012 put Fragmin at 31 per cent ahead of budget with 30 per cent growth on the previous year.
Now in its 22nd year, Fragmin is set to become the first Pfizer brand with six consecutive years of double-digit growth. (Not even Lipitor achieved that!)
Although Fragmin is an established brand, in the last three years from 2009 – 2012, Fragmin has doubled from a £15m to £30m brand as a direct consequence of this revitalisation programme.
Key learnings from this revitalisation are that:
- Mature brands can be turned around
- Perform robust customer insight – and act on it!
- Assemble the right team and then empower them to do the job
Benefits to Pfizer have included the establishment of Pfizer work-streams looking specifically at customer insights ‘Insight Quest’, in addition to other countries seeking to benchmark their Fragmin activities with the UK.
The UK is now the third largest market globally for Fragmin (after Canada and the US) and is benchmarked against by other global Fragmin markets.
Executive summary as submitted
Judges’ comments
"This was one of the outstanding entries that showed very impressive results, including a doubling of sales gained through great customer collaboration and a comprehensive programme that used a wide variety of channels."
