Strategy Solutions
Long-Range Business Plans
Omnichannel Brand Plans
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CASE STUDIES
Strategy & Planning
“The conversation was very fruitful. We have to do more of this because it’s been educational for all of us.”
— Marketing Director
Professional Facilitation
CHALLENGE
Our client launched a new product that was not gaining the traction they expected. Convening an Advisory Board seemed a good first step to gather insights, but prior Ad Boards they had conducted themselves had gotten bogged down with participant debates and groups becoming sidetracked with niche issues. They needed an outside facilitator who could not only extract key attendee input, but also keep the group moving and focused, in a limited timeframe.
IMS SOLUTION
Prework: First, we collaborated with our client and physician leaders to understand the participants’ backgrounds and preferred nomenclature on the discussion topics. Then, we developed short prework modules to refresh the group on the subject matter, along with a brief survey to gather their past practices and opinions. This allowed us to customize our schedule and questions to use the Ad Board time as efficiently as possible.
The Ad Board: We facilitated the 2.5-hour workshop as a neutral third party, deferring debates for later and guiding participants to elaborate on their assumptions, preferences, and positive and negative experiences with the client’s products. Our methods encouraged humor, blunt opinions, and camaraderie throughout the session – allowing everyone to enjoy the event as we dug deep to reveal significant findings.
Post-Event Takeaways: The information we uncovered allowed our client to understand why their product positioning wasn’t working and how they needed to shift their customer profile to reach the right decision-making audience. We provided a comprehensive summary of the results and a playbook for success including:
- Practical applications
- Items for further study
- Potential pivots needed
- Routes to success
CHALLENGE
A global pharmaceutical company was at a critical stage of planning a new product launch when COVID restricted travel. Marketing teams comprised of 30 people from Europe and the U.S. had originally planned to conduct a joint planning workshop in person. To stay on schedule, the workshop needed to be redesigned as virtual.
IMS SOLUTION
IMS was already engaged to design the live product launch planning workshop, which was originally 1½ days. Within a week, IMS redesigned the in-person workshop as a six-hour virtual collaboration session. IMS managed, executed, and facilitated the entire process – from developing pre-work decks, to coordinating breakout sessions, to writing the final report summarizing outcomes and next steps.
“Great job today. This was an especially challenging workshop with lots of people and complex content. You guys made it look easy.”
— Senior Vice President
“This process has clearly uncovered weaknesses and oportunities across all business units. Without this process, I’m not sure they would have been uncovered.”
— Vice President of Marketing
CHALLENGE
An inconsistent planning process across the client’s organization created poor communication, coordination, and execution across marketing, sales, supply chain, and research and development teams. There was also a lack of leadership engagement.
IMS SOLUTION
Implemented a customized model to address the client’s challenge. IMS provided direction on education, the process, marketing strategy, tactical planning, and implementation. The outcomes of this engagement were: working smarter, moving faster, getting results, working together, and delivering value. The quantifiable outcomes included:
- First-year planning savings of more than $1.5 million in agency fees
- Reduced re-planning by 75 percent
- Improved new product and service launches
- Alignment between business and marketing objectives
“The impossible became the reality with the help of IMS.”
Solutionists at Your Service.
Ready for a marketing plan with real-world strategy behind it? Something you can sell up through the company with confidence? A detailed roadmap to get you where you want to go?