The Road Less Traveled

Actelion Pharmaceuticals’ Sure Steps program diverges from traditional loyalty marketing tactics

April 2007 By Amy Syracuse

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Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd. has taken the road less traveled before. It all started when the founders of this independent biopharmaceutical company left Roche to pursue therapeutic applications for several molecules they had discovered. Pharmaceutical giant Roche had opted not to continue the research because of limited market demand. A decade later, Actelion has built a thriving, multinational organization on discovering, developing and marketing drugs for unmet medical needs. Case in point: The company’s flagship drug, Tracleer, treats pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a complex disease historically overlooked by pharmaceutical firms and physicians alike.

PAH has been under diagnosed due to a lack of awareness, explains Martin Grossman, PAH group marketing director. It was precisely this challenge that prompted Actelion to launch a customer loyalty program in October 2006 called Sure Steps, which focuses on increasing recognition and improving patient persistency by addressing the confusion surrounding PAH as well as the dearth of support for sufferers. In keeping with Actelion’s maverick background, the resulting campaign diverged from “mainstream” loyalty marketing tactics, eschewing points and rewards for shared experiences, empathy and relationships built on trust.

The Starting Point

Laying the foundation for Actelion’s first-ever customer loyalty program was no easy task. Before the launch of Sure Steps, Tracleer’s marketing efforts had concentrated almost exclusively on prescribers. “There was a packet of materials that was sent out [to customers] on occasion, and some mailers that shipped with the drug,” Grossman explains. “But it wasn’t consistent … [and] it wasn’t based specifically on understanding patient needs.”

After deciding to change its course, Actelion sought the expertise of Montgomeryville, Pa.-based Roska Healthcare Advertising, a direct marketing agency with decades of experience in the pharmaceutical arena. The two companies began conducting exhaustive research, speaking with patients and patient groups as well as advisory boards. In the process, a common theme emerged.

“There was a major need to better educate people about their disease state and the treatment they were taking,” says Grossman. “None of the treatments for PAH are as straightforward as going to your local pharmacy … Every one of the drugs has warnings associated with it.”

To complicate matters, few patients had heard of pulmonary arterial hypertension before diagnosis. “Most people think of hypertension, which isn’t that big of a deal,” Grossman continues. “But PAH is basically like cancer. Historical data shows that patients who go untreated have a strong probability of not surviving beyond two and a half years.”

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