Pharmaceutical Marketing

Marketing strategy
Alternative strategic thrusts
Differentiation Low cost
• Quality / Features • No add ons
• Name • Product design
• Customer orientation • Mfg. / Operations
• Patent protection • Scale economies
• Support services • Experience curve
• Technical superiority
• Product – range breadth Strategic
Thrust Preemptive move
• Supply systems
• Product
Focus
• Mfg. system
• Indication / use
• Gain customer loyalty /
• Segment Synergy
• Enhance customer value commitment
• Geographic
• Reduce operation cost • Distribution
• Reduce investment
 Pharmaceutical Marketing

Differentiation Strategy

Generate customer value

A successful differentiation Provide perceived value

Strategy should

Be difficult to copy
 Pharmaceutical Marketing

Determinants of Competitive Advantage

The way we compete
• Product strategy
• Positioning strategy
• Distribution strategy
• Manufacturing strategy

Basis of competition
• Product superiority
• Selling skills
• Field force size
Competitive
• Financial strengths advantage
• Organisational agility

Where we compete
Target market / product market
Selection

Whom do we compete against

 Pharmaceutical Marketing

Revitalising a brand

2. Find new uses 3. Enter new markets

4. Reposition brand
1. Increase usage
Brand
revitalisation

5. Augment brand
7. Extend brand
6. Obsoleting /
Migrating
 Pharmaceutical Marketing

The Goal of Advertising

Message

Number of doctors
Aware / or not aware
Penetration

No. of prescribers among

aware doctors
Prescription pull

Goal : Maximise penetration & prescription pull sinking your message home
 Pharmaceutical Marketing

Marketing Communication

How advertising communicates

Receiver
Sender : Screen Memory
Message storage
Noise
Decode Encode Response
Message Medium

Message Message

Feedback
Pharmaceutical Marketing

Marketing Communication
How advertising communicates
Incoming information

Sensory register

Signal
Pertinence
strength
Short term memory storage

Rehearsal Retrieval

Long term memory storage

Action
 Pharmaceutical Marketing

Marketing Communication
How doctors make Rx decision
Category
C Benefits
O
M
M Outcome Assessment Considered Rx
U
N Doctor • Performance
I Segments Neutral Rx
C • Self-image
A
T • Patients acceptance Reject
I
O Competitive
N Choices
Rx Generation Plan

Rxs = Behaviour

Desire to fulfill the need

Explore / Create the awareness of need / gap

Rx Generation Plan

Rx Generation

Act of Conviction

Knowledge / Experience leads to conviction

Knowledge/ Experience    Rxs

- I am not aware - So I don’t act
- I am aware, but don’t understand - So I don’t act
- I am aware, but don’t feel the same - So I don’t act
- I am aware & would like to act - So I do act
Pharmaceutical Marketing

The Loyalty Pyramid

Committed
Prescriber

Likes the brand

Will switch if alternative
Is more likeable

Satisfied prescriber will

switch at a “price”

Satisfied / Regular prescriber

Will switch only if better alternative

Switchers / Price sensitive prescribers

No loyalty
 Pharmaceutical Marketing

The Doctor’s Rx – Decision Process

I definitely like it
better than others

I like it better

I know but not sure

I know but don’t care

I don’t know

Status/Response Unaware of Aware of I like the I will I like your

Benefits Benefits but Benefits but compare Benefit. I
doesn’t feel not sure against will Rx it
important about other
significance products
Pharmaceutical Marketing

The Loyalty Matrix Priorities

Switchers Fence sitters Loyal

Prescriber Medium High Higher

Non- Low to
High Low
prescribers medium
To whom do brands appeal and why ?

• No brand can appeal to all doctors all the time.

• Seldom is there exclusive brand loyalty.

• This is because the non-discriminating appeals of the brand

usually apply more or less equally to all brands in the market.

• At the same time, the discriminating appeals are not usually

quite important enough for doctors to become exclusive
prescribers of Brand ‘A’ or Brand ‘B’.
What appeal do brands have among
doctors ?

• Doctors SELDOM MAKE a mental list of all the advantages /

disadvantages, favourable / unfavourable factors among
brands..

• They make a choice between brands based on an OVERALL

IMPRESSION that they have about each brand.

• Doctors often have a mental shortlist of brands that they like to

prescribe. Also, this shortlist will have an order of priority..

• How favorable the OVERALL IMPRESSION is, will

determine whether a brand is in the doctor’s mental shortlist,
and also what priority it enjoys.
What appeal do brands have among
doctors ?

