Innovation or tradition? Is communication to explore new technologies or rely on traditional channels?Marketing and sales operations are facing new challenges from the pharmaceutical market.The goal is to optimize contacts and relationships and create value by reducing costs.Merqurio provides pharma companies and national health system with new ways of interacting with doctors and pharmacists through their own media and publishing experience in marketing pharmaceutical products.
2. SUMMARY
MERQURIO GROUP: closer to customers, closer to market
Innovation or tradition? Is communication to explore new technologies or rely on traditional channels?
Marketing and sales operations are facing new challenges from the pharmaceutical market.
The goal is to optimize contacts and relationships and create value by reducing costs.
Merqurio provides pharma companies and national health system with new ways of interacting with
doctors and pharmacists through their own media and publishing experience in marketing pharmaceutical
products.
Merqurio Group consists of three separate companies:
• MERQURIO PHARMA
Phone Rep, CSO, service Team and marketing support to contact physicians. It will be surprising to find out
that there are new ways to communicate with medical doctors.
• MERQURIO SERVIZI
It’s easy to get in touch with pharmacies! Real relationships, not only transactions! Our remote agents contact
Italian pharmacies around 20 time every year. Over 60 projects for sales, marketing, sales support, order
transfers, management and more...
• MERQURIO EDITORE
Direct Email marketing, e-detailing, video-detailing, Web marketing, electronic publishing are the most
powerful and innovative marketing tools. Low-cost and highly effective: that is why our online marketing
approach allows to run a business successfully.
4. MERQURIO PHARMA - PROFILE
In a highly concentrated market headed towards larger and larger forms of globalization, Merqurio Pharma is
a brand-new type of pharmaceutical company thanks to its innovative approach to promotional and sales
activities on behalf of third parties.
In such a competitive market, Merqurio Pharma has focused its action on a crucial need that affects all
companies: the outsourcing of services.
Merqurio Pharma is a company that provides its potential customers (mostly pharmaceutical companies) with
marketing and promotion activities for third parties as well as relationship marketing services, ranging from
face-to-face area networks (Contract Selling Organization) to phone-detailing; from online and web-
based activities to logistics and distribution.
The structure of Merqurio Pharma is, strategically, very flexible, but it also features a careful central
monitoring on quality and activities, including medical direction and offices for regulatory processes and
pharmacovigilance.
5. MERQURIO PHARMA – SERVICES & PRODUCTS
Merqurio Pharma is a leading company in the field of scientific information through effective and cutting–edge
communication strategies.
Merqurio Pharma, compliance to Italian legislation, provides scientific information about drugs for third
parties. Merqurio has created two innovative multimodal and remote-based detailing activities:
1. PHONE DETAILING:
about seventy Phone Reps
Work from Merqurio offices
20-25 positive contacts a day for each Rep
2. CSO (CONTRACT SELLING ORGANISATION):
about hundred Reps
Based all over Italy
Physicians visited are GPs, Gynecologists, Dentists, Orthopaedics
6. MERQURIO PHARMA – SERVICES & PRODUCTS
PHONE DETAILING
Merqurio Pharma has revolutionized medical science information addressed to doctors and healthcare
professionals thanks to its new detailing and phone-detailing services performed by a professional contact center.
The Phone detailing is a business unit featuring seventy Reps (or more, if needed) who are in touch with doctors
and healthcare professionals to support marketing operations rapidly and in a flexible way.
The main reasons to trust Merqurio phone detailing service are:
Combination of several activities, including phone calls and e-mails
Possibility to reach a large number of healthcare professionals at a very competitive cost.
Possibility to act on two main drivers of any medical prescription: brand reputation and brand identity. Brand
reputation enhances the competitive features and advantages of the product, whereas brand identity refers to brand
awareness and image.
Phone Reps’ activity is organized as if they were street Reps: a specific number of phone contacts and visits are
scheduled, featuring different steps to follow during the phone interview, including product information and
conference/group invitations, sending scientific papers as well as delivering paper documents and gadgets.
