The document discusses frameworks for measuring brand performance in the pharmaceutical industry. It suggests that effective frameworks should focus on leading indicators that provide insights into future success, rather than just lagging sales metrics. It provides examples of key performance indicators that could be used at different stages of the brand lifecycle, in various geographies, and for primary vs. specialty care brands. The frameworks are intended to help pharmaceutical companies improve decision-making and maximize the value of each new brand launch.

1. Pegging Brand Performance Measures
to the Metrics that Really Matter
Success in today’s high-pressure pharma market requires
organizations to create more relevant brand performance frameworks
that not only reflect lagging indicators such as product sales, market
share, pricing and profitability, but offer a lifecycle-focused view of
where business is heading.
Executive Summary
Marathons are often viewed as an analogue for
measuring performance. Marathon running is a
game for players, not winners, and when one runs
a marathon, it is against the distance and not
against other runners or against time. A corol-
lary can be drawn between a marathon and brand
performance, where the market can be viewed as
the race, an athlete represents the brand, a coach
acts as a stakeholder and the stopwatch is seen
as the measurement tool for gathering perfor-
mance data.
The coach provides guidance to help the athlete
alter his approach according to the nature of
the race, while the data obtained from the stop-
watch can be interpreted and is indicative of the
athlete’s performance. The data sets can be inter-
preted according to measurement needs; each
data point is indicative of a fact.
Less than 1% of new pharmaceuticals brands
excel in today's highly competitive environment.1
The reason for failure is rarely a lack of data points,
management reports and performance indica-
tors. In fact, the opposite is often true. Lack of
alignment, an excess of key performance indica-
tors (KPIs), irrelevant KPIs, a disconnect between
KPIs and critical success factors for a brand and
mismatched KPIs across business functions and
geographies are the major challenges pharma
organizations face when designing an optimal KPI
framework.
This white paper aims to identify an indicative
and relevant metrics framework to track brand
performance that focuses on leading indicators
which yield insights for quick decision-making
and achieving desired objectives.
A Brand Performance Primer
Business leaders often invoke the old but relevant
adage: “You can’t manage what you don’t mea-
sure.” Amid the pharma industry’s steep patent
cliff and shrinking pipeline for blockbuster mol-
ecules, organizations face a major challenge in
maximizing the value of each brand launch. In
the era of shorter lifecycles of pharmaceuticals
launches, it is imperative that organizations dili-
gently prepare and achieve optimal returns from
each product launch — with little margin for error.
As a result, brand performance measurements
• Cognizant 20-20 Insights
cognizant 20-20 insights | may 2016

2. cognizant 20-20 insights 2
within a solid KPI framework is
critical to a successful launch.
There are various meth-
odologies and frameworks
available for measuring brand
performance that pivot around
a product’s lifecycle. But which
framework is right?
Traditionally, brand perfor-
mance has been measured
by financial returns. However,
understanding the market and the operational
drivers can improve the predictability of financial
outcomes. Many companies engage in a variety of
integrated marketing activities to monitor brand
performance indicators by what are known as
“the five A’s”: (brand) awareness, acquaintance,
association, allegiance and appraisal, spread over
perception, performance and financial factors.2
Measuring brand performance in pharmaceuticals
is vastly more complex than in other industries.
The reason: Consumers are not always the target
for the brand. Influencers, or key opinion leaders
and physicians, are often the direct customers.
Tracking pharma brand performance qualitative-
ly is therefore complicated, requiring insights
into multiple perspectives of various customers
including primary and specialist physicians, key
opinion leaders, legislators, payers (i.e., insurance
plans), pharmacists, patients and, in some con-
texts, caregivers.3
Given the level of interaction between healthcare
professionals and pharmaceuticals representa-
tives, companies strive to measure their own
propensity to accommodate customers and their
future needs (i.e., the customer interaction index).
The dynamic nature of the business makes brand
awareness and perception key to a product’s
performance.
Measuring Pharmaceuticals Brand
Performance
Most organizations aim to define their KPIs by
connecting leading and lagging metrics. Leading
metrics are the performance indicators that
illuminate future growth of a brand, whereas lag-
ging metrics are performance indicators derived
from past results. While lagging indicators are de
rigueur across the industry (in conjunction with
leading indicators), many organizations are now
focused on leading metrics.
The selection of key brand performance indica-
tors depends on a number of parameters:
• In-line/late-stage pipeline drugs, launched
brands and established brands.
• Primary care and specialty care brands.
• Global, regional or individual market.
• Targeted stakeholders within an organization.
• Priority brands aligned to the vision of the
organization, or non-priority brands.
Figure 1
Amid the pharma
industry’s steep
patent cliff and
shrinking pipeline for
blockbuster molecules,
organizations face a
major challenge in
maximizing the value
of each brand launch.
Clusters KPI categories
Strategic
• Source of Business
• Share of Access
• Real-World Delivery
• Standard of Care
Execution
• Share of Voice
• Call and Activity
• Account Information
• Social Media
• Share of Science
Customer Impact • KOL Advocacy
• Perception and Awareness Across Stakeholders
Performance
• Profitability
• Sales (Value/Volume)
• Market Share
• Evolution Index
• Pricing Strategy
Dissecting Brand Performance Measurement
Figure 1

