EXECUTIVE SEARCH PHARMA |
CONSUMER HEALTHCARE & OTC
Renaissance of the classics: Revival of "dead" listings.
Sales Management & Commercial Excellence for a venture capital-funded pharmaceutical company in the consumer health sector.
Market segment
OTC Pharma & Consumer Healthcare
MANDATE
Sales Director (Commercial Head)
ENVIRONMENT
Venture capital-funded pharmaceutical company
STATUS
Exclusive Direct Search Mandate
REGION
Germany
Impact
Double-digit sales growth
Reactivation of the distribution
The starting point
A venture capital-backed pharmaceutical company radically changed its strategy for a segment of well-known, traditional German brands. After years of operating in "harvesting mode," the company reversed course. The new directive was: immediate revitalization of the existing brands.
The operational hurdle lay in the nature of the listings. While the products were technically listed in the pharmacy cooperatives, in practice they functioned like dormant files. Due to the lack of sales pressure for years, these brands languished in the systems instead of being actively presented on the dispensary counter.
Our approach
To generate the required momentum, we deliberately left the traditional pharmaceutical sector for our search. We focused specifically on candidates from the FMCG or cosmetics sectors. After all, in the consumer goods industry, sales are not primarily driven by raw data, but by emotions and strong impulses.
The task was to translate the marketing strategy into emotionally engaging and impactful sales conversations at the point of sale. The real challenge was finding a manager who possessed this sales drive but also had a firm grasp of the strict regulatory framework of the pharmaceutical market.
Result
We secured a seasoned leader with a hybrid profile, combining corporate experience with an FMCG mindset, for our client. The business impact was measurable. The dormant distribution network was reactivated. The sales force leveraged existing listings to raise the profile of the established brands.
Sales increased by double digits, as targeted promotions brought the products back from obscurity to prominent display. Pharmacy teams' awareness of these classic products was sustainably strengthened.