This is a giant leap forward in the field of medical detailing, in which Merqurio proves to be a leading service
provider to pharma industry.
7. MERQURIO PHARMA – SERVICES & PRODUCTS
CSO (CONTRACT SELLING ORGANITATION):
Merqurio CSO is the first network in Europe that meets the needs of pharmaceutical companies to outsource
scientific information, in order to cut the costs of an internal structure.
Merqurio Street Reps network is made up of 100 people having remarkable sale experiences and skills and proven
knowledge of the Italian pharmaceutical market .They are distributed all over the Italian territory.
Merqurio’s CSO is coordinated by seven area managers. Merqurio Pharma’s CSO is Ipad-based network.
Companies need to outsource scientific information, lower management costs and build effective and efficient
relationships with physicians.
Merqurio CSO’s strong points are:
- Broad and wide-ranging network extended all over the country and addressed to well defined targets;
- An accurate selection and recruitment of Reps (Italian D.L. 219/06) carried out by assessing candidates’ customer
retention abilities. Selection is not only based on experience and expertise, but, above all, on product and service
oriented approach and relational skills targeted to GPs, gynecologists, odontologists and obstetricians;
- Integration between different communication channels, thanks to its own CMS, which allows to work with the field
force online and by phone at the same time;
- A proper and ongoing training program, to boost professional, medical and communicative skills;
-The implementation of an iPad-based system aims to maximize the efficiency of the contact with physicians;
- Network constantly monitored through TMS system
9. MERQURIO SERVIZI - PROFILE
Merqurio Servizi is the solution to the problems of pharmaceutical companies: testing new products on the
market, collecting debts, marketing and distributing therapeutically equivalent drugs, conducting surveys,
launching market researches, writing manuals and guides on the Italian healthcare facilities.
The company emploies about sixty remote agents directed by a senior manager who calls every pharmacy
many about 15 time per year and has so far trusted 3,500 pharmacies. Call centre operators are divided into
groups and coordinated by a team leader who has definite target –oriented duties, including sales and client
acquisition, sales support, transfer orders, logistics, promotion at point of sale, events in pharmacies.
The overall activity of operators is assessed through a series of performance indicators, including the number
of daily contacts, number of orders, success rate of closed contacts, average weekly sales and, above all, the
percentage of new customers.
Every day from Merqurio’s offices sixty remote agents call pharmacies to promote or sell products. Every
agent works always in the same area, so as to create a one-to-one relation with the pharmacist.
10. MERQURIO SERVIZI – SERVICES & PRODUCTS
The “Merqurio Remote Agent” can provide sellers’ networks targeted to pharmacies, if the Pharma company
doesn’t have one, or integrate an existing network.
Sales activities are carried out in three different ways:
• The first is the Transfer Order service, monitored by 25 operators in partnership with 15 wholesalers and
featuring over 500 generic drugs (400 of them are included in class A) proposed to pharmacies. Teamwork is
daily supervised to analyze sales trends and related earnings, while the report is drawn up every day, week and
month. The manager, one or more times a day, sends orders to the wholesaler in order to ensure quick
deliveries.
• The second is Direct Order service: pharma companies purchase a series of services ranging from direct
sale to the promotion of specific brands. The operator, becomes an agent and works as a seller on behalf of the
commissioning company. Even in this case, reports on all activities are drawn up on a daily, weekly and monthly
basis, according to company needs and targets.
• The third is Trade service, the service provided to customers by Merqurio Servizi. Twenty operators started
their activity only two years ago, but they have already conquered several market segments thanks to an
innovating sale strategy. Trade, today, is a solution which includes advantages both for pharmacies and pharma
companies. Merqurio buys products from companies directly and then manages selling and distribution
activities, thus taking all the risks related to transport, delayed income, leaflet replacement, etc.