3. cognizant 20-20 insights 3
For marketers, it is vital to track the acquisition
of loyal customers, measurements attained by
perceiving performance through their custom-
ers’ eyes. To improve performance and sustain
profitable growth, many marketers now measure
customer loyalty and market responsiveness with
parameters such as net promotion scores based
on factors including corporate communications,
expectation-setting and delivering on promises.4
A Brand Performance Framework
Before defining its KPI framework for measuring
a brand’s performance, an organization needs to
answer the following questions:
• How do we track progress versus key brand
strategic imperatives?
• Do we execute set strategies well, and how do
we compare to our competition?
• Do our strategies have the desired impact on
customers?
• Do we obtain the business performance we plan?
Based on the responses to such questions, brand
performance frameworks can be categorized
broadly into four major clusters (see Figure 1, pre-
vious page).
KPI Frameworks
Figure 1 presents the major performance indi-
cators that are commonly used to track brand
performance for pharmaceuticals companies;
however, KPIs should focus on the most important
and pertinent metrics. The goal of an effective
KPI system/framework
is to provide relevant
and actionable insights.
Many pharmaceuticals
companies still rely
on the conventional
metrics of market
share, sales and pre-
scriptions to measure
brand performance,
but these measures
alone fail to provide
the granular level of
information required
to ensure an optimal
course and proper fact-
based decision-making.
The following frame-
works can help overcome these shortcomings:
• Considering the brand’s lifecycle: The
choice of metrics will vary according to the
brand’s lifecycle. Traditional KPIs exist to
measure brand lifecycle elements, including
sales, market share, pricing and profitability.
More pertinent KPIs illustrate progress made
in achieving those objectives. They can be
classified as leading indicators. #
2
Many pharmaceuticals
companies still rely
on the conventional
metrics of market share,
sales and prescriptions
to measure brand
performance, but these
measures alone fail to
provide the granular level
of information required to
ensure an optimal course
and proper fact-based
decision-making.
• Prevalence rate
• Diagnosis rate
• Treatment rate
• Branded drug treatment rate
• Perception and awareness
across stakeholders
Pipeline
Brands
• Market share and M&S spend
• Market access position
• Physician adoption ladder
• Sales growth PP (val/vol)
• Real-world delivery
• New, add-on and switch-in patients
• Repeat patients
• Patient share split
Launch Brands
• Profitability
• Market share
• Sales growth PY (val/vol)
• Evolution index
• Share of voice
• Standard of care
Established
Brands
• Sales (val/vol)
• Market share (val/vol)
• Share of access
• Pricing
• Profitability
Generics
Indicative KPI Framework Focused on Lifecycle and Brand Stage
Figure 2

