Building meaningful pharma brands through strategic insight

Some pharmaceutical leaders still see positioning as the creative flourish at the end of brand planning, but it is time that changed. It should be the strategic thread running through every decision, from early clinical development to commercial execution, defining the brand’s role in the market and why it matters to those whose choices will shape its success.

At Uptake, we see positioning as one of the highest-leverage tools in the brand planning toolkit. It determines how a product is understood, where it fits, how it is remembered and why it matters. Done well, it provides focus, prioritisation and alignment across a brand’s life cycle.

Our approach is built around curiosity and five critical questions designed to connect patient, HCP and payer insights to the decisions that drive behaviour. This creates a meaningful role for the brand in the competitive context and lays the foundation for a focused, compelling strategy.

1. Who is it for?
Positioning starts by understanding those who make, influence or experience treatment decisions – patients, physicians, nurses, payers, pharmacists and carers. We identify the most critical segments and uncover the emotional, psychological and situational drivers behind prescribing patterns, treatment choices and access decisions.

2. What is it?
We define the brand’s role within current practice – beyond MoA and clinical data – by identifying unmet needs in daily care and how the brand might address them. This means mapping patient journeys, system barriers and real-world challenges to pinpoint where the brand can create value.

3. Where should it be used?
Clarity on the brand’s place in the treatment pathway is essential – line of therapy, biomarker eligibility, setting of care, patient profile. We consider how stakeholders interpret the same data and what must be true for the brand to earn its intended role.

4. What makes it different?
Differentiation means being recognisably distinct. We explore rational and emotional differentiators, map competitor claims and stakeholder expectations, and identify a credible space the brand can occupy.

5. Why should they believe?
The strongest positioning is built on truth. We define the ‘reasons to believe’ – clinical trial data, real-world evidence, expert validation and narrative framing – so stakeholders have confidence to trust and advocate for the brand.

Great positioning is grounded in behavioural insight. Before writing statements, it is critical to invest in understanding how stakeholders think and feel about the disease, treatment landscape and decisions they face. This can be done by combining AI-enabled social listening, ethnographic interviews, behavioural mapping and facilitated co-creation to uncover motivations and barriers.

This collaborative process engages cross-functional teams in practical, agile workshops to test and refine thinking, creating shared ownership and ensuring the final positioning is aligned, actionable and ready for implementation.

Positioning is not a standalone exercise. It should guide decisions on segmentation and targeting, inform value proposition development, shape messaging and channel strategy, and steer stakeholder engagement and measurement.

We embed positioning into the broader brand planning journey so that it informs not just what is said but what is done – from internal communications and field team training to omnichannel campaigns, evidence generation and payer value narratives.

Given the pace of change in pharma, positioning must be flexible and reviewed regularly as new data emerges, or competitors move. The brand’s strategic role should evolve while staying aligned with its ambition and market reality.

Positioning enables brands to lead, not follow. This is crucial in complex therapy areas such as oncology, immunology and rare diseases, where treatment decisions are high stakes. Brands that earn attention, belief and advocacy through strong positioning are the ones that succeed.

From our work across therapeutic areas, we know that ‘positioning with purpose’ builds alignment across functions, confidence in decision-making and differentiation in-market – ultimately helping brands make a meaningful difference for the patients they serve.