For pharmaceutical companies, marketing is a complex and high-stakes endeavor. With multiple drug brands to promote and an ever-expanding list of channels—ranging from digital ads and email campaigns to in-person visits by Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs)—effectively allocating marketing spend is both a challenge and a necessity. One global pharma company faced a critical roadblock: their marketing planning and budget allocation processes were highly fragmented. Each brand and channel manager operated in silos, relying on spreadsheets for data crunching and slide decks to present key performance indicators (KPIs).
Before partnering with Lynx Analytics, the pharma company’s marketing team faced significant obstacles in optimizing their marketing expenditure and demonstrating its impact on sales for both Health Care Professional (HCP) and Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) markets. The lack of an integrated system meant that budget allocation decisions were made in silos, without a clear understanding of which channels or tactics were driving the highest returns. Marketers relied on static spreadsheets and slide decks to track promotional investments, but these tools failed to provide the insights needed to make data-driven decisions.
A major pain point was the inability to link marketing expenditure directly to sales performance at the brand level and across brands as well. Marketing mix attribution was essentially a black box, making it impossible to assess the true effectiveness of various promotional strategies. While external agencies provided reports on marketing performance in terms of reach, impressions, etc., these assessments were disconnected from actual sales data, further complicating decision- making.
Additionally, the company’s use of data science was limited to historical tracking rather than predictive analytics, optimization, or scenario planning. Marketers had no way to simulate the impact of adjusting their spending across different channels or brands. This lack of foresight made it challenging to justify budget allocations, especially during annual planning cycles.
With a diverse marketing mix that spanned digital ads, TV, streaming audio, print, outdoor media, and in-person HCP engagement, the company needed a more advanced solution. They required a system that could break down silos, integrate multiple data sources, and provide actionable insights to maximize ROI. That’s where Lynx Analytics stepped in.
To address these challenges, Lynx Analytics developed a custom AI-powered decision support system designed to give the client’s marketing team full visibility into their promotional spend, impact on sales, and ROI. The solution combines advanced statistical methods and AI-driven modeling to analyze vast amounts of data from multiple sources, including sales figures, promotional investments, CRM entries, competitor activity, macroeconomic trends, and digital engagement metrics.
At the heart of the solution is a Performance Overview dashboard powered by an AI model that links sales results to granular marketing-spend decisions. It allows marketers to track four key KPIs across all brands and marketing channels: promotional spend, impactable revenue, ROI, and Marginal ROI (the additional return from each additional dollar spent). By linking marketing investments directly to sales outcomes, this dashboard enables marketers to move beyond gut-feel decision- making and adopt a more data-driven approach.
To further enhance strategic planning, Lynx Analytics developed an Optimizer and a Scenario Planner, empowering marketers to optimize and test different budget scenarios before making investment decisions. For example, if a user wants to shift more budget toward TV ads, they can simulate the potential revenue and ROI impact before committing funds. This level of predictive capability is especially valuable during budget planning, allowing marketing teams to justify spending decisions with data-backed insights.
Recognizing the importance of HCP engagement, the solution also integrated an existing module for Next-Best Action for MSLs. This integration under a unified user interface provides recommendations on the most effective ways for MSLs to engage with HCPs, ensuring that MSL interactions complement broader marketing strategies.
To make the system even more intuitive and proactive, Lynx Analytics has introduced Generative AI capabilities that allow users to interact with the tool using natural language. Users can now ask questions, refine their analyses conversationally, and receive AI-driven suggestions on areas of interest for deeper exploration. Whether identifying new trends, uncovering optimization opportunities, or validating strategic decisions, these Generative AI enhancements ensure that insights are more accessible and actionable than ever before.
Beyond the models and analytics functions, Lynx Analytics has designed an intuitive and user- friendly interface, consistently praised by users for its ease of use. The system allows users to tailor their analysis by adjusting key parameters—such as brands, channels, time periods, and additional costs like creative expenses—while filtering data by HCP or DTC markets. With the flexibility to visualize insights in either graphical or tabular formats, users can effortlessly explore budgets, track performance trends, and simulate different investment scenarios. Whether optimizing marketing spend or predicting future outcomes, Lynx Analytics’ solution empowers clients with the tools to drive maximum commercial impact.
By implementing Lynx Analytics’ solution, the client has transformed its marketing strategy into a truly data-driven operation. Instead of relying on static reports and fragmented data, marketing teams can now interact with the system using natural language, making data exploration faster and more intuitive. They can ask questions, refine their analyses in real time, and receive AI-driven suggestions on areas of interest. This enables them to assess brand performance across all channels more efficiently, optimize spending dynamically, and present data-backed recommendations to leadership with greater confidence. The shift has had a profound impact at both the tactical and strategic levels. The holistic view of brand and portfolio performance, combined with AI-powered insights, empowers executives to reallocate resources dynamically— identifying high-performing brands that warrant additional investment and underperforming ones that need adjustments.”
The financial impact of Lynx Analytics’ solution has been significant. The client was able to reallocate over $35 million in paid media investments and redeploy an additional $25 million in unused budget, unlocking a potential revenue lift of over $100 million within the next 1-2 years. The solution is now widely adopted across the organization, with more than 500 active users—including teams from marketing, finance, leadership, and brand owners—a testament to both its usability and business value.
Beyond the initial implementation, Lynx Analytics continues to support the client by maintaining and refining the models that power the solution, ensuring its accuracy and effectiveness over time. The project was delivered in 6 months, marking a major step forward in how this pharma company approaches marketing measurements, budget planning, and commercial strategy.
With Lynx Analytics’ solution, the company now has the tools and insights needed to navigate the complexities of pharma marketing with confidence—maximizing ROI, optimizing resources, and driving measurable business impact.