11. MERQURIO SERVIZI – SERVICES & PRODUCTS
SURVEYS AND MARKET ANALYSIS
Merqurio Servizi has a great experience in recruiting, contacting and communicating via phone and web
throughout the Italian pharmaceutical market.
Merqurio surveys reach the target immediately, so as to build a complete market profile and enhance
the relationship with customers.
Merqurio monitors and checks information and data related to the Italian pharmaceutical/ healthcare market
thanks to:
Latest and most advanced technologies (CATI and CAWI)
Merqurio database of health professionals (150,000 members who authorized access to personal data)
Merqurio offices, featuring more than sixty remote agents
Merqurio is also able to segment and identify targets according to company requirements and several
parameters:
Brick and Micro-brick
Number and typology of specialists
Region, province, city and zip code
Work, private office, street address
Age, sex, date of bachelor, membership to professional orders (card number)
Use of the Internet, online behaviour
12. MERQURIO SERVIZI – SERVICES & PRODUCTS
CONTACT CENTER
Contact centers are a way for pharmaceutical firm to differentiate themselves from the competition.
Fundamental customer service goals that should be delivered by today’s contact center include selling services
by understanding unique consumer needs for healthcare services, and running more cost efficient operations by
increasing agent productivity. Further, contact centers are now considered a key instrument in changing the
public’s perception of an organization, creating a great customer experience, and executing on the business
goals of the organization as a whole.
Merqurio Servizi has a great experience in contacting and communicating via phone.
Merqurio Contact center’s strong points are:
Improved clients satisfaction
Increased patient satisfaction
Better communication between pharmaceutical firm and patients
Improved managers/staff relationships
Stronger teamwork
Quality proven through positive audit outcomes
Successful collaboration through flexibility and responsiveness
Systems and processes to ensure delivery of a consistent and cost-effective service
14. MERQURIO EDITORE - PROFILE
Merqurio Editore is the leading company in the field of web-based marketing activities. Through a
sophisticated staff organization made up of a managing director, professional journalists, and experts on
social security, trade union legislation, forensic medicine, law and economics, Merqurio Editore is a
multimedia publishing house specialized in healthcare and medicine:
PUBLISHING SERVICE
NEWSLETTERS, WEB MARKETING AND ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING
MEDICAL INFORMATION SERVICE
DIRECT MARKETING, DATABASE, CRM
PHYSICIAN DATABASE
STAKEHOLDER DATABASE
CONTENT & WEB MARKETING
DOTTNET.IT
CME AND E-CME
SMARTPHONE HEALTHCARE APPS
15. MERQURIO EDITORE – SERVICES & PRODUCTS
PUBLISHING SERVICE
Traditional paper publishing is still essential to support projects on healthcare communication.
Merqurio Editore offers publishing tools to the pharmaceutical industry; these tools are consolidated and
appreciated by physicians and pharmacists.
The Italian Pharmaceutical Yearbook “ Annuario Farmaceutico Italiano” with his 2,000 pages of information on
drugs, from pharmaceutical components to pricing, represents the best product on the market if you want to know,
learn and get always updated information. It is also available on CD, online, on smart phones and iPhone.
The 700-page Pocket Pharmaceutical Yearbooks is the shorter version of the Pharmaceutical Yearbook and
contains 15,000 technical datasheets on all types of drugs. It is very useful for its small size.
The bi-monthly Pharmaceutical Handbook, instead, is a practical booklet updated every two months and sent to
doctors via email, featuring the name of the drug, its active principle, category and price.
All these products are also published in electronic format, allowing a daily update through web service, a login
device that recognizes the single user and sends him/her the publications he/she is entitled to receive.
16. MERQURIO EDITORE – SERVICES & PRODUCTS
NEWSLETTERS, WEB MARKETING AND ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING
Merqurio has set up its own electronic newsletter system, now including 37 titles and covering a wide range of
topics. All of them feature an editor-in-chief and a team of experts made up of journalists, four graduates in
chemistry/pharma technologies and twenty copywriters, supported by physicians, lawyers and experts in health
economics, ensuring reliable and up-to-date contents. This long-lasting success is well represented by three million
online journals sent to healthcare operators every year.
