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Branding VS Learning: strategic duel or complementary duo for a product launch?

From identifying customer insights to external promotion, launching a product involves a series of essential stages. Marketers know this well: powerful branding attracts customers at first glance. But it isn’t the only lever for action.

In the animal health sector, where products and services are technical, training is crucial if sales staff are to sell them effectively and customers are to use them correctly. How can these two strategies be reconciled? At what stages should branding be favoured and when should the focus be placed on learning? Schirine Amin, veterinarian and Marketing and Technical Director for the Ruminants and Equine Business Unit at MSD Animal Health, shares her experience with Bovilis® Cryptium®, the first vaccine authorised to prevent cryptosporidiosis in calves by vaccinating pregnant heifers and cows.

Branding, a ritual prior to any product launch

As its name suggests, branding refers to a set of actions aimed at defining a brand image that’s immediately recognisable to target customers and conveys a message tailored to that audience. For Schirine Amin, branding plays a greater role in the pre-launch stages of a product, helping to identify customer insights (through feedback) and needs, design the new product and devise marketing campaigns. These three founding stages can last from a few months to several years, depending on the product (for Bovilis® Cryptium®, the product design phase took 23 years), during which branding will play a key role.

Identifying customer insights: branding to define brand image

Branding serves as the guiding principle for the entire launch process and therefore plays a predominant role in the initial phase. Close collaboration with the sales force ensures alignment with the reality on the ground. This first stage involves identifying customer insights, in particular through market research, focus groups and feedback from the field. This invaluable information can be used to refine the marketing strategy and the message that the product will convey, in particular by defining a clear and differentiating unique selling proposition (USP) for the new product. The aim is for prescribers and end users to clearly recognise the promise and the value that the product will bring them.

Product design phase: branding as a guarantor of the strategy

When designing a product, branding plays a crucial role: it acts as a guiding principle, guaranteeing the product’s brand image and DNA. At this stage, it provides all the elements for consistent communication in line with the strategy defined at the previous stage. At the same time, learning can be used in the design phase to infuse the corporate culture and ensure a collaborative, cross-disciplinary approach between the marketing, sales, R&D and regulatory teams, for example when defining the onboarding process.

Designing marketing campaigns: branding to establish awareness

“Branding is what makes products strong, (…) it will build awareness quickly and powerfully, give users confidence and build loyalty”, explains Schirine Amin. Its main objective is to anchor the brand’s products and services in the minds of users, and associate them with values and a mission that set them apart from their competitors in the eyes of consumers. For Schirine Amin, branding means delivering a coherent, visually consistent message, regardless of the communication media used; she considers that the aim of this approach is to “anchor the Bovilis® brand in the minds of veterinarians and end customers”, and thus raise awareness. Dans le cadre de ce récent lancement, le branding a permis de mettre en avant l’innovation, la complémentarité des produits de la gamme Bovilis®, et la capacité du laboratoire à répondre aux besoins des vétérinaires pour la vaccination des bovins.
Après ces premières étapes, où le branding est central, vient le temps du lancement du produit : en interne d’abord, auprès de l’entreprise et de sa force de vente, puis en externe, auprès des futurs clients. At this stage, the branding/learning dynamic changes significantly.

Learning: a game changer in the internal and external launch phases

Internal product launch: learning to engage employees

“In this internal launch phase, learning takes the upper hand”, confirms Schirine Amin.

Learning can take different forms:

Training sessions on the new product.
Sales management training for sales teams.
Coaching: training facilitation techniques, design and production tools (PowerPoint), design and facilitation of role-playing sessions.
Individual support: sales representatives are assisted by a manager who helps them develop their skills.
Learning consultancy: organisational change management, innovation management.
Induction programme for all new employees with onboarding, to raise awareness of the company’s culture and values and familiarise employees with new processes.

Lastly, learning should be deployed according to specific learning objectives (for example, acquiring a good technical understanding of the product, being able to conduct a sales visit with a focus on identifying the customer’s needs), to maximise its impact. Listening and flexibility are needed to adapt learning methods to individual and group needs.

External product launch: training, the key to customer loyalty

Last comes the external launch of the product. During this phase, a balance is struck between the power of branding, which will help build strong awareness, and learning, which will guarantee a successful launch and long-term customer loyalty. For Schirine Amin, learning plays a crucial role in product launches. “While it was often neglected 10 years ago, learning has now become essential to the success of any product launch”, explains Schirine Amin. “We’ve understood and taken onboard the fact that training isn’t just about training the sales force and delivering the right messages. It’s also essential to train customers and end users”, stresses Schirine Amin. Training also means training the prescriber (veterinarian) in the correct use of the product (…). For the launch of Bovilis® Cryptium®, and more generally, with regard to neonatal vaccination, the correct ingestion of colostrum is a prerequisite for the effectiveness of vaccination and ensuring it provides complete satisfaction for both the breeder and the healthcare team. For MSD Santé Animale, learning is as important as branding in a launch strategy. Informing veterinarians, specialised para-veterinarians and breeders and even training them in good colostrum management practice are integral parts of the launch phase for this new vaccine. » La nécessaire prise en compte de facteurs médicaux et hygiéniques requiert une approche holistique et un accompagnement matérialisé par la formation des vétérinaires et des éleveurs : c’est le rôle clé joué par les vétérinaires occupant les postes de responsables techniques régionaux chez MSD Santé Animale. Lastly, “beyond learning itself, it’s about offering a service and being able to provide the best possible support to customers so they can correctly use and take ownership of the product, guaranteeing customer satisfaction and loyalty”, explains Schirine Amin. “What will make the difference for a laboratory supplying veterinary medicines is […] being able to provide the best possible support (to prescribers and end customers). That’s what makes the difference between a supplier and a partner”, concludes Schirine Amin. In short, the combination of learning and branding, carried out by motivated, high-performance teams, will provide an opportunity to go beyond simply selling products and services. The company’s culture and values play a unifying role in motivating and engaging employees, whatever their function (marketing, sales, technical services), encouraging team cohesion, cross-disciplinary collaboration and the achievement of strategic and financial objectives. As Schirine Amin points out, “a sense of belonging and pride in being part of the same company are essential”, and corporate culture, the foundation for team cohesion and motivation, is the catalyst for this combined deployment of learning and branding as the key to the success of any product launch.