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In our third annual report on the state of brand planning, EVERSANA surveyed nearly 100 brand planning executives across biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics and medical devices. This year, we expanded our assessment by hosting 111 marketing leaders from around the globe at a client advisory board in Napa Valley, California, to hear firsthand about key advancements and persistent challenges in brand planning.

WHAT DID WE LEARN?

While an impressive 87% of respondents reported that brand planning helped meet customer and business goals, one advisory board participant summed up the underlying frustrations quite well: “It feels like we are planning for nine months, then executing for three months.” We hypothesize that some sources of this disconnect in overall satisfaction with the outcomes can be explained through more detailed areas of discussion.

INCREASINGLY EFFECTIVE MEASUREMENT THROUGH DATA AND ANALYTICS

We observed significant year-over-year advancement in leader sentiment regarding data and analytics, with two-thirds not only believing in the effective measurement of success in terms of execution against the brand plan and market results, but also that data and advanced analytics played a growing role in achieving this. Our discussion with leaders revealed two drivers:

• Leaders have increasingly been pressured through efficiency measures, in response to the macro environment (seen through operational expenditure and headcount rationalization), to demonstrate the value of marketing, medical and market access investments – forcing greater examination of the returns on these investments.
• Client and service provider data and analytics platforms continue to mature, enabling more client organizations to turn metadata into timely and accurate insights.

PERSISTENT CHALLENGES WITH DIGITAL CAPABILITIES AND GENERATIVE AI

Surprisingly, we continue to see more than half of our industry’s leaders expressing concerns about being equipped and experienced to leverage digital capabilities, specifically generative AI. Upon further investigation, it appears that expectations here continue to grow exponentially from the boardroom and C-suite, even though partners are still in the early stages of adoption and struggling to keep pace with the hype.

PARTNER ROSTER: AN ADDITIONAL SOURCE OF DISCONTENT

Where we observed the lowest satisfaction from leaders and a steep decline over the last three years was in the belief that external partners (e.g., agencies, market researchers, consultants) collaborated effectively and integrated their contributions for the betterment of the brand plan. While the promise of consolidation – particularly in the agency segment of partners – has been to aid this, we continue to hear some clients are feeling uneasy about being forced into working with preferred vendors based on enterprise agreements while remaining on the hook for the outcomes.

CONCLUSION

Brand and portfolio leaders can often feel overwhelmed by the annual brand planning process, as well as the capabilities and partners required to ensure that cross-functional insights, strategy and execution will lead to projected results. In situations like these, EVERSANA’s Next-Generation Brand Planning can be leveraged to partner experienced strategic leads with brand teams to seamlessly and efficiently guide the process, assist integration and enable focus that drives business results.

Want to dive into the full results of our experts' research and its implications on brand planning? Contact the authors to learn more.

Biopharma companies face increasing challenges engaging patients, and patients face increasing challenges accessing timely, personalized, and convenient healthcare. Despite increased investment in product promotion, 1 in 4 patients still avoid seeking care and treatment because it’s inconvenient¹. This gap between patients and the care they need underscores an urgent call for innovative solutions that not only connect patients to care but also simplify their journey from diagnosis to treatment.

Patients expect more from biopharma. A 2025 research study by ixlayer and Ipsos found that 81% of survey respondents think that pharma companies should help them get the care and medicine they need.²

Configurable direct-to-patient (DTP) platforms are designed to bridge this divide. By connecting the disparate components of the healthcare ecosystem—patients, labs, providers, payments, prescriptions, and more—these platforms empower biopharma companies to support and elevate the patient experience across any therapeutic area.

Connecting the Dots Across the Patient Journey

A patient’s journey to care often involves navigating fragmented systems, unclear processes, and delays. The research shows that patients are increasingly looking to pharmaceutical organizations to streamline processes and help bridge barriers to care, ensuring patients receive the timely, personalized health services they deserve while reducing the administrative burden on healthcare stakeholders.

