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After spending the past few days at #PharmaUSA listening to talk after talk, one important theme stood out with increasing clarity: our industry is still overly anchored in a technology-first and data-first approach to communication. We lead with mechanism. We lead with endpoints. We lead with innovation.
And yet, too often, we under-serve the most fundamental question in the mind of the customer: Why does this matter for me and my patients?
Making the connection back to marketing research and commercial strategy, I noted that this is where positioning frequently breaks down: not because the science isn’t compelling, but because the narrative is inverted. We present the how of the product before we’ve fully understood and articulated the why.
At its core, effective positioning is not about describing a therapy. It is about solving a problem.
Design thinking has long emphasized this principle: you don’t build solutions first -- you build deep empathy for the need, the friction, the unmet experience. Only then do you design around it.
Pharma, however, often works in reverse. We begin with the TPP and attempt to map it onto a perceived need. In doing so, we risk missing the nuance of how that need is actually experienced by physicians, patients, and payers.
Our approach to positioning, called Customer Driven Positioning (CDP), flips this dynamic. It is, fundamentally, a problem-first methodology.
Traditional positioning research typically asks customers to react to fully formed positioning statements: dense combinations of clinical claims, emotional benefits, and aspirational language. These statements often obscure more than they clarify. Customers reject them not because the idea is wrong, but because one element doesn’t feel credible or relevant.
CDP takes a different path.
By disassembling the positioning into its core elements and presenting them sequentially -- starting with the Premise (the problem and rationale), then Proof, and finally Promise -- it mirrors how people naturally come to understand something new.
More importantly, it creates space for co-creation.
Rather than reacting to a finished narrative amalgam, customers engage with the building blocks. They prioritize what matters. They articulate needs in their own words. They help assemble the story.
And in doing so, something important takes place: the real, underlying “why” begins to surface.
There is a psychological shift that occurs when customers are invited into the "kitchen," versus consuming the meal after it's been prepared. They move from being evaluators of messaging to active participants in meaning-making.
This is particularly important in healthcare, where physicians are trained to think critically and systematically. When we present them with pre-packaged claims, they look for flaws. When we guide them through a structured learning journey, they begin to build conviction.
CDP is not just about better messaging -- it is about better listening.
It allows commercial teams and their insights partners to uncover:
In this sense, CDP doesn’t just refine positioning; it reveals it.
As innovation accelerates -- whether in cell therapy, biologics, or other novel mechanisms -- the gap between what a product does and what it means continues to widen.
If we lead with the “how,” we risk overwhelming our audience. If we lead with the “why,” we give them a reason to care.
That distinction is not semantic -- it is foundational.
Positioning, at its best, is not a description of a product. It is a clear articulation of purpose: the problem being solved, the need being addressed, and the change being enabled.
Customer Driven Positioning reminds us of something simple, but often overlooked:
Before we can persuade, we must understand. Before we can communicate value, we must uncover need.
In a world where pharma communication is still too often technology-first, CDP offers a different path: one that is co-creative, insight-led, and firmly anchored in the “why.”
And in positioning, the “why” is everything.
