How a top 20 pharma company improved congress outcomes with Onomi

Situation

Pharmaceutical companies invest heavily in medical congresses, with expenses ranging from $500,000 to over $5 million per tier-one event. Despite the investment, companies face a critical challenge: the inability to measure and maximize the return on their congress participation.

A top 20 pharmaceutical company approached Onomi to get more value from its congress participation. They wanted an end-to-end solution that captured HCP interactions before, during, and after the congress, generated first-party data to equip reps with insights and next best actions, and integrated fully into their CRM for congress effectiveness measurement.

Challenge

• Decentralized operations — each congress used different methodologies, tools, and third-party agencies, producing inconsistent data collection across medical, commercial, and business operations
• Lack of measurable outcomes — aggregated, anonymized metrics such as heatmaps or hospitality-unit usage provided no actionable insight or effective ROI measure
• Defend the spend — budget pressure kept increasing, with no accurate ROI measure to defend congress investments

These challenges left the company without visibility over congress activities, making it difficult to assess impact or plan strategically.

“It is so crucial for us with the speed at which things happen onsite to be able to seamlessly do updates without our participants even noticing. The experience needs to be personalized regardless of how many attendees you have.”

— Global Congresses Platform Lead, top 20 pharmaceutical company

Solution

• Consistent methodology and tools — standardized processes across all congresses, regardless of location or third-party agency
• An engagement layer they own — engagement data captured across every HCP interaction stage: booth lead capture, symposia, HCP hubs, and onsite appointments
• Tailored experiences — personalized HCP agendas to increase engagement and participation
• Integrated data management — every interaction on a single platform, with real-time analysis and CRM integration for follow-up actions

Implementation

The Onomi solution rolled out across multiple top-tier congresses: a standardized operational framework for all events, training and certification for third-party agencies, and integration with existing CRM systems for seamless data flow.

“We used Onomi for personalized agenda creation, sharing conference logistics, in-session interactivity, gamification, networking enablement, participation tracking, real-time communication, and data collection. It truly powers our entire conference experience and is the backbone of how our participants successfully navigate the event.”

— Global Congresses Platform Lead, top 20 pharmaceutical company

Results

• Increased HCP engagement: interactions at congresses up 31%, with satellite symposium attendance rising to 65% and HCP hub activation rates reaching 80%
• Actionable insights: a real-time dashboard for monitoring congress activities and making data-driven decisions
• Enhanced feedback collection: comprehensive feedback across touchpoints, improving interaction quality and attendee satisfaction
• Strategic goal setting: goals set and monitored across all congress teams

Conclusion

Onomi proved an invaluable tool for managing and optimizing congress investments. A unified method for managing engagement, collecting data, and analyzing performance improved immediate congress outcomes and refined the company’s overall event strategy.

Deployment: Onomi Congress Excellence Suite — Field Force Congress Hub, HCP Congress Hub, Symposium Web App, pre- and post-congress webinars, Veeva integration, Salesforce integration. Company size: 50,000–100,000 employees.