For biopharma companies, a well-executed DTP strategy means the ability to deliver a more effective and holistic patient experience. By offering a platform that unifies critical components of care delivery, pharma orgs will enhance patient engagement, and reduce barriers to care while keeping providers at the center of every decision.

Meeting consumer expectations for digital engagement improves their perception of biopharma

Patients are actively seeking more robust and personalized digital tools and virtual care options to help them get connected with the right care in a timely and affordable manner, and more than half of these consumers³ expect to be able to find the information they’re looking for in three clicks or less.

ixlayer’s survey of healthcare consumers across several condition areas found they are motivated to use digital healthcare tools like the ones found in DTP programs – and much more likely to think positively of the pharma companies that provide them.⁴ In fact, 65% simply expect pharma companies to be doing so already.⁵

Deploying an integrated, patient-centric experience

Crafting a thoughtful, high-value DTP program is no easy task, especially when pharma companies need to address so many complex challenges. As precision medicine and changing consumer demands add even more pressure to get it right, company leaders need to consider the best way to deploy industry-leading experiences that tick all the boxes for consumers across disparate health needs

A unified solution with a pre-built infrastructure that is completely configurable to meet unique brand needs may be the answer. It also drastically reduces the investment and internal resources required to get started on deploying a holistic consumer journey, from patient onboarding and diagnostics to telehealth services and prescription fulfillment.

With a platform solution, integration is assured from the start, and companies can easily launch a seamless, consistent experience for both patients and internal teams.

ixlayer’s platform, ixEngage, can assist pharma companies with launching and administering fully compliant DTP programs by providing the infrastructure needed for rapid deployment and a seamless, intuitive patient experience. As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, platforms like ixEngage are setting the standard for direct-to-patient engagement, delivering on the promise of personalized, timely, and accessible care for all.

Footnotes:

¹ https://www.zs.com/insights/trends-shaping-pharmaceutical-landscape-2024-and-beyond

² ixInsights 2025 / Ipsos Patient research, Top 2 Box, Base All n=414 individuals with one of the following conditions: respiratory conditions, asthma, COPD, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dermatologic conditions, psoriasis, or atopic dermatitis. – On a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 is strongly disagree and 5 is strongly agree, please rate how much you agree or disagree with the following statements: “Pharmaceutical companies should provide resources to patients to help them get the care and medicines they need.”

³ https://www.salesforce.com/content/dam/web/en_us/www/documents/reports/ connected-healthcare-consumer-report.pdf

⁴ ixInsights 2025 / Ipsos Patient research: If a digital health solution offered the following features, how likely would you be to use it?; If a biopharma company were to offer a digital solution with the following attributes how, if at all, would it change your perception of the company? Top 2 Box Base All: n=414 individuals with one of the following conditions: respiratory conditions, asthma, COPD, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dermatologic conditions, psoriasis, or atopic dermatitis.

⁵ ixInsights 2025 / Ipsos Patient research, Top 2 Box, Base All n=414 individuals with one of the following conditions: respiratory conditions, asthma, COPD, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dermatologic conditions, psoriasis, or atopic dermatitis. – On a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 is strongly disagree and 5 is strongly agree, please rate how much you agree or disagree with the following statements: “I expect a pharmaceutical company to provide additional resources to help me get the care and medication I need.”

Health and wellness marketers have no shortage of challenges. Staying relevant with health-conscious consumers. Navigating strict compliance regulations. Finding ways to stand out and connect with the right consumer in a stacked marketplace – to name a few.

The rewards are there, though, for brands who can break through. The $1.8 trillion global health and wellness market¹ only continues to grow. And many of those consumers are turning to the powerful influence of weather to make their health and wellness decisions. That’s one reason why we recently modernized and enhanced The Weather Channel app user experience as well as our AI-powered ad tech and back-end data modeling with an extra emphasis on health and well-being. Which brings health and wellness marketers a unique and relevant set of advertising solutions to fuel brand relevance and growth.

