Most people in pharma have at least heard of the content review process, if not played a part in it. This process goes by many names across the industry—some companies call it MLR (Medical, Legal, Regulatory), others refer to it as PRC (Promotional Review Committee), CMLR (Commercial, Medical, Legal, Regulatory), or simply promotional review. Regardless of the terminology your organization uses, every seasoned pharma professionals will admit that the MLR process is incredibly complex, partly because of the sheer number of key players involved. Each plays their own important role and is reviewing for different reasons. In this blog series, Role Call, we’re exploring the role each reviewer has in helping create and approve promotional materials—and how technology can help.  

In our exploration of the key players in the MLR process, we’ve already discussed the jobs that Medical Reviewers, Regulatory Reviewers, and Legal Reviewers have. In our last installment of our Role Call series, today we’re focusing on the Marketing Operations role–the operational backbone of MLR review. 

The Marketing Operations Professional’s job

While other stakeholders may be focused on specific concerns—legal, regulatory, medical accuracy, among others—Marketing Operations can be thought of as the orchestra conductor, keeping everyone moving forward in sync and owning the process. 

Overall, they’re tasked with ensuring that marketing materials move smoothly from submission through approval. They manage workflows, track timelines, schedule reviews, and oversee the use of content management and approval tools. Their role focuses on making sure submissions are complete, references are properly documented, and assets follow required templates and formats before reaching MLR reviewers.

Beyond managing logistics, marketing operations also ensure compliance and efficiency. They maintain version control so only approved materials are in use, archive review decisions for audit readiness, and track performance metrics like cycle times and bottlenecks. Serving as the bridge between marketing teams, agencies, and MLR reviewers, they streamline communication and help optimize the overall review process, without making content decisions themselves.

Marketing Operations’ biggest challenges

The hurdles Marketing Operations professionals face in MLR review are analytical and logistical in nature:

• Ensuring timely reviews: the MLR process is notoriously lengthy, and Marketing Operations professionals are tasked with aligning schedules and feedback to keep the review process moving forward. Plus, they’re often asked to find ways to optimize workflows and maintain MLR review platforms—making a big job even bigger. 

• Managing stakeholders: As we’ve discussed, there are many people involved in every phase of the MLR process. Marketing Operations is responsible for managing both internal and external stakeholders, such as agency partners. Often, they’re juggling stakeholders who may have limited understanding of the MLR process as a whole, so the Marketing Operations professional must keep an eye on the “big picture.” 

• Looking around corners: Marketing Operations professionals are tasked with ensuring regulatory compliance from an overall process perspective. This includes keeping accurate records and tracking submission materials. As part of this, they must also pre-screen for compliance risk, being the early “flag raiser” on issues like missing safety information and off-label promotion.

• Data and reporting responsibilities: Marketing Operations professionals are increasingly expected to serve as the data stewards of the MLR process, transforming raw workflow information into actionable insights for leadership and stakeholders. This is a critical aspect of their role for performance analytics, resource planning, and process improvements.  

How AI can help Marketing Operations professionals 

AI tools can help busy Marketing Operations professionals by acting as an intelligent assistant of sorts, taking both manual, administrative tasks and complex content management work off their plates. 

For example, AI tools can automatically identify stakeholders who should address specific types of feedback, assign tasks based on content type and reviewer expertise, and track progress using automated workflow prioritization and routing. They can also generate automated status reports, send deadline reminders, and manage version control across multiple materials simultaneously. As part of workflow optimization, AI can also identify opportunities for content reuse, suggest template optimizations, and provide real-time dashboard insights into team performance and process efficiency

On the strategic side of things, AI tools can analyze historical review patterns to predict bottlenecks and suggest optimal review sequences. It can then develop personalized training modules to help stakeholders better understand the MLR review process, reducing the need for Marketing Operations to repeatedly explain procedures. And, they can deploy predictive analytics to flag frequent compliance issues before they occur, leading to overall process improvements and shorter review cycles. 

How Revisto supports Marketing Operations

Revisto is a specialized AI tool that was purpose-built for the complex world of MLR reviews. Acting like a second set of eyes for Marketing Operations professionals, Revisto reduces rework and speeds up time-to-market by catching errors early, in all five areas causing MLR bottlenecks: 

• Identifies editorial issues like spelling, grammar, and punctuation

• Automatically substantiates claims against the right references

• Ensures balance of risks and benefits are included

• Automates regulatory compliance checks against relevant regulations, depending on country, material type, audience, and other key factors

• Reviews materials for brand and channel requirements 

And, in order to boost efficiency over time, Revisto supports content reuse by automatically extracting and maintaining modular content from previously approved materials.

Reach out today to schedule a demo and see how Revisto can help each and every MLR stakeholder through the complex and often cumbersome review process.