PHARMACEUTICAL MARKETING

PETER NUWAGIRA
LECTURER-PHARM DEPT

April 19th 2024

 Course Overview
• Definition of terms
• Marketing exchanges
• The Marketing concept
• Market Planning
• Market Research
• Market Analysis & Analysis of Trends
• Types of Demands and their
corresponding Marketing tasks
• Market Segmentation
• Product Life cycle
 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS &
CONCEPTS
1. Marketing :
• A process of problem solving in which marketers
attempt to identify and meet the needs of the
customers.
• Exchanges between people in which something of
value is traded for the purpose of satisfying needs
and wants.

2. Needs: Goods or services that people must have to

survive i.e. food, water, clothing, transportation and
shelter.

3. Wants : Goods or services that people desire but

are not absolutely essential for survival. E.g. toys
and games, entertainment, jewelry, mall shopping.
4. Demands : A demand is a consumer’s desire and
willingness to pay a price for a specific good or service.
• Holding all other factors constant, the price of a good or
service increases as its demand increases and vice versa.
It is a strong need for something.

5. Value : The monetary worth of a product/service as used

in accounting, economics, marketing or mathematics.

• Items of value in transactions are anything that meets a

need or want.

• Marketing deals with transactions of value (does not have

to be money or tangible products e.g. information).

• Customer value is the difference between the values

the customer gains from owning and using a product and
the costs of obtaining the products.

• Customers often don’t judge product value and costs

accurately or objectively. They act on perceived value.
6.A market: A set of all actual and potential buyers of a product or
service.

• A market can be categorized with reference to the fraction of the

overall population having preference for a given product or
service;

a.Potential market - Includes anyone who can conceivably use

the product/service. E.g. Children for pediatric formulations.
• Within a potential market there are the target market & actual
market.

i.Target market consists of those people in the potential market

who are most attractive to marketers e.g. sick children for
pediatric formulations.
• Characteristics of target market: Identifiable, accessibility,
profitability, compatibility.

ii.Actual market- Those people who actually consume the

products or services. It is usually much smaller than the target
market e.g. sick children who have been prescribed specific
7. Market segmentation: The process of grouping
consumers with similar wants or needs into clusters so that
the pharmacy can respond by tailoring its goods and
services to those clusters.

8. Satisfaction: A customer’s satisfaction depends on a

products perceived performance in delivering value relative
to a buyer’s expectation.
• If the products performance falls short of the customers’
expectations, the buyer is dissatisfied.

9. Quality: Quality can be defined as “freedom from defects”.

Customer satisfaction is closely related to quality.
• Quality has a direct impact on product performance. Total
Quality Management (TQM) programs are designed to
constantly improve the quality of products, services and
marketing processes.

10.Exchange : Without exchanging something of value,

peoples’ needs or wants cannot be satisfied. For marketing
to occur, there must be an exchange or potential for an
11.Transaction: Business deal in which goods, services
or money are passed from one person to another.
• A trade between two parties that involves things of
value, agreed – upon conditions, a time of
agreement and place of agreement.

12.Products : This is anything that can be offered to

the market to satisfy a need or a want. The concept is
not limited to physical products only. Examples of
Products;
o An object e.g. a syringe, A service e.g. cholesterol screening,
o An activity e.g. a poison prevention campaign,
o A person e.g. Bob the clinical pharmacist
o A place e.g. a pharmacy
o An organization e.g. The PSU
o A concept e.g. pharmaceutical care.
13.Service: These are activities or benefits offered for sale.
There are essentially intangible and do not result into
ownership of anything. A service is an example of a product.

14.Relationship marketing : This is the process of creating,

maintaining and enhancing strong value laden relationships
with customers and other stakeholders.

15.Positioning is the development of a service and a

marketing mix to occupy a specific place in the minds of
customers within target markets.

17.Marketing myopia: Shortsightedness of the marketeers

who become preoccupied with selling the tangible product
while failing to consider the needs of the consumer.
• Exists when pharmacists see themselves as providers
of drugs rather than managers of drug-related
outcomes.
17.Total product concept: This looks at a product in
terms of three primary cpts. i.e. The Core product, the
expected product, and the augmented product.

19.The core product: Is the benefit resulting from the

bundle of tangible goods, information, and services.
• It meets the underlying need that the overall product
package satisfies. This is what the customer is really
buying. E.g. improved quality of life & not a drug.