Unpacking the weather-wellness connection

The connection is clear: Habitually checking the weather informs more than how to dress for the elements. Recent research shows that weather inspires action to minimize illness, manage symptoms, and maximize time outside; offers a sense of control on quality of life; and guides purchases to maintain a healthy lifestyle. According to consumers in the study:

• 88% are focusing more on health and wellness in recent years²
• 76% use weather information to manage their health, up 33% since 2020²
• 73% are more concerned this year than previous years about at least one health condition²

The go-to health and wellness marketing partner 

Your customers realize weather’s impact, so meet them where they are. Trusted, accurate data, innovative AI in weather prediction, and brand-safe, contextually relevant content from The Weather Company, place your brand in the direct path of qualified audiences and their health decisions. Additionally, by understanding the effect of weather on consumer spending, we can better tailor our advertising strategies to influence purchasing decisions that are directly related to health and wellness.

Better accuracy, better engagement, better performance

A constant companion, weather influences daily habits and decisions, sunrise to sunset. But not all weather forecasts are equal. Or accurate. Not only are we the most accurate forecaster³ and one of America's most trusted brands,⁴ The Weather Channel is the preferred weather source used by health-conscious consumers to manage health across all conditions.

76% choose The Weather Channel over a competitor².

Since launching new wellness features in The Weather Channel app, we’ve seen 3x higher clicks into our wellness forecast experiences.⁵ In fact, compared to the legacy app experience, we’re already seeing:

• 11% more stickiness⁵
• 10% more page views per visit⁵
• 8% increase in time spent per daily active user⁵

This preference for, and engagement with, our digital channels means more reach and a higher likelihood of campaign success. But beyond the lure of our new features, the instability and volatility of Mother Nature herself means more eyeballs, more often, on the forecast.

IQVIA-validated health audiences 

IQVIA, a leader in healthcare intelligence, utilizes rich prescription data to provide insights into the types of visitors on digital platforms. Our new IQVIA partnership has validated that The Weather Channel's platforms effectively reach qualified health audiences across over 60 health conditions. Notably, we connect with 47% of U.S. psoriasis patients, which over indexes the general population by 32%.⁶ This collaboration validates our ability to deliver health content to audiences most likely to be treating health conditions and wanting to learn about weather’s impact on their symptoms.

Brand-safe sponsorships

Get your brand seen in the well-placed context of weather information and health resources through sponsorships on our digital properties.

Content sponsorships: With the latest enhancements to The Weather Channel app, we’ve re-imagined the experience to emphasize the weather-to-wellness connection. New editorial sponsorship opportunities help you align your brand with premium, health-related articles and video content created by award-winning journalists and verified by medical reviewers. Trusted advice and resources cover psoriasis, eczema, weight loss, type 2 diabetes, asthma, COPD, arthritis, stress management, aches and pains, and migraines.

Forecast sponsorships: Health-conscious consumers have access to a range of customized forecasts and tools designed for allergies, skin care, colds and flu, and respiratory health. These forecasts use weather data, AI, and insights to help predict how symptoms might change in the coming days and week.

69% check weather proactively for preventative health measures²

We put weather into action to give your audience information and insights that help them ultimately live healthier, happier, safer, and smarter.

Anticipate consumer needs with actionable data signals

By using weather data to inform when and where consumers’ health will be impacted, health marketers can tap into unified, scaled, and predictive signals to help to find and connect with qualified audiences and influence health outcomes.

Weather Targeting

Deliver hyperlocal, targeted, personalized health ads by leveraging an intelligent mix of weather data and health data, including:

• OTC/prescription sales from IQVIA
• Anonymized patient reports and aggregated insurance claims reports from Merative
• Weather science to identify the optimal mix of environmental elements most likely to exacerbate health conditions at a ZIP code level

Audience Targeting

In healthcare marketing, privacy is paramount. Find and connect with your audience using demographic look-alikes with a propensity for specific conditions. These representative audience models are based on:

• Behaviors and insights from The Weather Channel digital properties, including site interests and frequent locations viewed
• Anonymized health claims data
• CDC and other third-party sources

360M+ monthly global The Weather Channel app users⁶

Beyond the marketing department 

Make weather your business. The Weather Company can help you improve strategies, operations, and profitability across the enterprise. Yes, the same company that uses meteorological expertise and technology to help keep billions of people safe and informed about the weather also helps thousands of businesses increase the bottom line.

