The Business

The client operates a pharmaceutical business that focuses on developing medicines and diagnostic tests that will help patients live longer, better lives. The company is a leader in clinical-trial recruitment and has introduced more than 100 drugs and more than 2,900 diagnostic tests to the Canadian marketplace. It has maintained a number-one ranking for hospital pharmaceutical and in vitro diagnostics sales.

The Partnership

In 2014, the company selected Schulich ExecEd as its learning partner to develop a Marketing Excellence Program. Schulich ExecEd developed the customized content with the company’s senior executives to align the course curriculum to their culture, values and strategic goals.

Taught by Schulich ExecEd’s expert faculty, the Marketing Excellence Program was developed as a two-tiered solution.

Phase 1: A comprehensive six-day learning experience designed to bring the bulk of the marketing team across all business units to the same level of competence. Its focus is grounded in marketing principles and best-in-class practices, both within and outside of the pharmaceutical industry.  Course topics include delivering a superior ROI through building comprehensive marketing plans, customer segmentation, value propositions, brand planning, messaging and positioning.

Phase 2: An advanced six-day learning experience designed for senior business and marketing leaders. Its focus is on higher-level challenges, including finding new ways of approaching the market, addressing patient motivations and behaviour, and bringing greater insight into what works in this new reality. Course topics included patient and customer centricity, advanced marketing analytics and applied strategic marketing principles.

In the first year of the program, 37 marketers as well as members of the senior management team benefitted from this high-value learning experience.

This program is just one example of how we partner with our clients to create leadership programs which are set in the context of the company and the industry in which they operate, in this case, the healthcare sector.