20.The expected product: This what the customer

expects to receive from a marketeer. This is situation
specific; it varies according to the circumstances & the
ple involved.
• In pharmacy dispensing situations, the patient
expects only to receive the correct drug in
accurately labeled container with in a reasonable
time period.
21.Augmented/Differentiated pdt: Anything provided that
is beyond what the customer expected is called
Augmented product. Augmented pdt is the bundle of
tangible pdt(s), information, and services that exceeds the
customer’s minimal expectations. It's also called the
Differentiated pdt coz it differentiates one business from
the next.

• Things that augment community pharmacy services

include counseling, therapeutic monitoring, refill
reminders, telephone & internet refills, selection of non
prescription medications, patient package inserts,
compliance programs etc.

• The expected product & augmented product provide a

bundle of benefits that result in the core product.

• How a pharmacy differentiates its product from those of

competitors determines the relative value to the patient.
Thus, if a pharmacy wants to attract & keep patients, its
differentiated product should offer greater value in their
22.Production Concept - Consumers favor products
that are available and highly affordable.
• Improves production and distribution.
• Managers of production-oriented businesses
concentrate on achieving high production efficiency,
low costs, and mass distribution.

23.Product Concept- Consumers favor products that

offer the most quality, performance, and innovative
features.

24.Selling Concept- Consumers will buy products only

if the company promotes/ sells these products.
22.Marketing Concept- Focuses on needs/
wants of target markets & delivering
satisfaction better than competitors.

23.Societal Marketing Concept- Focuses on

needs/ wants of target markets & delivering
superior value.

Marketing is an act between people. It is

interested in human behavior and draws upon
the behavioral sciences i.e. psychology,
sociology, and anthropology. Marketers want
to know why people act the way they do &
how they can be influenced.
 MARKETING EXCHANGES

Transactional Marketing:

Marketers who view exchanges as isolated & unrelated

events.
The goal of each party is to maximize the benefit
received 4rm each transaction.
It’s important 2 drive a hard bargain in each exchange
coz d marketer has a single opportunity 2 maximize
profit.
There’s no concern about future exchanges, customer
satisfaction or customer loyalty to the business.
Relationship Marketing.

Marketers who view exchanges as a series of

transactions over time.
The parties focus less on bargaining hard for deals &
more on meeting the needs of the other party.
The goal is to have transactions in which both parties
are satisfied coz satisfaction can lead 2 future business.
Relationship marketers attempt 2 cultivate relationships
over time coz they believe long term benefits will be
greater than benefits of transactional marketing.
Pharmacists have to choose btn transactional and
Relationship marketing.

Goal of Pharmacists who practice transactional

marketing is to complete the sale and get the
patient out of the door. Pharmacist in relationship
marketing look at each interaction as one step in
the process of building & strengthening a
relationship.
• The manner in which pharmacists approach marketing
problems determines how marketing benefits patients.
Pharmacists choose their marketing strategies on the
basis of their assumptions about the relative
importance of;
1.The pharmacy business (profiatability)
2.Customers/patients (well being)
3.Society (overall impact on society)

• Every pharmacist is a marketer.

• With this broad definition of marketing, nearly
everything pharmacist do in their jobs is a marketing
activity. Therefore, successful pharmacist are good
marketers.
 THE MARKETING CONCEPT
• A philosophy that firms should analyse the needs of their
customers and then make decisions to satisfy those
needs, better than the competition.

• Asserts that the main task of an organization is to

determine the needs and wants of targeted customers
and satisfy them through the design, communication,
pricing and delivery of appropriate and competitive
products and services.

• The consumer is at the Centre of the operation, the pivot

point about which the business moves to achieve the
balanced best interests of all concerned. The firm
creates products and services with peoples needs in
mind.

• Other concepts are : Production approach, Sales

approach, Product approach, “ I’m the expert” approach.
 X-stics of the marketing concept
1. Long run profitability
• Consumer orientation does not mean slavery to
consumers every whim.
• Implicit in the marketing concept is the assumption of
continuity of the firm and the firm must make profit to
survive in the long run.
• Concept also argues against profitless volume or sales
volume for the sake of volume alone.

2. A cross-functional effort
• The action of people in areas like production, credit and
research and development may affect an organization's
marketing efforts and vice versa.
• Problems are mostly certain to arise from lack of an
integrated companywide effort.
• The concept stresses a cross functional perspective to
achieve consumer orientation and long term profitability.
3. Keeping customers and building relationships

• Keeping customers is as equally important as

getting them. Marketers want customers for life.
• Effective marketers work to build long term
relationships with their customers.
• The term relationship marketing communicates the
idea that a major goal of marketing is to build long
term relationships with parties that contribute to the
company’s success.
Role of marketing in pharmaceutical
practice
1. Awareness: Marketing creates awareness of the
brand/drugs

2. Creates comprehension of the brand/product so

clients understand the benefits, differentiate the
product from competition.

