Novartis Sales Reps Swim with Piranhas
3 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // February 8th, 2007 // 7:12 am
Pfizer may be firing thousands of sales reps. And Wyeth may be relying more heavily on part-timers to capture territory. But not Novartis.
The drugmaker’s high performers are being treated to an ‘incentive trip’ in Brazil, where they can relax in ’sunny Rio de Janeiro’ and the Amazon jungle to experience the ‘wildlife and exotic vegetation.’
The excursion is set for May and the jetsetters will start by flying to Manaus, where a high-speed boat transfer will take them to the Ariau Jungle Towers Hotel, the only hotel complex at tree-top level in the Amazon Rainforest. Then, they can go piranha fishing.
The trip organizer is based in South Africa (you can read more about this here), so it’s not clear if the jaunt is scheduled for Novartis reps from that country or others. We wrote John Gilardi, Novartis’ corporate media relations man in Basel, but he hasn’t responded.
The trip does sound exciting, doesn’t it? Who says selling drugs can’t be fun? And those piranhas. They must be easier to catch than a doctor who wants only free meals and tickets.
[tags]Novartis, Sales Reps[/tags]
Insider
Take a look at this before taking a dip:
http://pharmagossip.blogspot.com/2007/02/todays-random-act-of-kindness.html#links
As for drug reps swimming with piranhas; how would one tell the difference?
ed
Good question. Perhaps the tails on the fish wiggle faster than the cheerleaders?
He knows
Novartis has no better drugs than comperable drugs of other big pharma. Their ARB , for instance, is no better than any other and yet became No 1 worldwide. Is it their reps. No it is their marketing machine that uses any including the dark side type of promotional activity. Thier reps are only the front line soldiers who are brain washed to do exactly what they are trained for and told to do. Some excel and get to go to trips, others just keep their jobs unlike at Pfizer. It work for them obviously. others got caught and paid up so had no $$$ for their reps’ fancy trips. Not them.