Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug free essay sample

Excessive weight has become one of the major issues in todays world. This leads to all sorts of health riskssuch as coronary heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea and many more. Furthermore, a research has shown that death rates from cancer were 52% higher in men and 62 % higher in women with excessive weight than in people with normal weight (Eugenia E. Calle 2003). A large proportion of overweight people have been trying to lose their weight in every possible way. However, not every attempt was successful. Due to that, the pharmaceutical industry has been developing and testing a large variety of medicines that are specifically made to help people with weight issues. One of the newest drugs on the market is Metabical, a prescription drug developed by Cambridge Sciences Pharmaceuticals (CSP). Based on the results from clinical trials, Metabical has been proven effective for weight loss of overweight people. The question is how willMetabicalbe introduced to the market? PULL MARKETING The main idea was to advertise Metabical directly to consumers in order to increase the awareness of the product. This strategy was based on pull marketing where the purpose was to attract the customers and make them approach the supplier or seller first. It is not an assertive way of marketing in comparison to push marketing where a seller calls potential customers on the telephone asking whether they would like to purchase a product they might not actually need. In 1997, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has reduced restrictions on direct-to-consumer-advertising concerning drugs. Therefore, the effect of the pull marketing was tremendously positive for the pharmaceutical industry. (Buckley 2003). It is also visible in a study made by Prevention magazine, where doctors whose patients came and asked for a medicine that they had previously seen being advertised, had the tendency to prescribe that same brand of medicine (even though they had different alternatives in mind). Following pull marketing, the strategy included: advertisements on the internet, television and radio. Moreover, print media was being distributed at the same time as the drug was being launched. This distributionwas continued in the same manner throughoutthe first year of the campaign in order to maintain the brand awareness on a high level. After the initial advertisement strategy, additional 100 000 health care pamphlets were distributed. These pamphletscontained a reply card which, if sent, would provide the sender with a sample of the product. The goal behind this campaign was to show the potential customers that Metabical is suitable for people belonging to the BMI range of 25-30. Body Mass index (BMI) is the most common index used for comparing weight and height. The calculations presents whether the weight is appropriate for the person’s height. If the weight is not appropriate,the person can fall in the group of overweight or underfed (Tim J Cole 2000). As mentioned in the article, an abundanceof weight loss pills were made for obese or severely obese people. However, the group of people with the BMI ranging from 25-30 were not suitable for these pillswhich, consequently, did not have any effect on their weight loss. Additionally, CPS has developed a support programme which will not only help in weight reduction but also help maintaining the healthy lifestyle. One of their key concepts in the campaign was: â€Å"Losing weight is tough. You don’t have to do it alone. Let Metabical and your health care provider start you on the road to a healthy weight and better life. † Regarding the support programme, Printup has developed an online contest to attract more customers to buy theproduct and participate in the contest to win a prize. In this contest each user can join in and compete with other users in reducing BMIs by the highest percentage. Not only Printup was making advertisements for consumers, she also developed a strategy to target medical community where advertisements were placed on online medical websites and also printed out in well-known medical journals. Several events were organized especially for medical experts prior to the product launch, one of which was a roundtable discussion. In order to spread the word of the discussion, coverage of this event was done by leading news organizations. DECISION MAKING One of the decision makers in this case are overweight people with a BMI rangefrom 25 to 30. The problem awareness occurs when the overweight person realizes how dissatisfied he/she is with her body image and how the excessive weight negatively affects health. Once the problem is recognized, the search for additional information begins. Usually the information is searched on the internet (medical forums or specialized medical websites), seen in magazines (advertisements in beauty and health magazines), television or even suggested by family and friends who have tried the product before or know someone who has. Additionally, doctors and other health providers will be asked since their medical knowledge is more reliable than of non-medical experts. After the information was gathered, the alternatives are being evaluated. In this case the alternatives are Alli and Xenical. When evaluating the alternatives certain factors will be considered: ingredients, negative side effects, results from other users and price. Since those 2 drugs have negative side effects and have not been proven effective for people with BMI 25-30, the only option is Metabical. Following the purchase, consumer will require some time to use the product and evaluate whether the product has met the expectations and provided desired results. Other decision makersare medical professionals such as general practitioners. They are aware of increasing obesity issue and other health risks that the overweight patients have. Therefore, they will search for information about the latest trends and new drugs on the market which will help solving these types of problems and acquire data from medical journals, medical seminars and conventions or from pharmaceutical representatives. The data needs to contain reliable facts and provide evidence of actual weight loss and beneficial health effect so the practitioner will be able to confidently prescribe the product. Afterwards, the practitioner will evaluate which drug would be the most suitable for each patient. Since Metabical is approved by FDA and has less negative side effects in comparison to Alli and Xenical, Metabical is the only option. MARKET SEGMENTATION The key success to brand building is market segmentation. Printup should make a thorough research onthe potential target customers and focus on two aspects: demographics and psychographics. Primarily, demographical data concerning the number of overweight people within the country will be needed. Based on those numbers, the proportions of male and female target consumers will be calculated and classified based on age, educational level and income. Different educational levels and incomes affect the consumers’ perception significantly. Additionally, psychographic factors will be analysed. This includes lifestyles, interests and opinions towards certain issues (e. g. There is a certain way on how â€Å"ideal clothing size† is perceived in the fashion industry. A large proportion of teenage girls and adolescents will feel that they do not belong to this category and will attempt to lose weight in order to increase their self-esteem). The Target Customer The optimal target consumer of Metabical are overweight (i. e. BMI of 25 to 30) females aged 25-65. This