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Post by patten1962 on Dec 22, 2018 10:57:52 GMT -5
Imagine picking a state or region in the US which has:
- good insurance coverage for Afrezza - money - positive attitude toward technology, such as CGM - willing to be proactive about health issues.
Put Afrezza there in concentration, through ads, sales reps, and promotions. Spend millions in that one area to create a critical mass of Afrezza users and Afrezza prescribers. IMHO, the nation would follow. It's funny, I asked last week or so, what states had the best or most Afrezza sales. No one really (IMHO) took it as a serious question. Other than a few comments no one answered or talked about it. I find your comment very interesting.
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Post by patten1962 on Dec 22, 2018 11:17:04 GMT -5
Sales people matter and more so at a startup. The barriers Mannkind faces are significant but good sales people in the current situation will produce more revenue than mediocre ones. Some of the LinkedIn profiles are less than impressive. Hard to get A player to leave stable company for speculative and more so if there is a non-working spouse and little mouths to feed. Challenge is how to recruit the A people when resources are limited and the answer is to sell the vision. Point to ponder - given managed care challenges, prior auth challenges, pediatric study not yet complete, some compelling data but not overwhelmingly powerful slam dunk data, could the company be running commercialization efforts in a controlled manner knowing that there is only so much that can be accomplished in the current environment, ie marginal benefit of additional headcount or other money spent has limited potential return. Could it be there are bigger commercial strategies and tactics to be implemented in the future when the barriers (payors etc) are less great than today? No answer just something to think about. If the skies opened up tomorrow and someone put $120mm into Mannkind's checking account they could hire a bunch of people but there would only be so much productivity they could get out of them without big changes in payor contracting, prior auth etc. Physician awareness / sentiment would change at a more rapid pace and that would help but the payor issues would take time not to mention push back from competitors. Afrezza growth has been slow and I am assuming, given Mike's background the growth given limited resources and things mentioned above is as good is it can be but its not fast enough. $40mm in net US sales for 2019 won't cut it. If he can get it > $70mm for the US in '19, at least the burn rate would no longer be an issue. Too many unknowns, hurry up and wait. About a year and a 1/2 ago I applied for a sales position with Mannkind in the state of Connecticut. I was denied the job which is fine, they have the right to do this. From a very personal standpoint I thought they made a mistake not hiring me. I had 10 years experience selling medical devices and was very successful. At 1 point I was number 2 in the country in sales and this was working part time while maintaining a full time job working in the Cardiac Cath lab. I arrived at my interview 5 days post op. Had to wear shorts because I could not put on pants over my large bandage on my leg. I chose not to cancel the interview. I was fearful I would not get a second chance. I was told I did not receive the job because they hired someone in my area with more expertise than I had. I understood the decision but I was puzzled because I have many relationships with physicians and many of them would have given me scripts because of the trust they have in me. A few weeks after I was denied the job I get a call from the sales manager who did not hire me and he asked me to help his new sales rep get in to see the endocrinologist at my hospital. I found this to be bizarre because I was not worthy of a position but yet you ask me to help the person you hire over me. As a shareholder I wanted to help him but as the person denied the job you can imagine what went through my head. Why am I bringing this up now? Look at the stock price. Look at the scripts. I honestly believe I could have gotten hundreds of scripts written in the year and a 1/2 that I would have been employed as a salesperson. Mannkind needs to hire people with relationships to physicians or partner with an established company. Partnership is what I believe is going to happen
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Post by porkini on Dec 22, 2018 12:10:42 GMT -5
Imagine picking a state or region in the US which has:
- good insurance coverage for Afrezza - money - positive attitude toward technology, such as CGM - willing to be proactive about health issues.