3. Conviction: Helps customers by creating a bridge

between knowing and doing. Customers are able to
make decisions.

4. Customers are able to buy the product and lead to

increased sales.

5. Helps to position a product on the market. Improves

position and market share. Repositions competition.

6. Retains customer loyalty since it it’s a way of staying

in touch with the current customers and to give them
incentives for continued relationship with a
brand/business.
7. Can increase early adoption by providing an incentive
for a customer to try a product for the first time

8. Research concepts are transferred into practical

therapeutic tools and information is progressively
layered and made more useful to the health care system

9. It is the most organized and comprehensive system

which provides an informed choice of carefully
characterized agents to physicians

10.It assists physicians in matching drug therapy to

individual patient needs.

11.It updates the physicians about the availability, safety,

efficacy, hazards and techniques of using medicines.
 MARKETING MIX
• Describes actions that can be taken by marketers to attract& keep
customers.
• Commonly known as the 4 Ps.( i.e. Product, price, Promotion
and Place).
• Businesses compete by offering a combination of the four Ps
designed to cause customers to choose their product over a
competitor’s.

1.Product: The array of tangible goods, services, and information

offered.

2.Price is what is asked of customers in exchange for the product.

3.Promotion refers to communication designed to inform,

persuade, and remind customers about the product.

4.Place is the manner, location, and ease of access to the product.

 Other Ps

5. Physical evidence; the physical environment in

which services are provided and all tangible cues
(e.g. employee address, documentation)

6. Participants/Personnel; Personnel associated

with the provision of services including service
providers and customers.

7. Processes; policies, procedures, rules,

guidelines& workflow design.

8. Positioning; development of a favorable image in

the minds of customers.
 MARKETING PLAN.
• Definition: An organized way of continually gathering and
analyzing market data to provide the necessary information for
management to make decisions. (Kotler and Armstrong, 2008)
• A marketing plan describes what goods and services a
pharmacy will offer, at which groups its marketing efforts will
be targeted and the specific marketing activities it will
undertake.

Roles of a marketing plan.

• Provide direction for the practice to meet Organization

mission.

• Together with the objectives, aids evaluation to determine

Organization success.

• A marketing plan with clear, quantifiable objectives can

provide a feedback mechanism to change and refine plan
contents.
Contents of a marketing plan

1. An executive summary
2. The current marketing situation
3. Objectives and issues
4. Marketing strategies
5. Budgets and controls
6. Action plan
Executive summary.
• Plans for management review
• Lays main points of the marketing plan
• Contains main marketing activities of past, present
and future
• Introduces the purpose of the company

Current marketing situation

• Presents background data on the market, product,
competition and distribution.
• Should be a regular periodic examination to
establish problem areas and opportunities for
organization using the SWOT analysis.
• Entails the organization’s measurable goals within
the stipulated time for the plan and the issues that
will affect the goals.
• It will cover areas such as: sales, market share and
profits.
Marketing strategies.
• This entails how the objectives are to be
achieved keeping in mind competition.

Budgets and controls

• Entails forecast profit and loss, as well as
financial benefit from the plan.
• It covers: sales, production, personnel planning
and marketing operations.
• Control on the other hand, shows how the
progress of the process will be monitored.

Action programs
• States clearly what will be done when and by
whom.
 Steps in developing a marketing plan

• All planning processes involve the following general steps;

analysis, planning, implementation and control.

• Analysis: This is done by the use of SWOT technique

• Planning: Through strategic planning, the company

decides what it wants to do with each business unit
specific for each market, product or brand as each have
their own fate.

• Implementation: This turns strategic plans into actions.

• Control: Measuring and evaluating the results of plans

and activities, and taking corrective action to make sure
objectives are being achieved
 Implementing action plan

• While marketing plan addresses the what and the why

aspects of marketing activities, implementation
addresses the who, where, when and how aspects of
the activities.
• Implementation can be aided by Blue print of a
service Or Action plan

• Service blue print : A picture or map of a service that

allows for a better understanding of the processes
involved in its provision.

• Action plan : Is a listing of activities that need to be

completed to start a service, when and by whom they
should be completed.
 SWOT ANALYSIS
• SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats
analysis is a structural planning component that
evaluates the four elements of a project or business
venture.

• Can be carried out for a place, product, industry or

person.

• Involves specifying the objective of the business

venture or project and identifying the internal and
external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to
the objective.

