Client Context
The originator of a cancer treatment approach faced growing competitive pressure as newer therapies entered the market and began reshaping prescriber perceptions.
The Business Challenge
Despite having established the category, the brand had begun to lose share to two newer entrants that were widely perceived as more potent. While the brand team believed long‑term tolerability could be a meaningful source of differentiation, they lacked clarity on how prescribers truly perceived the brand relative to competitors.
Capabilities Applied
- Brand Positioning
- Behavioral Science–Informed Research
- Projective Interviewing Techniques
The challenge was to uncover the instinctive, top‑of‑mind associations driving prescribing behavior and determine whether there was an underleveraged positioning territory that could support renewed differentiation, or the once indispensable product risked being “left behind” as prescriber perceptions and behaviors evolved.
Approach
HawkPartners conducted in-depth interviews with prescribers designed to surface System 1 (the immediate reaction which often controls decisions) perceptions of the brand and its competitors. The interviews leveraged projective techniques to uncover top-of-mind associations with the brand which, based on the availability bias in behavioral science, can dominate all other information about the brand. Techniques were designed to engage our prescriber respondents in an accessible way and evolve in creativity over time, since physicians can struggle to respond to creative exercises that initially feel too “out there” as they’re more accustomed to answering questions rationally.
Impact
The research uncovered a key advantage of the client’s brand that was not being emphasized in current communications: the product had better patient compliance, which, coupled with its tolerability, had untapped marketing potential. The brand team refreshed its positioning and deployed updated communications that more clearly highlighted this benefit, strengthening the brand’s relevance in a more competitive treatment landscape.
