Competitive Simulation & Response Workshops

Stepping-Stone Marketing Consulting LLC takes a unique approach to competitive simulations, also known as War Games in some arenas. We use Marketing Expert Advisory Team (the “M.E.A.T.”) to conduct a multi-dimensional competitive simulation and response workshops for pharmaceutical and biotech companies that are facing new competitive threats. 

In order to be effective, we utilize a multi-dimensional approach that reflects simulations, responses and reactions from three different perspectives:

• The Company
• The New Competitive Entrants
• Existing Competitors

Stepping-Stone Marketing Consulting assembles a customized team of marketing experts with varied backgrounds to develop a realistic competitive “brief” (company and product profiles and launch plans) based their industry knowledge. The MEAT also participates in developing the competitive simulation scenarios and providing real-time counter actions during the simulation exercises. We also engage specific expertise outside of Marketing (e.g., sales, medical, managed markets, management) as needed to enhance the reality of the competitive brief and simulations.

The advantages of using an expert team to prepare and facilitate the multi-dimensional competitive simulation include:

• Content, facilitation and competitive responses are driven by marketing experts, incorporating additional expert input to strengthen the plausibility of the simulations
• Allows the client teams to remain focused on their brand strategy and build the strongest responses possible, ultimately allowing for a cohesive corporate strategy
• Creates a simulated real-time environment taking into consideration multiple market dynamics that may occur with the introduction of new competitors and reactions by the company and other existing competitors
  

This approach overcomes some of the limitations of traditional competitive simulations, which typically rely on the client staff, key opinion leaders or others to shape the new competitor strategy, leading to potentially biased and unrealistic scenarios. Additionally, traditional competitive simulations don’t include changes in market dynamics when developing the company response to the new competitor threat, potentially yielding an incomplete competitive response strategy.

We utilize a repetitive 4-step simulation cycle to allow a multi-dimensional exploration of the new competitive scenario:

• Step 1: After receiving a “competitive briefing” (competitor scenario) presented by the Marketing Expert Advisory Team, the product team will develop its core response strategies.
• Step 2: Acting as the competitor, the Marketing Expert Advisory Team will then prepare a counter reaction to the company’s product response and share it with the product team.
• Step 3: The product team will then determine its response to the competitor counter reaction, share it with the group.
• Step 4: To introduce a real market dynamic scenario, the Marketing Expert Advisory Team will also prepare a possible response from existing competitors to the new competitor action and the client company’s actions.
  

The cycle then repeats at Step 1 until the Marketing Expert Advisory Team and the client leadership has determined that all key scenarios and responses have been explored to the degree desired. This process can be adapted for a company with multiple products in the same therapeutic area to gain a portfolio perspective, as well as for developing payer and global competitive response strategies. It can also be adapted for general scenario and contingency planning.

If you would like to explore whether Stepping-Stone Marketing Consulting, LLC can help you develop competitive response strategies through its Multi-Dimensional Competitive Simulation and Response Workshop, please call us at (740) 548-7145 or send an email to Stepping-Stone Marketing Consulting. .