• The degree to which the internal environment of the firm

matches with the external environment is expressed by
the concept of strategic fit.
1. Strengths: These are characteristics of the business
or project that give it and advantage over others.

• A firm's strengths are its resources and capabilities

that can be used for developing a competitive
advantage.

• These describe the positive attributes, tangible and

intangible, internal to your organization and are within
your control (What you do well)

Examples of such strengths include:

1.Patents
2.Strong brand names
3.Good reputation among customers
4.Cost advantages from proprietary know-how
5.Exclusive access to natural resources
6.Good access to distribution networks
2. Weaknesses: These are characteristics that place
the business or project to a disadvantage relative to
others.

• The absence of certain strengths are a weakness. e.g.

1. Lack of patent protection
2. A weak brand name
3. Poor reputation among customers
4. High cost structure
5. Lack of access to best natural resources
6. Lack of access to key distribution channels

• In some cases, a weakness may be the flip side of a

strength. e.g. a firm has a large amount of
manufacturing capacity.
• While this capacity may be considered a strength that
competitors do not share, it also may be a considered
a weakness if the large investment in manufacturing
capacity prevents the firm from reacting quickly to
changes in the strategic environment.
3. Opportunities: These are elements that the
business or project could exploit to its advantage.


These are external attractive factors that represent
reasons your business is likely to prosper.

• The external environmental analysis may reveal

certain new opportunities for profit and growth. e.g.
1. An unfulfilled customer need
2. Arrival of new technologies
3. Loosening of restrictive regulations
4. Removal of international trade barriers
4.Threats: These are elements in the environment that
could cause trouble for the business or project.

Threats include external negative factors beyond your
control that could place your strategy or the business
itself at risk.

You have no control over them, but you may benefit
by having contingency plans to address them should
they occur.

• Changes in the external environmental also may

present threats to the firm. E.g.
1. shifts in consumer tastes away from the firm's
products
2. emergence of substitute products
3. new regulations
4. increased trade barriers
 Take Note:
• A firm should not necessarily pursue the more lucrative
opportunities (overextending). Rather, it may have a better
chance at developing a competitive advantage by identifying
a fit between the firm's strengths and upcoming
opportunities.

• In some cases, the firm can overcome a weakness in order to

prepare itself to pursue a compelling opportunity.

• Choose a specific purpose for your SWOT analysis.

• Realize that SWOT analysis is a subjective process;
different people may come up with different SWOT
analyses for the same stated purpose. Therefore, is not a
´be-all´ and ´end-all´ of business planning.

• To develop strategies that take into account the SWOT profile,

a matrix of these factors can be constructed. The SWOT
matrix, can be changed into what is known as the TOWS
Matrix.
 SWOT / TOWS Matrix

TOWS Strengths Weaknesses

Analysis

Opportunities S-O W-O

Strategies Strategies

Threats S-T W-T

Strategies Strategies
 SWOT / TOWS Matrix
• S-O strategies pursue opportunities that fit well the
company's strengths.

• W-O strategies overcome weaknesses to pursue

opportunities.

• S-T strategies identify ways that the firm can use its
strengths to reduce its vulnerability to external
threats.

• W-T strategies make a defensive plan to prevent the

firm's weaknesses from making it susceptible to
external threats.
SWOT Interactions
 MARKETING TASKS
•Although marketing consists of many activities, its
ultimate task is to influence demand thru’ promotional
communications, price & service.

•Marketers influence demand in a way that helps

achieve specific marketing objectives.

•This doesn’t always mean ↑sing demand. Many times,

marketers want to decrease demand or keep it steady.

•The following sections discuss situations in which

pharmacists or other health care professionals
influence demand.
 Negative Demand.
- -ve demand describes a situation in which ple
dislike a pdt& may go to great lengths to avoid it.
e.g.
a) Many men avoid colorectal exams for screening of
colon cancer. Even when symptoms appear, ple
often postpone a visit to the physician until it’s too
late.
b) Men’s aversion to vasectomies
c) Fear for needle injections
d) etc

The marketeer’s task under conditions of –ve

demand is to practice Conversional marketing –
to change demand from –ve to +ve. This requires
the marketeer to understand why customers
dislike the pdt& develop strategies to overcome it
(e.g. education, counseling).
 No demand.
- No demand describes a market in which consumers
don’t feel a need for the product.
- Here, ple are indifferent to the pdt or they may be
uninterested.
- They don’t dislike the pdt but feel little need for it.

- For many preventive health care initiatives, there’s no

demand. With no impetus for action, ple remain
indifferent to preventive health initiatives.