Put Afrezza there in concentration, through ads, sales reps, and promotions. Spend millions in that one area to create a critical mass of Afrezza users and Afrezza prescribers. IMHO, the nation would follow. It's funny, I asked last week or so, what states had the best or most Afrezza sales. No one really (IMHO) took it as a serious question. Other than a few comments no one answered or talked about it. I find your comment very interesting. Okay, so just talking here... I have no idea if MNKD is doing what is suggested by concentration, but recently there were a lot of open positions taken down off the MNKD "Career Board" listing. Since then, you can see for yourself the "Territory Business Manager" positions posted and the concentration ( rew12.ultipro.com/MAN1011/JobBoard/listjobs.aspx?Page=Browse): Post Date Requisition# Title City State 12/18/2018 18-0084 Territory Business Manager (Modesto, CA) Modesto CA 12/18/2018 18-0083 Territory Business Manager (West Chester, PA) West Chester PA 12/18/2018 18-0082 Territory Business Manager (Memphis, TN) Memphis TN 12/18/2018 18-0081 Territory Business Manager (Knoxville, TN) Knoxville TN 12/18/2018 18-0080 Territory Business Manager (Buffalo, NY) Buffalo NY 11/28/2018 18-0078 Territory Business Manager (Nashville, TN) Nashville TN
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2018 13:53:17 GMT -5
It's funny, I asked last week or so, what states had the best or most Afrezza sales. No one really (IMHO) took it as a serious question. Other than a few comments no one answered or talked about it. I find your comment very interesting. Okay, so just talking here... I have no idea if MNKD is doing what is suggested by concentration, but recently there were a lot of open positions taken down off the MNKD "Career Board" listing. Since then, you can see for yourself the "Territory Business Manager" positions posted and the concentration ( rew12.ultipro.com/MAN1011/JobBoard/listjobs.aspx?Page=Browse): Post Date Requisition# Title City State 12/18/2018 18-0084 Territory Business Manager (Modesto, CA) Modesto CA 12/18/2018 18-0083 Territory Business Manager (West Chester, PA) West Chester PA 12/18/2018 18-0082 Territory Business Manager (Memphis, TN) Memphis TN 12/18/2018 18-0081 Territory Business Manager (Knoxville, TN) Knoxville TN 12/18/2018 18-0080 Territory Business Manager (Buffalo, NY) Buffalo NY 11/28/2018 18-0078 Territory Business Manager (Nashville, TN) Nashville TN I wouldn't invest too much time evaluating jobs posted or taken down on the website. That info is often neither timely or accurate. Partnership announcements and associated terms are important as are the weekly Rx numbers for Afrezza. These two things move the needle, everything else is noise.
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Post by sayhey24 on Dec 22, 2018 14:08:23 GMT -5
Patten - was the endo seen and does the endo now prescribe afrezza?
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Post by porkini on Dec 22, 2018 14:24:45 GMT -5
Okay, so just talking here... I have no idea if MNKD is doing what is suggested by concentration, but recently there were a lot of open positions taken down off the MNKD "Career Board" listing. Since then, you can see for yourself the "Territory Business Manager" positions posted and the concentration ( rew12.ultipro.com/MAN1011/JobBoard/listjobs.aspx?Page=Browse): Post Date Requisition# Title City State 12/18/2018 18-0084 Territory Business Manager (Modesto, CA) Modesto CA 12/18/2018 18-0083 Territory Business Manager (West Chester, PA) West Chester PA 12/18/2018 18-0082 Territory Business Manager (Memphis, TN) Memphis TN 12/18/2018 18-0081 Territory Business Manager (Knoxville, TN) Knoxville TN 12/18/2018 18-0080 Territory Business Manager (Buffalo, NY) Buffalo NY 11/28/2018 18-0078 Territory Business Manager (Nashville, TN) Nashville TN I wouldn't invest too much time evaluating jobs posted or taken down on the website. That info is often neither timely or accurate. Partnership announcements and associated terms are important as are the weekly Rx numbers for Afrezza. These two things move the needle, everything else is noise. Dammit, "Does not utilize time wisely." Been on my report cards since kindergarten, chit, did it again!
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Post by patten1962 on Dec 23, 2018 0:05:47 GMT -5
Patten - was the endo seen and does the endo now prescribe afrezza? I do not believe so.
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Post by phantomfj on Dec 23, 2018 13:18:26 GMT -5
Has anyone posted the possibility that the $$$ will be used to fund the airing of a new TV commercial and revamped DTC campaign? Perhaps the rush stems from early FDA clearance of a new ad and the start of the NFL post season playoffs in a few weeks? Just curious. What I'm curious about is their advertising at hockey games. I mean, I guess it's better than nothing, but what percentage of the population attends or pays attention. Only around 5% of the population follows hockey -- thehockeynews.com/news/article/hockey-ranks-6th-in-popularity-survey-harris-pollI would guess 100% of people At a hockey game follow hockey..........using that logic why advertise at all?
