Case study 03 · Insights · Strategy · Execution

Stress-testing launch strategy, and pulling it through to local markets.

A global launch into a major, hyper-competitive therapeutic area that was new to most of the client team.

Same wind. Same course. Precise positioning and powerful pull-through decide the race.
WHAT THRIVE DID

Strategy, tested before it was final.

The client was entering one of the industry’s most competitive therapeutic areas, with a team that had never launched in it. The strategy had to hold, and the organization had to believe it, before the market tested both.

Global cross-functional launch strategy
Built with the client’s cross-functional team, focused on the first launch region, Europe: where to play, how to win, and how to configure for a market that punishes hesitation.
Competitor guidebooks and deep competitive intelligence
A deep-dive guidebook for each major competitor: pipeline, positioning, likely playbook, and the moves they make when challenged. The intelligence that made the simulation real.
Launch Simulation 1: Competitive Strategy: competitive simulation at L-20
A two-day competitive simulation: 90 leaders from 17 countries playing the competition, with corporate leadership on the judging panel. The teams challenged the draft strategy the way the market would.
Strategy 2.0
The launch strategy refined on what the simulation surfaced: sharper positioning, closed gaps, and prepared responses for the moves that mattered most in the room.
Launch Simulation 2: Local Market Launch Readiness: local market launch simulation at L-10
A second two-day simulation: 110 leaders from 15 countries, in eight launch teams working on localizing the global strategy to four market archetypes. Day one localized the strategy and its activation; day two pressure-tested it against disruptions and judging-panel wild cards.
The competitor the client initially didn't want to include turned out to be the main one they will compete with. Without that insight, the strategy would have had a critical blind spot.
Key insight moment
35% → 95%
Market understanding, top-2-box, before and after.
25% → 90%
Confident facing the competition, before and after the launch simulation.
87%
Discovered risks or opportunities not previously considered.
NPS 90
World-class. Anything above 80 qualifies.
Launch Simulation participant feedback surveys.
“
The insights derived during the simulation help us to refocus our strategy and tactical plans on the most important success factors and risks.
Country General Manager · Top 40 Global Pharma
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