- In No demand situations, Stimulational marketing is

necessary to stimulate some interest in the product.
E.g. connect the benefits of the product with the
person’s needs & interests like advertising attempts
that link drug consumption with the desire for
improved quality of life.
 Latent Demand
- This is a condition in wc there’s a strong need but
no pdt available to satisfy it. E.g. cures for cancer,
effective & easy to take weight loss pills, affordable
health insurance for everyone, drugs without
adverse effects.

- Under conditions of latent demand, marketers need

to practice Developmental marketing. This
consists of identifying unmet demand & assessing
its extent in the market place. Next, effective new
pdts & services need to be developed to meet that
latent demand.

- Pharmacists who practice developmental marketing

keep up with changes in the market place, talk to
their customers, & use their imagination to invent
new methods& pdts to meet patient needs.
Declining Demand
-Is a market situation in wc demand for a pdt/ service
is falling & is likely to continue falling. This is a phase
that even the most successful pdts reach eventually.

-Marketeers tend to impede pdt decline thru’

Remarketing. This attempts to rejuvenate demand
thru’ actions e.g. improving the pdt itself,
repackaging it in a new & appealing manner,
promoting the pdt to untapped market segments.
 Irregular demand.
- Describes a market in which undesirable fluctuations in
demand occur.
- The retail model of pharmacy practice often results in irregular
demand coz customers decide the time and place to visit their
pharmacists.

- Pharmacist shortages are more the result of irregular demand

for services than of an insufficient number of pharmacists.

- Synchromarketing is used to even out demand for pdts &

services over time. This is what marketeers do to influence
customer visits to the business. E.g. senior citizen discount
days to influence older pts to visit on slow business days.

- Pharmacists also use synchromarketing when they schedule

appointments for customers who need extensive services such
as disease mgt.
 Full Demand
- Full demand is a highly desirable situation in wc
demand is perfectly balanced to the capabilities&
wants of the marketer.

- This condition can change quickly when successful

providers let their efforts slacken. This can lead to
disappointment when customers don’t see the same
level of effort that attracted them to the business.

- A drop in demand can occur when the market place

or competition changes even when the provider’s
efforts haven’t diminished. Thus, marketeers need to
keep dynamic with the changes or else customers
are attracted to competitors.
- Maintenance marketing describes efforts
to maintain high quality products & services
and keep current with the changing desires of
customers while defending markets against
competition.

- Maintenance marketing in pharmacy practice

requires that pharmacists provide
consistently excellent services while adapting
to changes in the market place. E.g. the
demand for herbal medicines, internet
services.
 Overfull Demand
- A condition in wc demand exceeds supply.
- Although this might be an acceptable situation for a
short time, it can be disastrous over long time periods.
Businesses that face too much demand have to turn
away customers. This leads 2 dissatisfied customers
who may turn to competitors.

- Overfull demand can be due to temporary shortages of

pdts 7 staff or unexpected surges in customer
demand.

- Demarketing is a response to overfull demand. It

attempts to implement strategies that ↑se supply or
reduce demand in an acceptable manner. E.g.
increasing pdtn, raising prices, lowering quality,
reducing access.
- Managed care often practices demarketing
by ↑sing patient copayments, reducing the
convenience of services, restricting drug
availability thru’ prior authorization
programs & formularies.

- Demarketing was practiced by Pfizer after

the introduction of Viagra (slidenafil) when
tremendous media exposure caused an
explosion in demand that far exceeded the
supply of the drug. Pfizer then introduced a
high introductory price ($10 per tablet) &
restricted the distribution to US and
selected other countries.
 Unwholesome demand.

 Unwholesome demand is demand that is not in the best

interests of the customer/ society. Situations in which
there’s unwholesome demand include cigarette, illicit
drug, underage alcohol use.

 Countermarketing strategies destroy demand for

undesirable pdts. E.g. painting the pdt as undesirable, for
example messages like “Smoking kills” or “smoking isn’t
cool”.

 Countemarketing differs from demarketing coz the latter

doesn’t paint the pdt as bad.

 Countermarketing in pharmacy practice often occurs

after pharmaceutical co. representatives visit physicians.
Pharmacists counter-market when they counter detail
physicians to convince them not to prescribe un
formulary drugs.
 MARKET SEGMENTATION
• Defn: Is the process of defining and sub dividing a large
homogenous market into clearly identifiable segments
having similar needs, wants or demands characteristics.
• Its objective is to design a marketing mix that
precisely matches the expectations of the customers
in the targeted segment.