Multimedia publications are increasingly replacing traditional publications, allowing users to read easily and
quickly and producers to communicate in real time and cut publishing costs. Panorama Medico, sent daily to GPs
and specialists and reporting an average redemption rate of 44%, takes an outstanding position. Panorama Medico
covers such a wide range of issues that it is possible to tailor it to customer needs and segment the target market.
Every day, Panorama Medico is sent to 150,000 healthcare professionals who appreciate up-to-date contents
coming from the environment of science and research and dealing with issues concerning health systems and
policies, trade unions, and social security.
The same approach applies to other titles, such as Medical news, Farmacia magazine, Gyne hot news, Uro
News, Cardo mail news, Pediatria news etc. They are all well-known and distributed publications addressed to
specific targets who can find up-to-date information concerning their own professional categories.
17. MERQURIO EDITORE – SERVICES & PRODUCTS
MEDICAL INFORMATION SERVICE
Merqurio has a well-established Medical Information service provider for the pharmaceutical industries and
healthcare professionals.
Medical Information Merqurio provides on-call and written answers on medicines and devices from healthcare
professionals and the general public.
Medical Information Merqurio is:
A team of experienced Medical Information professionals
Ability to support customers from the whole of Europe
Quality proven through positive audit outcomes
Successful collaboration through flexibility and responsiveness
Systems and processes to ensure delivery of a consistent and cost-effective service
A real, demonstrable track record of success
Medical Information Merqurio offers a range of additional services which traditionally are the responsibility of the
Medical
Information department:
Standard Responses.
This can include the development or updating of:
One-off standard response letters
Standard response documents in preparation for a new product launch
Library of standard responses for the entire product portfolio
Sourcing, databasing and supplying clinical papers
Identifying and reporting initial information on spontaneous adverse events (drug-surveillance)
Consultancy support on behalf of physician, pharmacists, other healthcare providers and patients.
18. MERQURIO EDITORE – SERVICES & PRODUCTS
DIRECT MARKETING, DATABASE, CRM
For over 10 years Merqurio has provided its customers with database management, data acquisition and
solutions for data processing. They are crucial to healthcare organizations needing a accurate customer master
database for their Reps, direct marketing, and CRM applications.
Merqurio Database is a huge archive including all drugs marketed in Italy and their respective technical
specifications, daily reviewed by Merqurio scientific staff. Merqurio Database is arranged in cooperation with the
National Department of Health and other institutional sources and is ISO 9001/Vision 2000 certified. Sponsored by
FNOMCeO (Italian professional association of physicians and orthodontists), Merqurio Database is used by local
health authorities, doctors, pharmacies and local hospitals as well as a number of pharmaceutical companies.
DRUGS DATABASE
Merqurio Database also includes exhaustive information on scientific references related to drugs and is the only
Italian database including the original SPCs (Summaries of Product Characteristics) in PDF format. Moreover,
Merqurio Database features a section about the interaction between drugs and food intake.
19. MERQURIO EDITORE – SERVICES & PRODUCTS
PHYSICIAN DATABASE
Merqurio's physician database consists of over 110.000 physicians and includes such physician data as
physician specialty, mailing, addresss, phone number and etc…
Merqurio, through the experience in multichannel(email, phone, etc..) contact physician frequently and verify every
field of every record in its database to maintain accurate physician mailing lists.
This commitment to quality means your marketing success.
We understand the importance of physician databases which directly impacts organizational sales and marketing
efforts: missing and inaccurate information within a prescriber database can cost healthcare organizations time and
resources that could be allocated towards other sales and marketing expenses.
Having a robust and up-to-date provider and facility profile greatly increases sales force and marketing efficiency
and saves our clients millions of dollars each year in both personal and non-personal communication with
physicians.
