The brief

Allergan is a global specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company. Traditionally, the emphasis was on marketing products to physicians. However, Allergan’s product team felt they were missing an opportunity to build a dialogue with business owners, such as pharmacies, who stock products. This led to the idea to set up an academy where the company’s top 50 European clients, business owners and senior leaders could meet twice yearly.

The challenge

Allergan sought a partner to implement the concept and run the academy. The risk of getting it wrong is huge.

“Our team of five always had the idea of launching an academy but each of us had a different idea about how it would look. We needed a consultant to help align the ideas and enable us to achieve a common vision. It’s easy to become blinkered when you work for an organisation, so it was essential that our discussions were facilitated by an objective outsider with a fresh perspective.”

Philipp Morsbach
Senior Manager Corporate Account Program EME
Allergan

The solution

The Wizards suggested that strategist Richard Colley should work with Philipp and his senior management colleagues over a five day period to establish a vision for the Allergan Academy and to identify exactly how the experience should look and feel for an Allergan client.

“Wizard Strategist Richard Colley was the man for the job. He was a very good facilitator of our ideas and brought a structure to the process. We all have a consultancy background and high standards. I was impressed with how fast Richard managed to get a connection with the group, how swiftly he was respected. He had a good grasp of what the company was trying to achieve, unusual amongst external consultants. He also challenged us about our suggested launch timings and was right!”

Philipp Morsbach
Senior Manager Corporate Account Program EME
Allergan

The result

“We ended up with a concept for the academy including the positioning, the general approach and a document for the tender process. I particularly liked the vision statement generated which is written in the form of a testimonial from the perspective of a participant. Very impactful.”

Philipp Morsbach
Senior Manager Corporate Account Program EME
Allergan

“The consultancy resulted in clarity and agreement – a fast track to making decisions. It also meant that the academy has a clear focus from the outset, a sound recipe for success.”

Richard Colley
Strategic Consultant
The Wizards Network