4. cognizant 20-20 insights 4
Leading indicators include KPIs such as per-
ception and awareness across stakeholders for
a pipeline brand, the physician adoption ladder
and market access position for launch brands,
evolution index and the standard of care for
an established brand, and the profitability and
share of access for a generic. An indicative KPI
framework focused on a brand’s lifecycle stage
is depicted in Figure 2 (previous page).
• Accounting for differences within the U.S.,
Europe and emerging markets: Market
dynamics vary from country to country. Major
underlying factors include regulatory barriers,
competitors/local players, pricing strategies,
distribution/ease of availability and cultural
differences. The appropriate KPIs for a
managed care market such as the U.S. differ
from those associated with European nations
and emerging markets. For example, formulary
listing and reimbursement status (i.e., share of
access) are major leading indicators for the U.S.
market. For regional Europe, however, pricing
strategy becomes an important parameter.
The variable pricing regulation of pharmaceu-
ticals, coupled with weak vertical control over
the drug supply chain, results in conducting
parallel trade in the European nations.5
For major developed markets, physician and
payer rankings of defined attributes, combined
with the awareness of those attributes, are
more viable and thus are considered leading
measures for successful brand performance.
However, in an emerging market like India or
China, the distribution and the availability of
drugs are key parameters for brand success.
Also, the incursion of local players and brands
is sufficient reason for having a different set of
KPIs vis-à-vis Western countries to track brand
performance. An indicative KPI framework that
controls for geographic variances is illustrated
in Figure 3.
• Distinguishing between a primary or
specialty care brand: The choice of metrics
also varies according to the brand franchise.
Primary care brands attempt to capture
market share, whereas specialty care brands
emphasize patient share. So sales are prima
facie for a primary care brand whereas a
specialty care brand focuses on patient
numbers. Specialty care also focuses on the
United States
THE MANAGED MARKET
• Share of account by formulary listing status
• Account plan execution
• Number of patients in account with
formulary listing
• Patient prescription market share
• Persistence rate and compliance rate
Regional Europe
THE MATURING MARKET
• Average price achieved vs. target price
• Physician and payer rating of attributes
• Brand growth vs. market growth (evolution index)
• Physician adoption ladder
• Share of voice (field force and detail position)
• Penetration index
Asia-Pacific
THE EVOLVING MARKET
• Product sales performance
• Primary sales from CnF to distributors
• Secondary sales from distributors to retailers
• Market share (val/vol)
• Market growth rate
• Brand evolution index
• Marketing contribution as percent of sales
Latin America
THE GROWING MARKET
• Treated and untreated diagnosis rate
• Medicine prescribed and desired
effect (IMS medical data for LATAM)
• Sales (val/vol) at the distributor
• Distributor coverage of government
hospitals/clinics
Indicative KPI Framework Based on Geography
Figure 3

5. 5cognizant 20-20 insights
types of healthcare centers where the drug is
prescribed and on reimbursement status. Share
of science and share of voice also are pivotal for
specialty care brands compared with primary
care brands. An indicative KPI framework for
primary or speciality care is shown in Figure 4.
• Understanding targeted stakeholders within
an organization: The choice of metrics will
vary according to an organization’s stake-
holders. If the targeted audience comprises
national sales managers, regional managers,
district managers and the field force, sales
performance would be an area of interest. If
the target audience is global brand directors
and the leadership team, brand performance
is a top area of interest. An indicative KPI
framework sensitive to targeted stakeholders
is illustrated in Figure 5.
Looking Forward
The aforementioned matrices, or KPIs, have a
singular purpose: to augment companies’ deci-
sion-making capabilities. This will ensure that
commercial success can be translated into maxi-
mal stakeholder profit and a confidence boost to
keep investing in the business regardless of indus-
try cycles and challenges (i.e., shorter product
lifecycles, blurring market boundaries, regulatory
changes and unrelenting globalization).
The commercial environment is getting tough-
er. Rising customer expectations for unique and
personalized offers, coupled with poor scientif-
ic productivity (i.e., the absence of blockbuster
drugs and the lack of developmental/research
molecules and drugs in the pipeline), mean that
brand product launches must achieve their full
potential. To accomplish this, pharma companies
must continue to evolve their brand performance
measures towards leading indicators providing
important foresights into future success. This
means focusing more on prescribers and their
emotional engagement to products, including
additional measures to capture their affinity
towards new brands and the diseases they treat.
Primary Care Specialty Care
Sales (val/vol)
Market share
Evolution index
Pricing strategy
Standard of care
Physician prompted
awareness
Physician adoption
ladder
M&S spend
Patient share
New patients
Add-on patients
Switch-in patients
Repeat patients
Share of access
(formulary listing and
reimbursement status)
Persistence rate
Compliance rate
KEY
PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS
Indicative KPI Framework Based on
Primary vs. Specialty Care
Figure 4
• Sales
• Profitability
• Market share
• Pricing
• Share of access
Executive Leadership
• Market share
• Perception and awareness
across stakeholders
• Evolution index
• Profitability
• Real-world delivery
• Source of business
Brand Director
• Share of voice
• Calls and activity
• Sales and market share
• Share of access
• KOL advocacy
Sales Director
STAKEHOLDERS
Indicative KPI Framework Based on Stakeholders
Figure 5