• A homogenous market is a marketplace that hosts

trading in a particular type of a commodity where each
unit traded is functionally identical to every other unit
traded.

• Few companies are big enough to supply the needs of

the entire market; Most must breakdown the total
demand into segments and chose those the company is
best equipped to handle.
Market segmentation strategies are based on;
•Behavioral, Demographic, Psychographic, and Geographical
differences.

1.Behavior segmentation;
• A strategy of market segmentation based on differences
in the consumption behavior of different groups of
consumers
• Takes into account consumer lifestyle ,patterns of buying
and using, patterns of spending money and time.
• Its objective is to define specific niches that require
custom tailored promotion.

2.Demographic segmentation;
• Is based on differences in demographic factors of
different groups of consumers i.e. age, sex, educational
level, income level
• It aims at defining specific niches that require custom
promotion.
3. Geographical segmentation:
• Based on collecting and analyzing information
according to the physical location of the
customers.
• This strategy of segmentation is often used since
companies selling products and services would like
to know where their products are being sold in
order to increase advertising and sales efforts
there

4. Psychographic segmentation.
• The market is divided based upon consumer
personality traits, values, attitudes, interests, and
life style.
• This will allow better developing and marketing
your products because there will be a more precise
match between the product and each segment's
needs and wants.
 Factors affecting market
segmentation
• Measurability of its effective size;

• Clear identification of the segment

• It’s accessibility through promotional efforts

• It’s appropriateness to the policies and resources

of the company.
PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE
 Marketing Strategies for Introduction
Stage
• Introduction stage:
• Is marked with slow growth in sales and a very little or
no profit.
• The product has been newly introduced, and a sales
volume is limited; product and distribution are not given
more emphasis.
• Basic constituents of marketing strategies for the stage
include price and promotion. Price, promotion or both
may be kept high or low depending upon market
situation and management approach.

• The following are the possible strategies during the first

stage:
1. Rapid Skimming Strategy:
• This strategy consists of introducing a new product
at high price and high promotional expenses.
• The purpose of high price is to recover profit per
unit as much as possible.
• The high promotional expenses are aimed at
convincing the market the product merits even at a
high price.
• High promotion accelerates the rate of market
penetration, in all; the strategy is preferred to skim
the cream (high profits) from market.

• This strategy makes the following assumptions:

(a) Major part of market is not aware of the product.
(b) Customers are ready to pay the asking price.
(c) There possibility of competition and the firm
wants to build up the brand preference.
(d) Market is limited in size.
2. Slow Skimming Strategy:
• This strategy involves launching a product at
a high price and low promotion.
• The purpose of high price is to recover as
much as gross profit as possible.
• And, low promotion keeps marketing
expenses low. This combination enables to
skim the maximum profit from the market.

•This strategy can be used under following

assumptions:
(a) Market is limited in size.
(b) Most of consumers are aware of product.
(c) Consumers are ready to pay high price.
(d) There is less possibility of competition.
3. Rapid Penetration:
• The strategy consists of launching the product at a
low price and high promotion. The purpose is the
faster market penetration to get larger market
share. Marketer tries to expand market by
increasing the number of buyers.

•It is based on following assumptions:

(a) Market is large.
(b) Most buyers are price-sensitive. They prefer the
low-priced products.
(c) There is strong potential for competition.
(d) Market is not much aware of the product. They
need to be informed and convinced.
(e) Per unit cost can be reduced due to more
production, and possibly more profits at low price.
4. Slow Penetration:
• The strategy consists of introducing a product
with low price and low-level promotion. Low price
will encourage product acceptance, and low
promotion can help realization of more profits,
even at a low price.

•Assumptions of this strategy:

(a) Market is large.
(b) Market is aware of product.
(c) Possibility of competition is low.
(d) Buyers are price-sensitive or price-elastic, and
not promotion-elastic.
 Marketing Strategies for Growth Stage:
• This is the stage of rapid market acceptance.
• The strategies are aimed at sustaining market growth as
long as possible.
• Here, the aim is not to increases awareness, but to get trial
of the product. Company tries to enter the new segments.
• Competitors have entered the market. The company tries
to strengthen competitive position in the market.
• It may forgo maximum current profits to earn still greater
profits in the future.

• Several possible strategies for the stage are as

under:
1. Product qualities and features improvement
2. Adding new models and improving styling
3. Entering new market segments
4. Designing, improving and widening distribution network
5. Shifting advertising and other promotional efforts from
increasing product awareness to product conviction.
 Marketing Strategies for Maturity
Stage:
1. To Do Nothing: New strategies are not formulated.
• Company believes it is advisable to do nothing. Earlier or
later, the decline in the sales is certain.
• Marketer tries to conserve money, which can be later on
invested in new profitable products. It continues only
routine efforts, and starts planning for new products.

