Top strategic priorities for Big Pharma marketing and sales execs in 2013; Accenture survey

Senior sales and marketing executives of large US pharmaceutical companies – with corporate revenues in excess of $1 billion in revenue - plan to sharpen their focus on multi-channel marketing and step up their use of digital technologies and analytics in 2013, according to a new survey by Accenture (NYSE:ACN). At the same time, more than four-fifths of the 200 executives surveyed - 83% - see cost reduction as their number-one strategic priority for the year.

Following cost reduction, the executives surveyed ranked their top strategic priorities accordingly: mastering multi-channel marketing (70%); improving use and effectiveness of digital interactions (60%); and exploiting analytics (56%).

As the executives work to meet their bottom-line goals, the survey results indicate they plan to combine their cost-cutting efforts with increased marketing efficiency through three primary strategies: