ATTRIBUTE SUMM®

When do you need SUMM®?

You need SUMM® when you have many questions about how to become more successful in competing within your product category, such as:
» Which attributes should I emphasize to increase brand sales potential?
» Which 3-4 attributes in combination will work best as a positioning strategy?

 

» How do I co-position multiple brands to optimize my portfolio?
» Which lifecycle ideas offer the largest growth potential?
» What is the potential impact of new pipeline brands (mine and competitors)?
» How would their potential be affected by different clinical trial outcomes?

How does SUMM® differ from simulation tools such as Conjoint and Discrete Choice?
» SUMM® has far greater attribute capacity than Conjoint/Discrete Choice models. SUMM® study can cover 150 attribute levels, as compared to 30-45 for Conjoint, which enables you to cover all the specific issues that affect choice.   » SUMM® incorporates both attribute utilities and subjective brand perceptions for each decision-maker, resulting in shares that are highly correlated with market shares. Conjoint models make assumptions about which attribute level describes each brand best.
How does SUMM® work?

SUMM® utilizes a unique, unbounded, behavioral measurement scale to measure the utility of each attribute level, which eliminates order bias and increases discrimination between attributes. Traditional numerical and semantic rating scales often generate a top rating early in the interview process, thereby not allowing a respondent to tell you if he feels the next attribute is more important.

 

SUMM® creates a database that allows you to simulate the potential sales impact of product, marketing, and lifecycle strategies that you are considering, or you believe a competitor is considering.

What do you get from SUMM®?

In addition to providing actionable simulation results, SUMM® provides a detailed descriptive picture of your product category. For each of attribute, you will see how physicians and/or patients perceive your brand, relative to competitors, among your key target segments:

Perception example: Duration of action

Conclusion:  Brands A and C are almost universally recognized for QD 24 hr dosing, while about a third of physicians see Brand B as lasting 12 hours.

You will also receive a “Sensitivity” Analysis, showing how changes in perception of your brand on each of the 20-30 attributes (150 levels) is likely to impact your brand’s sales potential.

Disguised Sensitivity Analysis: Two segments

 

Simulations are easily input into the desktop simulator, and can involve one or more brands, and perceptual changes on one or more attributes. The output shows the potential share impact of the simulated changes. Here is an example of disguised simulation output, taken from a SUMM® study designed to develop co-positioning strategies for two client brands within a treatment area:

Impact of multi-attribute positionning strategies for each Brand
                                     Chooser Share Gain

                   Is Peace + Current the best co-positioning?

Potential impact of 25 co-positioning strategies on portfolio 
Top 6 and Lowest Shown

Using the Dosing Strategy for Brand A doesn’t hurt Brand B as much as Peace, yielding a better co-positioning strategy for the portfolio.

AplusA expertise with SUMM® Choice Modeling

By working with AplusA, you will be able to benefit from 30 years of experience in conducting SUMM® choice modeling studies among physicians and patients in a broad range of therapeutic areas.

The following shows the relationship between the shares generated by the SUMM® model and Respondent First Choice Brand:

Criterion vs. SUMM® share
For 10 diverse SUMM® studies

 

Here is an example of the relationship between SUMM® and Reported Rx Shares:

Relationship of SUMM® chooser shares to reported RX shares: cancer example

Conclusion: The correlation of physicians’ reported Rx Share vs. Chooser Share based on their needs and perceptions is 0.98.