has been justified by an extensive marketing survey carried out in 2007. They survey results showed that 75% of women, which is eventually 10% more than men, are dissatisfied with their current weight as well as appearance. Additionally, 20% more women than men visited a health care provider for an annual physical exam and 15% more females than males stated they want to change their behaviour in order to live a healthy lifestyle. Furthermore according to the results of the survey, approximately twice as many women had been struggling to lose weight during the 5 years prior to the study and even more importantly, nearly twice the numbers of females were dissatisfied with the weight-loss options the market has to offer. This series of results clearly shows that women are the right gender to target. This argument is supported by a research showing that particular aspects, like for instance being female, increase the probability of drug use in weight management (Hulbert-Williams, Mendieta-Tan, Nicholls 2013). Moreover, concerning the income, women within that age group are most likely to have an appropriate income level to afford a costly prescription weight loss drug which is somewhere between $50,000 and $80,000+. Besides these women of this demographic profile will have a college education (plus) which is also reflected in their attitude towards the weight loss process. Rather than aiming for a quick and easy transformation, they are very much aware that losing the required amount of weight will need an entire lifestyle change, incorporating a balanced nutrition and regular exercise, a change which they are willing to make. These women see losing weight also as a way of ensuring to feel better and lead a longer life. They are motivated and willing to change their current behaviour. This description of the optimal target customer matches Metabical’s marketing message. The drug does not only need a successful demand, but much more a long-term demand, which will most probably be ensured by targeting these types of customers. Of course other demographics will also buy and test the product, which is important especially in the introductory phase, where many kinds of customers are attracted, so this might still call for some amendments of the product. Eventually the product should appeal to both men and women. USP and positioning Having already discussed towards which segment(s) the drug will be targeted, it will be essential to filter a unique selling proposition (USP) for Metabical. One factor would be the simplicity of taking the drug as compared to its competitive products. Metabical should be taken only once per day and not once per meal. This is due to the fact that the combination of calosera and meditonan works in a low-dose formulation producing dramatic weight loss for overweight persons. Another feature is that Metabical had some negative side effects if combined with excess fat and calories in the diet, which influenced a healthier nutrition and lifestyle as desired by the target group. In general, it comes with an entire support program in order to complement the pill. The center of the support system is the website that will be developed and will include: Reference materials, a weight loss tracker, food diary, nutritional and calorie calculator and a forum for personal support. This ensures even better results than from only taking the pill since it supports to maintain the healthy weight in the long run. Eventually Metabical is being presented as brand-new weight-loss option which is approved by FDA and endorsed by physicians. Therefore it also reaches most of those 55% of women who visit the doctor annually and are dissatisfied with weight-loss options on the market. It can only be obtained over prescription which makes it again different to other weight-loss supplements. Having this information, the basis for an effective marketing plan will be the right positioning of the drug. Making it only available over prescription gives it an image of being a special product which is approved by the FDA and it gives credibility to its positive effect since people value this to a great extent. Being placed some time on the market, Metabical should develop to perform very well, making it a highly trusted and the most prescribed weight-loss drug. Communications strategy Metabical needs to be communicated to two target audiences, end users and health care providers who write the prescriptions for the drug. As already discussed, the target market consists of overweight females between the age of 25 and 65. The most effective way would be to make use of various communication tools in order consolidate the message of Metabical’s importance. These tools would be a combination of television, radio, different print media and online advertising. Starting with print advertising, pamphlets as well as medical and other health related magazines will be used to place articles and other necessary information about the pill in order to create initial awareness. These print mediums will be placed at doctors’ offices, medical clinics, weight loss facilities and other relevant institutions that promote weight loss and a healthy lifestyle. The should contain the necessary information including the invitation to act, i. e. contact the health care provider to receive more information about the prescription of the drug. Online ads should be effectively placed in order to reach women within the defined target group who are actively searching for weight loss options. Success rates can be measured by number of clicks on the advertisement. Since advertising on the radio but much more on TV is rather costly, these mediums will be used only shortly before the release of the drug, which will also create some kind of drive or hype around the drug. Channels that will be targeted are news channels, health related channels and also channels that women watch frequently in order to reach our target market. Advertising would need to be very heavy at the time of Metabical’s launch and during the first year to establish the name of the drug. The advertising message itself must address the issue of the danger of being overweight. â€Å"Those extra 20 pounds could be killing you. Being overweight leads to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and gallbladder disease. It’s time to get healthy – Let Metabicalguide you to a happier, healthier you. † would be a suitable message. Additionally it is important to ensure that the FDA approval is also communicated to the target market so that the record is set straight and no initial concerns are likely to arise. The communication to the medical community will be tailored differently. The major source of information will be print ads in popular medical publications and online ads on websites where health care providers receive most of their information about drugs. Information has to be provided about what is behind the drug, i. e. the RD phase, but also how to comply with the regulations meaning prescription of the drug; as well as possible side effects. If we want to bring in the â€Å"shocking† effect here as well, the right message would be â€Å"Atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and gallbladder disease. Your overweight patients are dying for help. Introducing Metabical – FDA Approved Weight loss drug. The end of the message gives credibility to the product by stating that the FDA approves the drug. It is essential to be equally successful in the marketing to doctors as patients because if the Medical Community accepts the drug as an effective and safe method of losing weight, more and more doctors will recommend it to patients and positive PR will follow.