Weather Engine™

Help your business adapt quickly and make informed decisions that account for weather impacts. Powered by proprietary AI and machine learning, our Weather Engine helps you take advantage of large, analytics-driven insights across internal processes and consumer-facing touchpoints.

Weather data APIs

Integrate reliable weather data directly into your enterprise applications, business processes, or own custom models. Both weather data and insights are available via APIs with flexible integration services.

Competitive advantage is in the forecast

The influence of weather on daily health and wellness choices isn’t slowing down. Marketers need ways to stand out in a crowded, challenging market. Fortunately, as weather, data, and health continue to intersect, you can trust The Weather Company’s advertising solutions to help you create purposeful, relevant connections and better outcomes for both consumers and your business.

View footnote details+

1 The trends defining the $1.8 trillion global wellness market in 2024, McKinsey, January 16, 2024 Article

2 Weather and Health Impact Study, Sago for The Weather Company, health-affected consumers, March 2024

3 ForecastWatch, Global and Regional Weather Forecast Accuracy Overview, 2017-2022, commissioned by The Weather Company

4 According to a Morning Consult Q1 2024 survey: The Weather Channel brand was the #13 most trusted brand in the US. The surveys were conducted from 1/1/2024 through 3/31/2024, among a nationally representative sample of 1,158 and 35,280 U.S. adults

5 Amplitude, April-July 2024

6 IQVIA Healthratings – MAT June 2024; Data is anonymized and based on 1 month IQVIA sample of TWC audience. TWC has no actual health knowledge of any individual audience member7 According to Comscore, The Weather Channel was the largest provider of weather forecasts worldwide (web and app) in 2022 based on the average of the total monthly unique visitors. Comscore Media Metrix®, Worldwide Rollup Media Trend, News/Information – Weather category incl. The [M] Weather Channel, The, Jan-Dec. 2022 avg

Data is at the heart of pharma marketing—and the key to unlocking “right time, right place, right patient” strategies. In today’s highly competitive consumer landscape, it’s not enough to rely on broad demographics, lookalikes, cookies, or other generalized audience approaches. That’s why pharma brands and their agency partners look to real-world medical claims and other available data to build their audience lists for DTC campaigns based on brand eligibility criteria, past prescriptions, and more.

But many marketers overlook (or have come to accept) a key limitation: the inherent data lag in many common sources. For example, real-world claims data can take up to three months to become available. That means your audience segmentations and priorities may not reflect a true picture of the patient landscape at campaign kickoff. This opens the door to four hidden risks that could derail your campaign success.

Risk 1: Patient Journey Misalignment 

Pharma companies often design their marketing strategies to reach patients during specific stages of their healthcare journey—whether it's raising awareness at the onset of symptoms, targeting those who are newly diagnosed, or providing options as patients seek new treatments for chronic conditions. When audience data is stale, marketing efforts are most likely directed toward the wrong audience at the wrong time, reducing impact and conversion.

Risk 2: Missed Eligibility Windows 

In fast-moving therapeutic areas like oncology, cardiology, or rare diseases, delayed outreach leads to missed opportunities to engage with patients when they are actively seeking or are receptive to treatment options. Patients who could benefit from earlier intervention may have already moved on to other therapies or, worse, the communication may come too late—when they may no longer be eligible for a potentially life-changing treatment.

Risk 3: Competitive Loss 

With multiple pharma brands often vying for the same pool of patients, failing to find and reach qualified patients in a timely way can cost brands the chance to convert patients in immediate need of treatment, and opens the door for competitors to step in.

Risk 4: Reduced Commercial Impact 

Mistimed or misdirected marketing doesn’t just lower NRx rates, but also can result in fewer prescriptions attributed to marketing activity. While outside perception is that pharma marketing budgets are unlimited, the reality is that media spending continues to be heavily scrutinized, and less-than-efficient marketing can threaten future budget allocations.

