mXm launches event ROI Monitor

mXm Medical Communications has launched a new tool to measure the return on investment from communications activities at medical meetings.

Its ROI Monitor is aimed at improving the planning and validation of marketing programmes at exhibitions and congresses, with a particular focus on international events.

On average, top 10 pharma companies spend around €160 million a year on a variety of event marketing activities, but returns are rarely measured.

mXm managing director Peter Dommett said: "Brand managers are under even greater pressure to demonstrate rational planning, to quantify the impact of their programmes and to demonstrate accountability when making budget decisions.

"With a better understanding of ROI analysis, pharmaceutical companies can develop and implement more effective marketing communications programmes."

The ROI Monitor service first evaluates a company's event marketing and then, after a congress has taken place, measures potential prescribing gains or losses among attendees.

It does this by combining a web survey for attendees with mXm's ROI model, the results of which are fed into a computer dashboard program for easy display and analysis.

Dommett said mXm has spent two years developing and refining its new service. "Theres nothing around that offers such a pragmatic approach in such an easy to digest format," he added.

The communications agency gave one pharmaceutical company early use of the ROI Monitor to evaluate their activities at a number of international congresses.

A senior marketing manager at that firm commented: "This is the first time I have been able to clearly demonstrate to senior management that the decision to invest a major part of the brand marketing budget in this meeting has had an impact.

"ROI Monitor has been a great innovation for us. We are using the information provided by this tool as a benchmark for future activities and to prioritise budgets for next year."