Question

Question 3 Describe the marketing mix (4Ps) for a pharmaceutical company producing immunizations.

Answer 1

ANSWER:

MARKETING MIX (4Ps) FOR A PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY PRODUCING IMMUNIZATIONS.

Marketing mix may be defined as a combination of factors that can be controlled by a company to influence consumers to purchase its products. The four Ps of marketing are PRODUCT , PRICE, PLACE and PROMOTION. Marketing in pharmaceutical product is different from other industries, as the final consumers (patients) are not targeted instead , the qualified physicians are targeted for marketing. These products can be only marketed only after the approval from a regulatory authorities of a country.

The marketing practices followed pharmaceutical companies attempt to sway consumers as well as healthcare providers to use their products. Marketing representatives from pharmaceutical companies ,or "drug reps" as they have become known in the industry ,solicit medical providers in many ways to entice them into using their products. In the course of soliciting many of these individuals seem to have forgotten the sole purpose of their existence , is to provide the most effective care for the patients. Pharmaceutical companies promote their products in a variety of ways. There are many different markets these companies are trying to solicit. One , of course is the patient. Consumers are bombarded with television ads for prescription medication.

Let us look these 4 Ps relating to pharmaceutical industries:

PRODUCT

' Pharmaceutical products' means all pharmaceutical or biological products which are intended to be used on the prescription of, or under the supervision of , a healthcare professional, and which are intended for the use in the diagnosis , treatment or prevention of disease in human , or to affect the structure or any function of the human body.

On the basis of prescriptions the major classification of drugs is:

1. Prescription drugs

2. Non prescription drugs

PRICE

Price controls are carried out on certain drugs by virtue of the Drugs Order 1995 in the framework of the Essential Commodities Act.

PROMOTION

The main aim of promotion is not to inform but to persuade. Consumer goods advertisements rarely convey much information about the features of the product. Instead the emphasis of much adverting is on associating consumption of the product with positive feeling.

PLACE

Industry, market and customer trends are creating both challenges and opportunities for increasing business and profitability and for making more and more profits in competitive and trendy pharmaceutical industry, companies are deploying a plethora of marketing and distribution strategies to target the different customer segments.