By Edouard Demeire, expert trainer of The Pharma Brand Planning Course.
The Strengths – Weaknesses – Opportunities – Threats analysis or simply SWOT analysis is a tool that is used across functions within pharma companies.
The SWOT is the most basic, but also the most crucial part of a Pharma Brand Plan because it helps to identify a brand’s Critical Success Factors (CSFs) , which in turn need to be addressed in commercial, access & medical tactical plans.
However, a SWOT analysis is often a source of confusion and miscommunication and it becomes a weak part of a Pharma Brand Plan which can benefit from improvement!
That is because criteria for developing a ‘Good’ SWOT are often not fully understood.
Test your understanding
Here is a question to test yourself:
Which item in the SWOT below is in the wrong section?
The item in Opportunities is wrong because obtaining an indication is a strength, not an opportunity. If this sentence were phrased “The first line indication has a large patient pool with high unmet need”, then it would have been an opportunity. However, the item states that WE have obtained an indication for OUR Brand, so it is a strength.
Often, people think the item in the Weaknesses section is wrong because a misperception does not read as a ‘real’ weakness of the brand. However, it is correct because Brand Plans should indeed reflect the beliefs of stakeholders (as they drive prescriptions), not the ‘reality’, which stakeholders do not perceive.
How to decide which section an item belongs in
If you don’t know for sure if an item in the SWOT is either a strength/weakness or opportunity/threat, then ask yourself the following question: is it about our company or our brand ? If the answer is yes, it must be a Strength or Weakness, if no, it is an Opportunity or Threat.
How to prioritise the items in your SWOT
The next difficulty is to create a short and clear SWOT. At that point it is very important to prioritise the SWOTs because otherwise your plan will include far too many Critical Success Factors for the limited resources your organisation can provide you for implementation. There are handy analytical tools (i.e. Impact & Probability Analysis, Differential Analysis) to help you prioritise and select which items should be in your Brand’s SWOT.
The evaluation of Opportunities & Threats should be based on:
The size of the IMPACT they have
The PROBABILITY they occur
The TIMING they will occur in (within or outside of your planning horizon)
The criteria for Strengths & Weaknesses should be:
IMPORTANCE to the customer
PERCEIVED DIFFERENTIATION to the competition
Download the guide & take this insight with you:
SWOTs are such powerful tools that they are discussed in several CELforPharma courses:
The Pharma Brand Planning Course
With Edouard Demeire
The Medical Affairs Excellence Course
With Chris Toller
The Medical Plan and Tactical Implementation
With Maaike Addicks, MD
Strategy & Planning for Global Commercial Launch Success in Pharma
With Stephanie Hall
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