Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Thomas Ebeling, the former head of NVS’ pharma
business who was just demoted to head of the
consumer-health business, has come full circle. He
started his career in consumer products with Pepsi
before becoming head of NVS’ consumer-health
operation the first time. This blurb is from 2001.

http://www.businessweek.com/2001/01_10/b3722111.htm

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Ex-Pepsi Exec Brings New Flair to Drug Sales

By Kerry Capell
March 5, 2001

Buzz. Brand recognition. Point of sale. Focus groups. Any veteran of the consumer marketing wars would recognize these terms—they're all part of the lingo of selling. And as a Pepsi-Cola Co. exec, Thomas Ebeling used all the marketing skills he could muster. In one stint, he even turned around Pepsi's woefully underperforming German operation.

But these days, the German-born, 42-year-old Ebeling isn't promoting Pepsi anymore—or potato chips to teenagers or facial tissues to working moms, for that matter. He has found far greener pastures: the high-pressure, high-margin world of drugs. As CEO of the pharmaceutical business at Switzerland's Novartis (NVS) since July, he has created a marketing machine that has given a nice boost to earnings…

''Ebeling has put a much greater emphasis on building global brands,'' says Andrew Baum, European pharmaceuticals analyst at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. in London.

Novartis Chairman Daniel Vasella had already started restructuring the marketing operation before Ebeling arrived. When he drafted Ebeling from the company's consumer-products division, some senior managers found the situation ''awkward,'' says Vasella.

But Ebeling knew how to get results, and Novartis needed a boost after years of mediocre performance. Besides, says Ebeling, selling cola isn't all that different from selling pharmaceuticals: ''Both are extremely competitive markets.'' And both require an in-depth knowledge of consumer behavior.

…One of Ebeling's first moves was to figure out what doctors thought about Novartis products. He discovered physicians were getting bombarded by pitches from his rivals and generally gave each pitch about two minutes of their attention. So he paid doctors to meet with Novartis' detail teams, then ran thousands of sales pitches by them, honing them to make them stand out.
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