2. Market Modification: This strategy is aimed at

increasing sales by raising the number of brand users and
the usage rate per user. Sales volume is the product (or
outcome) of number of users and usage rate per users.
• So, sales can be increased either by increasing the
number of users or by increasing the usage rate per user
or by both. Number of users can be increased by variety
of ways.
• Convert non-users into users by convincing them
regarding uses of products
• Entering new market segments
• Winning competitors’ consumers
• Sales volume can also be increased by increasing the
usage rate per user. i.e. More frequent use of product,
More usage per occasion, New and more varied uses of
product
 MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR
DECLINE STAGE
1.Continue with the Original Products: This strategy
is followed with the expectations that competitors will
leave the market. Selling and promotional costs are
reduced.
• Many times, a company continues its products only in
effective segments and from remaining segments
they are dropped. Such products are continued as
long as they are profitable.

2. Continue Products with Improvements: Qualities

and features are improved to accelerate sales. Products
undergo minor changes to attract buyers.

3. Drop the Product: When it is not possible to continue

the products either in original form or with improvement,
the company finally decides to drop the products:
• Product may be dropped in following ways:
i. Sell the production and sales to other companies
ii. Stop production gradually to divert resources to
other products
iii. Drop product immediately.
 MARKET ANALYSIS
• Is a part of SWOT analysis done by a company to study
the attractiveness and dynamics of a special market over
time. involves the qualitative and quantitative
assessment of a market.

• A key part of any business plan as part of the situation

analysis conducted during planning.

• Knowing the market's needs and how it is currently

serviced provides key information that is essential in
developing a product/service and marketing plan.

• It looks into the size of the market both in volume and in

value, the various customer segments and buying
patterns, the competition, and the economic environment
in terms of barriers to entry and regulation.
• Difference between market research and market
analysis:
• Market research is done to identify a relevant market
while
• Market analysis
1) Determines the possibility of existence of that
market in the years to come
2) Determines the attractiveness of a market both
now and in the future
3) Helps to gain understanding of the evolving
opportunities and threats in relation to the
company’s strengths and weaknesses.

• The findings of the market analysis may necessitate

minor changes in focus or major redirection of the
business to address issues and keep the business
moving forward.
• Dimensions of a market analysis include;
Market size (current and future): Both market
volume& market potential
Market trend
Market growth rate
Market profitability
 Market trends analysis

• A market trend is the upward and downward

movement of a market during a period of time.

• Changes in the market are important because they

often are the source of new opportunities and threats
and have the potential to dramatically affect the
market size.

• Such changes can be economic, social, regulatory,

legal and political conditions and in available
technology, price sensitivity, demand for variety etc.
• Market trends analysis helps the organization to boost
its competitive intelligence program. It involves;

1. Trends in customer needs and behavior

2. Shifts in customers’ perception of value

3. Trends in cost drivers of the industry

4. Trends in evolution of the industry e.g.

introduction of new industries, competitors’ trends
• There are three types of market trends i.e. primary,
secondary and secular.

• A primary market trend

• Occurs in a period of 1year or more and has broad
support throughout the entire market.
• It is the basis of all other types of market trends and
can be used to determine the market top and bottom.

• A secondary trend
• Occurs in a few weeks or months and involves the
short term changes in price direction within a primary
trend.
• It is caused by the changes in demand and supply of
the special product.

• A secular market trend occurs over a period of 25

years and contains a series of primary trends.
 Steps of Market Analysis process
1. Defining the problem. Defining the objectives is
tantamount to successful marketing and avoids
wasting valuable time performing good research on
the wrong problem.

2. Analysis of the situation. This is informal survey of

what information is available in the problem area.

• Can help define the problem and ascertain the need

for additional information.

• It entails informal talks with informed people and

these can include customers.

• The focus can be on primary and secondary research.

Primary research is that proactively created research
for a specific purpose while secondary research is one
that already has been conducted for other purposes
and from which valuable information can be gleaned.
3. Obtaining data specific to the problem. This requires
gathering primary research and performing a formal research.
• The purpose is identifying what the customers think about
some topics or behavior patterns.
• It can be done in person or through a survey and can be
qualitative for example using open-ended questions and
closed-ended questions or quantitative which gathers
parametric statistical information.

