Presentation Abstract

While a dearth of blockbuster drugs places significant stress on pharmaceutical industry marketing budgets, long-term trends in businesses’ collection and use of information is driving market research departments in all sectors of the economy to transform the way they deliver value.

This isn’t the first time. More than a decade ago, market research departments responded to the commoditization of research execution by focusing their efforts on insight and developing the consultative capabilities of their teams. Now, faced with a proliferation of information and “information fatigued” business partners, leading market research departments – in pharmaceuticals and other industries – are investing in knowledge management, synthesis, and new communication techniques. The Corporate Executive Board’s (CEB) Scott Christofferson will share some of the best practices identified from these pioneers.

By identifying and building on the proven best practices of the world’s best companies, CEB helps senior executives and their teams drive corporate performance. CEB’s Market Research Executive Board (MREB) program works with client-side market research departments across diverse industries around the world. Each year, MREB conducts major research initiatives on topics of strategic significance to their member companies, including more than 20 major pharmaceutical companies, to improve the practice of market research and related functions.

Join us as we examine how leading client-side market research departments are responding to dramatic industry challenges and delivering value for their company in the new reality. Both client-side and consultant-side attendees will walk away with ideas for your own research department to improve your company's competitiveness and advance the practice of market research.

Speaker Biographies

Scott Christofferson is a Managing Director in the Sales, Marketing, and Communications Practice of the Corporate Executive Board. His current strategic research focuses on embedding customer knowledge into the business and on empowering employees to lean into change. Prior to joining the Corporate Executive Board in 2006, Scott was a Senior Expert in Post Merger Management with McKinsey & Company. He served clients in a wide range of industries and authored articles for both The McKinsey Quarterly and McKinsey on Finance. Scott holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and an A.B. in Economics (with honors and distinction) and a B.S. in Mathematics (with distinction) from Stanford University.

Derek Jones is presently Executive Director of Commercial Insight at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals and is responsible for leading all efforts to support the organization’s insight, analytics, and market research capabilities in the United States.  Derek has been with AstraZeneca for nine years, and has held a succession of roles within Commercial Insight. Most recently, he held the role of Senior Director, Managed Markets and Quantitative Decision Support. His previous roles include Senior Director Brand Insight - Specialty Care, Brand Insight Director for NEXIUM and EXANTA, and CV Forecasting Leader.  Prior to AZ, Derek was Senior Director, eBusiness Development at DuPont Pharmaceuticals, where he led the development of the company’s eBusiness strategy for marketing and initiated several innovative programs within U.S. and International Operations. He also spent 11 years in the DuPont Medical Imaging business and has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including leadership roles in Technology Strategy, Market Research, Managed Markets, Sales, Product Management, and Operations.   He holds a B.S. degree in Biology from the University of Massachusetts – Lowell.