Every portfolio has a brand that nobody put at the top of the plan.
It gets little field time, almost no budget, and it keeps growing anyway. Sell-out moves in a direction nobody predicted.
Many teams miss it, because every review looks at the priority brands first. I have learned to look for it on purpose.
When I see it, I do not rush to back it. I ask first.
- Pharmacists often see it before anyone else. Ask them why it moves.
- On double visits, the doctors who use it will tell you what it does for their patients.
- Medical affairs reviews the evidence. Finance checks the margin.
If it holds, make a small bet. A little field time, a little budget, and an agreed picture of what success looks like at the next review.
Tell headquarters early, before the numbers force the conversation.
And give the credit to the people who found it. Very often a rep or a first-line manager noticed long before the leadership team did.
Then decide. Scale it, hold it or stop it. All three are fair decisions, as long as they rest on evidence.
“Sometimes the market picks the winner before the plan does.”
Lesson 12 of 16 in Step 1: Setting strategy, with the full guide and a checklist for this week.