4. Data analysis and interpretation. Some of the questions

answered here include: What does this information mean? Can
one use the data as to define a problem and then establish a
plan?

5. Fostering ideas and problem solving. Here research

results are used to make marketing decisions. The findings
should be applied in marketing planning.

6. Marketing plan. The six-step process of marketing analysis

is crucial in designing a market plan that is tailored to your
specific product or service.
 MARKET RESEARCH

• Systematic collection of information on existing and

exponential markets for analysis and subsequent action.

• Meant to answer crucial marketing questions in line with

marketing objectives

• A complete system should be in place to help perform

the right research and bring out the right results.
 Pharmaceutical Marketing Research
• Identifying unmet therapeutic needs of a
community; Gives a company a greater hand in utilizing
the unmet need as an opportunity to be optimized for the
company to outcompete other companies.

• Predicting customer’s demand for a new product;

marketing research entails into knowing the economic
status and their knowledge about the company’s
products their tastes and comments.
• It creates a platform of the demand level of the
product based on its sales, requisition documentation
and the demand within the customer-retailer-supplier
chain.

• Identifying market size, growth and market

trends; marketing research identifies the demand for a
desired product at different market trends.
• The product maintains a high demand no matter the
change in market trends. This will keep the market size
 Why Marketing Research?
1. Helps other companies to evaluate the outstanding success of leading
companies in order to outcompete them in case they are producing
similar products.
• The strength of a standing company is felt through its strategies in
overcoming competition from other companies.

2. To assess proper pricing. This guides a firm in placing reasonable

product prices.

3. To identify key targets. This sites out the category of consumers that
put the product in constant need for supply and further shoots the
demand levels as more people get informed through questionnaires
and interviews.

4. Evaluate the company’s public image; It is a level that defines the

company’s product satisfaction to customers and customers’
complements towards it.

5. Suggest successful advertising and promotion programs; it aids in

identification of weak points that could bring the product’s sales to
drop and trouble shoot them to improve the product’s image and
demand.
 Pitfalls in market research
1. Investigator’s bias: Some investigators move into the
research anticipating to receive good complement about
their firm’s product.
• All complements are for the benefit of the product.
• Investigators who ditch the honest bad comments of the
consumers without addressing them risk putting the
product on the shelf for long.

2. Poorly designed research: A poorly designed research

plan will automatically give wrong information and will only
tend to lead the company to unplanned costs as it tries to
revive back on the realization of the fact that the research
did not yield to their objectives.

3. Wrong data: Wrong data collected may be interpreted as

the standing status of the company yet in reality it gives
the wrong standing position and any decisions made with
this data affect the company as a whole.
4. Wrong interpretation: Data collected may be true but
the committee may be inexperienced to interpret the data
collected. Wrong interpretation affects the decisions made
for the product.

5. Lack of confidentiality: Both Information and customers

need your confidentiality. Any form of act that drives the
confidentiality of a researcher to the stubbles results in
mistrust from customers and company at large.

6. Wrong assumptions: Assumptions made after the

marketing research can be detrimental especially when
they are wrong.
• A product’s success in the market gives platform for both
positive and negative attachments and there is need for
right assumptions to be made based on these
attachments.
• Any misconception assumptions made about the product
put it at stake of being displaced out in the marketing line
with other products of competing companies.
7. Information needs: During market research,
information is needed about the market
environment, competition and stakeholders

• Stakeholders involve; patients, prescribers, retail

pharmacies, hospital pharmacies, whole sellers,
competitors).

• This information is stored in a Marketing Information

System (MIS) which uses computer software and
hardware to store, retrieve, analyze and distribute
data to all pertinent personnel in the organization
 Process of marketing research

1. Defining the problem

2. Setting the research objectives
3. Designing the research plan
4. Selection of optimal sample size
5. Collecting data
6. Data analysis
7. Creating a situational model based on data
8. Evaluating the model and establishing market
strategy
 Sources of Data used in Market Research
•Primary Data Sources: These are any pieces of
information systematically collected for any ongoing market
research project. Primary data is collected by Observation,
survey, experimentation and simulation methods.
•Secondary Data Source; Secondary data describes all
information already available through a variety of sources to
the marketing team.

Methods of marketing research

•Qualitative methods.
• Involve collection of data referring to people’s opinions,
beliefs, attitudes, motivations and dispositions about a
product or company. E.g. Patient needs analysis,
Perceptions of company image, Prescriber brand name
testing, Campaign concept testing.
•Quantitative methods
• Quantitative research focuses on statistics and
quantifiable data.e.g. sales volume, market growth,
market shares, new product launches, target physician