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Post by tomtabb on Dec 23, 2018 14:47:34 GMT -5
I would guess 100% of people At a hockey game follow hockey..........using that logic why advertise at all? You need to know 1) the number of people at a hockey game 2) the number that are or know diabetics 3) the number that actually remember the ad after the game and 4) the cost of the ad in order to make at least a guesstimate as to the cost efficiency. I doubt hockey games are very cost efficient.
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Post by swanybuaya on Dec 23, 2018 16:09:17 GMT -5
I would guess 100% of people At a hockey game follow hockey..........using that logic why advertise at all? You need to know 1) the number of people at a hockey game 2) the number that are or know diabetics 3) the number that actually remember the ad after the game and 4) the cost of the ad in order to make at least a guesstimate as to the cost efficiency. I doubt hockey games are very cost efficient. Mannkind isn't the first company to ever advertise at a hockey game. And sports in general are one of the few mediums that consumers watch live. Which means they don't fast forward through the commercials.
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Post by rossomalley on Dec 23, 2018 18:20:49 GMT -5
Wasn’t there some kind of JDRF tie in on these nights? MNKD could be earning points with them, which would be worth a lot more than a sports event audience.
That being said, I agree MNKD seems to be misdirecting its very limited ad budget. T2’s who waste their lives watching Hallmark Channel, GSN, and pro sports are not high percentage likely going to be kind of people who take time to find out how to get and properly use a non-SOC drug like Afrezza. They should be focusing ad dollars on media targeting under-30 T1s, college students, and also upper middle class since need either rich parents or gold-plated insurance to afford Afrezza. But that’s a big enough niche to get ball rolling. Once awareness and MD support higher they can switch to old school BP playbook.
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Post by nylefty on Dec 23, 2018 19:26:02 GMT -5
Wasn’t there some kind of JDRF tie in on these nights? MNKD could be earning points with them, which would be worth a lot more than a sports event audience. That being said, I agree MNKD seems to be misdirecting its very limited ad budget. T2’s who waste their lives watching Hallmark Channel, GSN, and pro sports are not high percentage likely going to be kind of people who take time to find out how to get and properly use a non-SOC drug like Afrezza. They should be focusing ad dollars on media targeting under-30 T1s, college students, and also upper middle class since need either rich parents or gold-plated insurance to afford Afrezza. But that’s a big enough niche to get ball rolling. Once awareness and MD support higher they can switch to old school BP playbook. I seriously doubt that MannKind is knowingly buying time on the Hallmark Channel or GSN. I strongly suspect that it's buying cheap Run Of Schedule spots that the cable systems can run whenever they want, rather than in specific programs. To buy time in programs that the desirable demographic groups watch you need to pay premium prices.
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Post by rossomalley on Dec 23, 2018 21:31:59 GMT -5
Wasn’t there some kind of JDRF tie in on these nights? MNKD could be earning points with them, which would be worth a lot more than a sports event audience. That being said, I agree MNKD seems to be misdirecting its very limited ad budget. T2’s who waste their lives watching Hallmark Channel, GSN, and pro sports are not high percentage likely going to be kind of people who take time to find out how to get and properly use a non-SOC drug like Afrezza. They should be focusing ad dollars on media targeting under-30 T1s, college students, and also upper middle class since need either rich parents or gold-plated insurance to afford Afrezza. But that’s a big enough niche to get ball rolling. Once awareness and MD support higher they can switch to old school BP playbook. I seriously doubt that MannKind is knowingly buying time on the Hallmark Channel or GSN. I strongly suspect that it's buying cheap Run Of Schedule spots that the cable systems can run whenever they want, rather than in specific programs. To buy time in programs that the desirable demographic groups watch you need to pay premium prices. That’s a good point about why MNKD ads are showing up where they are but I’m not suggesting ads on cable TV, I don’t think our golden ‘early adopter’ audience watches cable TV much at all. They may watch Netflix, but we can’t reach them there. So MNKD needs to up their absurdly bad social media game (which is much cheaper anyway) and start sending reps to college diabetes meetups instead of buying lunch for nurses at offices of doctors who won’t prescribe Afrezza anyway. And unless Garrett Ingram is doing some amazing things behind scenes that we can’t see, fire her lazy ass.
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Post by sportsrancho on Dec 23, 2018 21:46:42 GMT -5
YES!!
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Post by babaoriley on Dec 24, 2018 1:27:39 GMT -5
Vicious, Sports, vicious!!
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