And these risks aren’t just to your marketing metrics. Failing to connect with your eligible patients, when they have the opportunity to convert to your brand, means marketers miss the chance to educate and empower patients as they navigate an increasingly complex healthcare landscape. And it bears repeating, it also means that patients may miss out on potentially life-changing therapies. But thanks to a combination of human ingenuity, a passion for better health, and yes, AI, there’s a safe and better way to target DTC programs. It’s called an adaptive audience.

What Are Adaptive Audiences?

Adaptive DTC audiences are audiences that automatically prioritize consumer segments throughout a campaign, based on the current volumes of brand-eligible patients. That means they stay fresh in a way that conventional approaches can’t. Instead of “dated” data, adaptive audiences use artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and human guidance to anticipate when patients are approaching brand eligibility and upcoming care visits.

As a result, media is always optimized to reach the segments with the greatest opportunity for brand conversion. It’s a dynamic approach that reflects patients’ evolving care needs. Here’s how adaptive audiences work:

• Defining the Ideal Patient Profile: Like standard audience approaches, the first step in an adaptive audience is defining the target population— their conditions and comorbidities, current line of therapy, recent tests and lab values, their treating care team/specialties, and other clinical factors. But alongside standard features like specific ICD10 and NDC codes, it’s also critical to expand your viewpoint to include often-overlooked socioeconomic, behavioral, and media consumption data. After all, despite a common diagnosis, medication history, or clinical profile, every patient is an individual, shaped by their unique experiences.
• Building a Predictive AI Model: Most conventional audiences stop after the first step – using their patient profile to “find” qualified individuals at campaign start, then prioritizing the segments with the greatest number of patients. Adaptive audiences take a different approach, turning the patient profile into a predictive model. By drawing on many of the same data resources, today’s AI-driven models can accurately predict patients’ future care milestones and upcoming HCP visits.
• Linking Brand Signals to Hyper-Local Geographies: Once the predictive model is live, it constantly looks for brand eligibility signals, and links those signals to hyper-local geographies comprised of the 35M+ available zip-9s. Based on the desired refresh cadence, marketers can then prioritize the zip-9s with the greatest concentration of signals throughout the course of the campaign. This means media is always focused on the populations with the greatest opportunity for brand conversion—and the greatest treatment need. Because all data is de-identified, and the technology provides just the right amount of strategic “noise” in and around the zip-9, it’s a privacy-safe, compliant approach that doesn’t compromise precision.
• Personalizing the Media Mix: Every consumer has their own media consumption habits. Rather than relying on demographic generalizations, adaptive audiences look at the preferred channel mix within each “activated” zip-9, then automatically select the most effective tactics from the available options. Again, AI plays a key role—allowing for channel selection to be optimized at scale, while personalized for consumer habits.
• Ongoing Optimization: Because adaptive audiences are built with embedded AI and machine learning technology, they automatically grow “smarter” over time: refining the predictive model, signal identification, and media deployment based on the data generated from the campaign.

How Does 6x Script Lift Sound?

Taking an adaptive approach offers DTC marketers significant benefits, including increased media efficiency, greater audience penetration, and reduced impression waste. One under-diagnosed neurology brand saw a 75% boost in the number of qualified patients reached and a 92% jump in patient engagement.

But marketing impact is measured in new prescriptions (NRx), and it’s here that the difference is clear. Adaptive audiences drive an average of six times higher script lift than conventional, fixed audience segmentations. By automatically optimizing every media touchpoint for brand conversion, adaptive audiences help brands and consumers thrive in the ever-evolving treatment landscape. More patients receive care-relevant information aligned with their treatment needs, and pharma marketers can demonstrate greater commercial and revenue impact. That’s what we call a win-win, and the right way to be data-driven.

Learn more about OptimizeRx’s adaptive DTC audiences, powered by our Dynamic Audience Activation Platform and Micro-Neighborhood® Targeting technology.