The number of references in a database makes it effective for marketing campaigns, but data quality is
what makes the difference. Append valuable information such as specialty, phone number, fax number, patient
volume and affiliation with a medical group, health system or hospital. This is possible thank to merge/purge
process and qualified operators.
20. MERQURIO EDITORE – SERVICES & PRODUCTS
STAKEHOLDER DATABASE
The "DB Stakeholder" was produced thanks to a cooperation between FedersanitàANCI and Merqurio. They felt
the need to map and update public and private stakeholders, thus taking a census of all “stakeholders”.
The Database Stakeholder complies to privacy law through data co-ownership between FedersanitàANCI and
Merqurio, according to their respective role as Owner and outsourcing Manager of personal data.
The Database Stakeholder not only maps all Italian health structures and facilities, but it also includes all the
"stakeholders“, which means all the decision-makers at several levels (national-regional-local), thus providing
exhaustive and detailed information on healthcare professionals.
The "DB Stakeholder" is available to all Pharmaceutical Companies and bodies that need to establish a direct
contact with Regional and Local Health Authorities (for example AIFA, ASL, AO, Regional Committees, Regional
Council, Committee PTOR, Regional Health Committees Medical Schools Mental hospitals Specialized Centers
etc…)
All data:
are arranged in compliance with current legislation
are regularly updated
are completed and tree-structured
21. MERQURIO EDITORE – SERVICES & PRODUCTS
CONTENT & WEB MARKETING
Drug database
Every information about Italian drugs with scientific references
Drug interactions
Para-pharmaceutical database
Physicians’ master data
Addresses and master data of all Italian Doctor (300.000)
150.000 fully profiled physicians logged in Dottnet.it
Italian Health Stakeholders
Medical emergencies
Addresses of public and private facilities
Pharmacies’ master data
Pharmacies’ addresses, opening days and hours, holidays
Content database
Laboratory tests
Medical Diets
Medical Emergency
Medical Glossary
Etc...
Merqurio is able to develop micro-websites and online visuals to support phone-detailing and direct e-mail
marketing strategies.
22. MERQURIO EDITORE – SERVICES & PRODUCTS
DOTTNET
DottNet.it is the unique social network of medical science in Italy. The goal of DottNet.it is creating a
professional network among physicians, pharmacists and health professionals. Thanks to DottNet.it,
members can receive, every day, specific scientific information.
Access is reserved to trade professionals in accordance with the Italian law.
The members through DottNet.it may :
Receive professional news
Invite colleagues/friends to access and discuss, build discussion groups, take part in debates;
Share interests or participations in conferences;
Enhance their knowledge by asking or answering questions;
Write articles or include presentations and movies and see them published;
Take part in eCME projects;
Comment on and rate articles;
Find colleagues from universities or specialists;
Create new professional relationships;
23. MERQURIO EDITORE – SERVICES & PRODUCTS
CME
Merqurio also organizes accredited residential courses (CME), taking care of the training project, logistics and
communication of the event and all pre- and post-events.
Merqurio provides design, production and distribution of distance learning courses (eCME), directly or through
DottNet.
In the field eCME of Merqurio wants to create new solutions:
•On Demand / Blended
•Synchronous videoconferencing,
•Tele-platform to manage the distance learning
SMARTPHONE HEALTHCARE APPS
The mobile health landscape is rapidly growing: the use of smartphones and their applications in healthcare is more
and more common among physicians.
Merqurio has set up its own Smartphone healthcare Apps for iPhone and Android system. Merqurio’s healthcare
apps can help physicians formulate their diagnoses and prescribe specific therapies.
24. “These markets are conversations...
A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the
Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to
share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct
result, markets are getting smarter- and getting smarter
faster than most companies.”
The Cluetrain Manifesto
Contact:
Phone: +390815524300
Fax: +390814201136
www.merqurio.it
E-mail: redazione@merqurio.it