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Building the engine for omnichannel at scale

How a global pharmaceutical company transformed its commercial model to engage HCPs across channels

The why

A global pharmaceutical company had committed to a fundamental shift in how it engaged healthcare professionals (HCPs). The ambition was clear: Move from fragmented, channel-by-channel marketing to coordinated omnichannel journeys that adapt to individual HCP preferences. What was less clear was how to make that ambition operational across markets and brands.

The challenge

The organisation's commercial model had grown around traditional channels - field force interactions, events, and standalone marketing campaigns running largely independently. Sales representatives had limited visibility into the digital touchpoints a customer had already experienced. Campaign content was developed market by market, leading to duplication and inconsistency. Analytics capabilities existed but were fragmented across systems and teams.

The result was a commercial setup that struggled to personalise engagement, could not systematically measure impact, and lacked the operational backbone required to scale globally.

How we helped

We acted as the transformation management office across a programme that simultaneously touched strategy, operating model, platforms, content production, analytics, and market rollout.

We designed the end-to-end operating model for omnichannel engagement across global and affiliate teams - a centralised hybrid model that combined global campaign design and content production with the flexibility for affiliates to localise execution for their markets. To make the model practical, we introduced a structured campaign methodology with three archetypes, and led a wave-based rollout. The transformation began with pilot markets to validate the model before broader rollout. Once the pilots confirmed core assumptions, the programme moved to wave-based onboarding of additional markets.

Outcome

The programme delivered measurable impact across reach, efficiency, and commercial performance.
Broader reach without additional resource
Coordinated omnichannel journeys increased HCP reach by an estimated 10% without expanding field force capacity. By integrating digital and physical channels into coherent engagement sequences, the organisation was able to maintain meaningful contact with customer segments that field-only coverage had consistently missed.
Significant efficiency gains
Centralising modular content production through a global campaign and content factory reduced production costs by around a third. Eliminating duplicated effort across affiliates freed up local teams to focus on execution and localisation rather than rebuilding the same assets from scratch in each market.
Projected commercial impact
Analysis of pilot and early rollout data indicated a 4% projected prescription volume impact across onboarded brands and markets. This was driven not by increased outreach volume alone, but by more systematic progression of HCPs along the adoption journey - with each interaction informed by prior engagement rather than treated in isolation.
54 markets in the long-term transformation plan
4% prescription volume impact
33% content production cost savings
10% increase in HCP reach without expanding the field force

What moved the needle

Three design choices proved critical in keeping the complex, multi-workstream omnichannel transformation coherent.
Nail strategy and operating model choices before building infrastructure Large digital transformations often start with platform implementation. Prioritising strategic choices and operating model design meant clarifying how campaigns would be created, how responsibilities would be split between global and affiliate teams, and how content would move from production to execution – so the infrastructure could be built to support a defined way of working rather than the other way around.
Keep the business case alive throughout the transformation Rather than producing a one-time estimate at the outset, we treated the business case as a live management tool - updated continuously as pilots and rollout waves produced new data. This served two purposes: Keeping leadership decisions anchored in evolving commercial evidence, and providing a consistent value communication narrative that sustained senior leadership confidence and broader organisational commitment.
Ensure sustainable adoption through effective change management Alongside strategy and operating model design, we invested in change management work required to ensure sustained adoption - engaging stakeholders across global and affiliate teams, building capability through structured onboarding, and creating the trust and clarity needed for local teams to take genuine ownership of omnichannel execution.
Partner

Jonas T. Karlsen, Ph.D.

Jonas is a life science strategist supporting executives drive progress across the value chain. He is an expert in bridging strategy and execution via global operating model design and transformation rooted in strategic objectives. He engages with structured top-down thinking and a pragmatic and collaborative approach to mobilise organizations and make things happen.

Jonas holds a Ph.D. in biophysics from the Technical University of Denmark, DTU, and further studied at California Institute of Technology. Recipient of the Ministry of Sciences Elite Research Award.

Selected experience

  • Ecosystem integration and external innovation pipeline
  • Lab of the future capability building and operating model design
  • Global clinical operating model design and transformation
  • Pre-launch strategy for cardiometabolic TA development

 
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