Launching a first-in-class treatment in an area of health that is widespread and largely uncomfortable to discuss among patients and doctors can be daunting. In addition to being an area of health that is largely uncomfortable to discuss among patients and with doctors, perceptions and discussions around this disease state are stuck in the past – closeted, stigmatized, minimized or ignored. A market environment like this requires concisely narrowing down the segments that are most likely to want this treatment and understanding the patients’ true drivers and barriers. Getting only one chance to get out of the gate correctly was the challenge our client was facing and came looking for a structured, proven approach to this challenge.
To best serve the patients’ unmet need, the client relies on finding an actionable consumer segmentation that prioritizes key audiences and inform effective/efficient actions and investments. Where is the sweet spot between the business potential and the brand potential?
- Who are the patients most likely to adopt this new treatment, ones open to new ideas and willingness to reconsider prior choices?
- What is the optimal way to frame and focus the brand narrative that will inspire change and remove biases against it?
- How to sharpen market sizing, launch plan development, branded campaigns, as well as other strategies, given the prioritized segments?
The Solution
To achieve this foundational understanding of patients, Shapiro+Raj took a 4-pronged approach that optimized:
- Secondary research to create key hypotheses
- Digital diaries and follow up personalized interviews to really understand their attitudes, beliefs, and experiences
- Quantitative surveys to validate learnings
- Digital footprint analysis to really understand habits and drivers of attitudes beyond stated responses
Most importantly, through this intense contact with patients, Shapiro+Raj stayed acutely aware of the complicated emotional cultural dynamics that exist in this disease area and were able to create an environment where patients felt comfortable to open up and share their core belief systems about the disease.
The Outcome
This multifaceted research resulted in a detailed, robust deliverable that contained realistic and employable insights into segments of patients that are most likely to ask their physician about the treatment. A lot of agencies can conduct segmentation studies and deliver the demographic facts about patients. Shapiro+Raj took it further and told stories that brought the women to life that created empathy for each patient segment. Our client learned what motivates them, scares them, what family pressures and cultural influences most impact how they think about menopause treatments.
This created such foundational and validated learning that is allowing our client to develop effective disease education and product positioning / messaging that is being well received by potential patients.
Self-advocacy in this space is complicated and difficult. There are a lot of pressures that keep patients from searching for treatment answers. Our client now has the tools to break through that barrier.