6. 6cognizant 20-20 insights
A Pharma Reporting and Information System Management
Quick Take
Business Situation
A top European pharma company with a diversi-
fied portfolio including medicines, eye care, OTC
and animal health products realized that its com-
mercial information, KPIs and reporting were
not aligned across the organization. Rather, the
business was operating in fragmented process-
es mirrored by a complex IT system landscape.
Misalignment and challenges existed at various
levels of the organization.
The company called on us to define, deliver and
manage its KPIs to address the needs of reporting
at national and global levels, while simultaneously
examining the reporting needs of brand manag-
ers, to improve company business performance.
Solution
• Assessed current external market data
reporting (KPIs, data sources, processes,
platforms).
• Identified, defined and delivered new innovative
KPIs. Also associated new additional data
sources and processes to increase produc-
tivity and reporting quality for the new KPIs,
especially in its specialty medicines business.
Together, this improved business insights and
decision-making (competitive advantage).
Focus areas included:
>> Primary care.
>> Specialty care.
• Delivered defined KPIs for tracking at national,
regional and global levels (top 15 geographies),
facilitating comparison and benchmarking both
horizontally and vertically within the pharma
business.
• Defined and embedded aligned reporting
across commercial operations through the
implementation of a KPI/dashboard framework.
• Identified the success criteria and alignment
with the global leadership team, commercial
leadership team and franchise leadership team.
Benefits
Our team identified the following potential ben-
efits that would result if an appropriate KPI
framework was implemented.
• Business impact:
>> Improved business insight and better
decision-making.
>> Prioritization of investments in more promis-
ing markets and brands.
>> Centralized data sourcing.
>> Optimized primary market research spend.
• Alignment:
>> Harmonization across country pharmaceuti-
cals organization and brands.
>> Ability to share/learn best practices with
other countries and regional/global teams,
which is valuable for new launch brands
where there is less market experience.
>> Aligned worldwide business franchise sup-
port.
• Reduced complexity:
>> Consolidated and aligned reporting, creat-
ing additional transparency and operational
rigor.
>> More visibility into brand performance:
greater transparency and comparability
(“apples to apples”).
• Productivity improvement:
>> Process streamlining.
>> Data elimination.
>> Technology standardization.
>> Outsourcing.

7. About Cognizant
Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) is a leading provider of information technology, consulting, and business process out-
sourcing services, dedicated to helping the world’s leading companies build stronger businesses. Headquartered in
Teaneck, New Jersey (U.S.), Cognizant combines a passion for client satisfaction, technology innovation, deep industry
and business process expertise, and a global, collaborative workforce that embodies the future of work. With over
100 development and delivery centers worldwide and approximately 221,700 employees as of December 31, 2015,
Cognizant is a member of the NASDAQ-100, the S&P 500, the Forbes Global 2000, and the Fortune 500 and is ranked
among the top performing and fastest growing companies in the world. Visit us online at www.cognizant.com or follow
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Footnotes
1
“On track launch excellence,” IMS Health. www.imshealth.com/deployedfiles/imshealth/Global/Content/
Services/Performance%20Management/Reporting/Ontrack-Launch-Excellence.pdf.
2
“Brand Metrics: A tool to measure performance.” alejandria.ccm.itesm.mx/egap/documentos/2007-02-
MKT.pdf.
3
“Driving towards marketing excellence,” McKinsey. www.mckinsey.com/client_service/pharmaceuticals_
and_medical_products/~/media/D6A8B28950A24C3BA9481C0A9EFAD32E.ashx.
4
American Institute of CPAs, Gartner/EBRC KPI Initiative. www.aicpa.org/InterestAreas/FRC/Accounting
FinancialReporting/EnhancedBusinessReporting/Pages/GartnerEBRCKPIInitiative.aspx.
5
Quirk’s Marketing Research Media. www.quirks.com/articles/2015/20150307.aspx?searchID=1334251443
&sort=5&pg=1.
About the Authors
Ankur Ranjan is a Senior Consultant within Cognizant’s Business Consulting’s Life Sciences Practice,
with nine years of management consulting experience in Europe and Asia Pacific focused on pharma-
ceuticals commercial operations, business analytics and market research for multiple life science clients.
Ankur’s experience spans commercial operations, including pharma analytics, primary and secondary
market research, competitive and business intelligence, market/therapeutic area potential assessment
and accompanied regulations. He received his bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences from Birla
Institute of Technology, Mesra, and an MBA from Goa Institute of Management, Goa. Ankur has also
earned the Regulatory Affairs Certification (RAC) designation from the Regulatory Affairs Professionals
Society (U.S.). He can be reached at Ankur.Ranjan@cognizant.com.
Scott Rose is a Vice President within Cognizant Business Consulting, and is the company’s Senior
Advisor for Life Sciences Commercial Operations. He is an accomplished pharmaceuticals executive
with 33 years of experience in sales, marketing, business development and commercial operations. Scott
has led enterprise-wide transformational programs in new customer engagement design models, com-
mercial data management strategies, commercial business operations, and IT infrastructure strategy
and design. He also has business process services experience and strong hands-on experience working
with sales, marketing and managed markets business leaders throughout the pharmaceuticals indus-
try. Scott has a degree in pharmacy from the University of Georgia and has completed independent
coursework with the University of Michigan Executive Leadership Program and the Kellogg School of
Management. He can be reached at Scott.Rose@cognizant.com.