• The long term objective of advertising, therefore,

is either to get a brand on a doctor’s shortlist

OR

• If it is already there, to move it up in terms of

preference from 3rd or 4th place to 1st or 2nd.

• This means, you need to understand the doctor

as well as the brand; to hone in on what makes
a doctor tick in relation to a Therapeutic Group /
Indication and its component brands.
To develop outstanding advertising, we must

judge it in terms of how the target person will

respond and not in terms of what claims the

marketer wants to make.

What kind of responses can we evoke ?

• Direct action : “I should do it now

e.g. Short dated products

• Interest : “I should find out more”

“Sounds interesting. I must
learn more.”

• Trial : “What a good idea”

• Remind & : “Yes, that is why I prescribe”

Intensify

• Modify : “I have never thought of it before

Some Common Advertising Objectives

1. To inform prospects of a new product

2. To present detailed technical information about a
new product
3. To build desired product image
4. To inform prospects of the differentiating
characteristics of an established product
5. To suggest new uses for a product
6. To increase frequency of use of a product
7. To correct misconceptions or poor attitudes
towards a brand
8. To remind users to use a product
 Pharmaceutical Marketing

Advertising
Some important points to remember

1. Because we want our message to sink in, we must take utmost care in
developing and deciding the message content.

2. Doctors do not remember our product forever. Some who are aware
may forget - some who are unaware may become aware. It is a
“Passing Parade”. Hence, continuous exposure of message is essential.

3. Too frequent change of message affects penetration & allows message to

grow like a strong giant tree with deep roots.
 Pharmaceutical Marketing

Advertising
Some important points to remember (contd)
4. Doctors tend to remember just one thing from a message - one strong
claim or one strong concept. Remember “Quit India”.

5. As our penetration goes up, our competitors tend to go down.

As our penetration goes down, our competitors tend to go up.

6. A visual aid which only looks beautiful is window dressing.

The art of the window dresser may be the art of display.

7. Every visual aid must make a proposition to the doctor. Not just visuals,
words and product puffery. It must tell the doctor “prescribe this brand
and this is the benefit your patients get.
 Pharmaceutical Marketing

Advertising
Some important points to remember (contd)

8. The proposition should talk about relevant and significant benefits.

Blowing up less relevant / insignificant as possible.

9. It is desirable to drape our brand visually with as many activating and

pleasant associations as possible.

10. Finally, the proposition must be, not what we want to put in, but what
we want the doctor to take out.
Pharmaceutical Marketing

Advertising
• Repetition is the key to good advertising. It takes
the average viewer nine exposures before the ad is
readily remembered. Thus, a specific ad should be
exposed at least 27 times before it is changed.

• A successful visual aid page should be 30% headline,

30% photo illustration and 30% text.

• Find a hole, then fill it

- Positioning : Al Ries & Jack Trout

• Make the product the star of your ad.

 Pharmaceutical Marketing

Product Portfolio / Input Strategy

Profit Margins

High Medium Low

Selective
High Invest/Grow Invest/Grow
Investment
Sales
Growth Selective
Medium Invest/Grow Harvest/Divest
Investment

Selective
Low Harvest/Divest Harvest/Divest
Investment
Rx Generation Plan

PAWNFAB Technique
(Communication)

P (Medical Treatment Problem)

A (Acknowledgement of the problem exists
- Creating / acknowledging the awareness
of the needs exist)
W (Wants)
N (Needs)
= = = = = => Introduction of the solution
(Therapy / Product / Brand)
F (Features)
A (Advantages over existing alternatives)
B (Benefits fulfilling the need or solving the problem)
Rx Generation Plan

- Good summarization of the entire communication helps

to generate better conviction of the solution provided.

- Better conviction only leads to better commitment.

- If there is a conviction about the solution offered,

doctor normally would not restrict its usage only
to few patients, but would like to pass on to
sizeable No. of patients to gain confidence.
Rx Generation Plan

- If the experience with him is good, he definitely

would like to repeat his experiences. That’s the way
we develop satisfied customer.

- Satisfied customer with value additions such as

constant up gradation of his skills / knowledge
to build better practice, better & larger patient clientele,
wider acceptability & status, social recognition and
may be monitory rewards would develop the loyal customer.
- Loyal customers are our brand ambassadors.
Rx Generation Plan

Way Forward …..

 VAF communication based on “PAWNFAB”

 Strategy guidelines must have situational

detailing guidelines.

 Probing & objection handling techniques

 Summary call & commitment

Rx Generation Plan

Way Forward …

Rx generation
_____________________________________________

Proper RCPA Dr. Selection Understanding Product

of Customer Prospect
Matching

A Format needs to be used (to be evaluated by ASMs)