The consumer health market is undergoing rapid changes as it expands globally. Pharmaceutical companies have traditionally dominated this market but consumer packaged goods companies are increasingly entering it due to attractive growth. Both types of companies need to combine scientific expertise with a focus on consumers and marketing to succeed. Pharmaceutical companies currently have an advantage in regulating environments and product efficacy but need marketing expertise from consumer goods companies. The fight for talent in this evolving market is intense as companies need to attract professionals with diverse skills from both industries to drive innovation and adapt to changing trends.

1. May 11th 2015
scripintelligence.com
© Informa UK Ltd 2015 @scripnews scripintelligence.com May 11th 2015 1
The consumer health market is in a state
of flux. As an emerging and expanding
industry, it is undergoing fundamental
and rapid changes that have significant
consequences for the pharmaceutical
and consumer product companies that
are competing for market share. Nanaz
Mohtashami, expert in healthcare executive
leadership and search, explores what firms
need to do to succeed in this market sector.
Neither side currently has the full set of
capabilities required in order to win in this
increasingly exciting sector. Finding the right
talent and a diverse range of perspectives at
executive level will be the key battleground
for competitive advantage. The good news for
pharma is that it is well placed to drive home
its existing advantage in the sector.
Pharma-heritage companies and consumer
packaged goods (CPG) businesses need to
combine the best talent and expertise from
both worlds. In this complex, fast-paced
environment both scientific capability and
product focus will be needed in order to
reach global consumers creatively, ensure
dynamic innovation, and build nimble supply
chains that get products to market quickly.
because you’re worth it
The consumer health market is already a
multi-billion dollar global industry. Annual
growth in the sector has outpaced other
major consumer goods markets, including
packaged foods, over the past few years and
is estimated to grow by an impressive 50%
over the next five, according to a March 2014
report from Euromonitor International.
While the market has historically been
dominated by pharma-heritage companies,
such attractive growth prospects have
led to an uptick in interest from other less
traditional parties, namely science-based CPG
organizations and food producers. Such a
proliferation of active players in the market is
leading to an increasing crossover of interests
between these traditionally very different
companies.
As a result, the fight for talent has never
been fiercer. How these businesses recruit
and retain the high-calibre workforce required
to capitalize on changing market trends is a
continuous challenge – and one that is likely
to intensify in this quickly evolving market.
Traditional experience will be necessary
for pharma companies to make the most of
their current advantage, namely the ability
to deliver innovative products with proven
efficacy and credibility while operating in
highly complex regulatory environments.
But successful pharma organizations of
the future will ensure they marry this
with key learnings from the CPG world. In
particular, they need to bring on board the
expertise hitherto associated with their
CPG competitors in marketing strategies
that develop strong brand portfolios and
successfully dominate categories.
a head start
Our analysis suggests that, overall, pharma-
heritage players in the consumer health
sector have been more open to accepting
and attracting talent from ‘the other side of
the fence’, with the chance to cover off skill
gaps that might exist across various functions.
The first notable example of this was in 2010
with GlaxoSmithKline’s appointment of Emma
Walmsley – previously marketing director
at L’Oreal – to head its European consumer
healthcare business, demonstrating the
growing value placed on communicating
effectively to consumers. Rakesh Kapoor, CEO
of Reckitt Benckiser, described this shift well
when he said: “Innovation in consumer health
means considering mums not molecules.”
To date, CPG companies have been
less proactive at building wider skill sets,
such as expertise around regulation or
communicating with physicians. Indeed,
our research shows a greater diversity
of senior talent among pharmaceutical
than CPG companies – 54% of executives
within pharma-heritage consumer
health organizations have both CPG and
pharmaceutical industry experience,
compared with only 5% of CPG-heritage
consumer health executives.
Similarly, pharma-heritage companies
appear to have a better understanding of the
diversity of skills required and are more willing
to change hiring behavior, as measured by
the origin of senior hires. According to our
analysis, 43% of appointments were external
and came from a variety of sources outside
the industry. In comparison, CPG-heritage
consumer health companies promoted more
than 90% of their executives from within.
Cracking the consumer health talent code:
driving home pharma’s advantage
➤
Nanaz Mohtashami, advisor at
Russell Reynolds Associates

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model for growth
To build on this advantage, pharma
companies will need to secure talent with
broad skill sets:
• Customer insight and influencing expertise:
Strong consumer marketing and brand
building skills, with particular expertise
required in digital to capitalize on surging
consumer health engagement online.
• Medical and regulatory knowledge:
Understanding local market and regulatory
frameworks, especially in emerging markets.
• Strategic mindset: Taking responsibility
for key strategic decisions and meeting
increasingly aggressive targets.
• Collaborative approach: Maximizing the
benefits of mergers and acquisitions,
partnerships and joint ventures, as well as
managing a range of interest groups.
• Understanding consumer-led innovation:
The ability to drive innovation beyond
product development to innovation in the
broadest sense.
cultural exchange
Despite the need for diverse talent from both
sides, it is crucial that pharma companies are
mindful that the corporate cultures in these
organizations are very different. The fast-
paced and more aggressive culture of CPG
companies contrasts considerably with the
more conservative, cautious and bureaucratic
culture typical in large pharma organizations.
As a result, great care and cultural sensitivity
will be needed to integrate these contrasting
skill sets and use them to their best advantage.
Pharma companies must ensure that senior
external hires are accepted and integrated
within their overall culture.
Only those that can strike this delicate
balance will crack the talent code.
Nanaz Mohtashami
Nanaz Mohtashami is an advisor in the
Healthcare Sector at executive leadership and
search firm Russell Reynolds Associates