Problems and Prospects of Sales Promotion in Pharmaceutical Marketing Communication

By

Anita Mishra

Faculty

Department of Business Communication

Aryan Institute of Engineering and Technology

Bhubaneswar

A marketing communications strategy will set out exactly how to promote an organization, initiative,
product or service across a whole range of different media – from advertising campaigns to search
engine optimization. It should set clear objectives so that you can measure success and crucially, it
should provide the best solution within the available budget. It is part of the marketing mix, which
includes all the means by which a company communicates directly with present & potential
customers. It is the process of presenting an integrated set of stimuli to a target with the intent of
evoking a desired set of responses within the target market & setting a channel to receive, interpret
& act upon messages & identifying new communication opportunities. Marketing communication is
a systematic relationship between a business and its market. There are twelve different
communication tools available to the marketer: personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, direct
marketing, public relation, sponsorship, exhibitions, merchandising, the internet, word of mouth and
corporate identity. These communication tools constitute the marketing communication mix. Each
element of these communication mix should integrate with other tools of communication mix so
that a unified message is consistently reinforced. Sales promotion comprises various marketing
techniques which are often used tactically to provide added value to an offering with the aim of
accelerating sales and gathering market in that particular segment. In pharmaceutical marketing
communication the main objective is to make an impression and more important is to make an
impression long lasting. In the current rat race several national and multinational pharma companies
have gained remarkably for their exceptional communication strategies for sales promotion.While
many pharmaceutical companies have successfully deployed a plethora of strategies to target the
various customer types, recent business and customer trends are creating new challenges and
opportunities for increasing profitability. In the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, a complex
web of decision-makers determines the nature of the transaction (prescription) for which direct
customer (doctor) of pharma industry is responsible . Essentially, the end-user (patient) consumes a
product and pays the cost .

The pharmaceutical industry is the world's largest industry due to worldwide revenues of
approximately US$2.8 trillion. Pharma industry has seen major changes in the recent years that
place new demands on payers, providers and manufacturers. Customers now demand the same
choice and convenience from pharma industry that they find in other segment. Indian
Pharmaceutical Industry is poised for high consistent growth over the next few years, driven by a
multitude of factors. Top Indian Companies like Ranbaxy, Dr.Reddy's , CIPLA and Dabur have already
established their presence. Indian companies have only recently entered the area. The Indian
pharmaceutical industry came into existence in 1901, when Bengal Chemical & Pharmaceutical
Company started its maiden operation in Calcutta. The next few decades saw the pharmaceutical
industry moving through several phases, largely in accordance with government policies.
Commencing with repackaging and preparation of formulations from imported bulk drugs, the
Indian industry has moved on to become a net foreign exchange earner, and has been able to
underline its presence in the global pharmaceutical arena as one of the top 35 drug producers
worldwide. Currently, there are more than 2,400 registered pharmaceutical producers in India.
There are 24,000 licensed pharmaceutical companies. Of the 465 bulk drugs used in India,
approximately 425 are manufactured here. India has more drug-manufacturing facilities that have
been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration than any country other than the US. Indian
generics companies supply 84% of the AIDS drugs that Doctors without Borders uses to treat 60,000
patients in more than 30 countries. There can be several challenges for pharma marketing with
global channels opening up from all directions it has become an art of its own kind. Some of the
important aspects can be as the followings

a). Increased competition and unethical practices adopted by some of the pharma companies.

b). Low level understanding of customer knowledge (Doctors, Retailers, Wholesalers).

c). Dissimilar customer perception.

d). Quality of medical representatives.

e). Recruitment process of medical representatives.

f). High training and re-training costs of sales personnel.

h). Busy doctors giving less time for sales calls.

i). Poor territory knowledge in terms of business value at the level of medical representatives.

j). Valuing of prescription from each doctor in the list of each sales.

person.

k). Unknown value of revenue from each retailer in the territory.

l). Sales forecasting from field sales level to actual level.

m). Absence of analysis on the amount of time invested on profitable and not-so-profitable
customers and lack of time-share planning towards developing customer base for future and un-
tapped markets.

The pharmaceutical distribution channel is indirect with usually three channel members i.e.
depot/C&F, stockiest and chemist. Pharmaceutical companies appoint one company depot or C&F
agent usually in each state and authorized stockist(s) in each district across the country. Company
depot/C&F sends stocks to authorized stockists according to the requirement. Retail chemists buy
medicines on daily or weekly basis from authorized stockiest as per demand. Patients visit chemists
for buying medicines either prescribed by a doctor or advertised in the media. Here patient is end
customer and doctor is direct customer for any pharmaceutical company. But for the doctor,
customer (patient) is more important so he wants an effective supply chain management from
prescribed company. And for pharmaceutical companies their customer that is doctor is more
important that's why they emphasize more on supply chain management. Ultimately end customer
is benefited out of this.

For marketing different pharmaceutical products companies require more and more skilled field
force to develop good rapport with their direct customer (doctor). Moreover field force should have
good product knowledge and USP of their products over other so as to convince doctors and PULL
the demand for their products i.e. from Doctor to Retailer to Stockist to CFA to company. In this
system, doctors are the core customers and the major thrust is given to build and retain these
customer because they are pulling the demand for products hence companies also give main
emphasis in building and retaining these customers. All efforts are being put for generating
secondary sales i.e. from stockist to retailer. Now-a-days the companies are a Ensuring of auto
demand with limited availability and maximum liquidation of the products is the main characteristic
of this approach. For retaining and developing customers, the companies normally provide gifts like
sponsorship for various conferences like RSSDI, FOGSI, APICON, UPCON etc. For example Dabur
having PASS (Professional Academic and Scientific Services) activities for promoting its chronic
therapy range. The relationship between clinicians and representatives has always been good and
pharmaceutical companies have provided, and still provide, the major economical support for
customers' continuous medical education. Something needs to be done to find a solution to this
problem that takes into account the needs of both pharmaceutical companies and their
representatives on one side and physicians on the other, for a better professional interaction. Some
times they were also mixed with CSR activity sponsorship like free health camps, diabetic camps etc.
Of late the pharma companies also ventured into the rural areas and along with doctors they are
also approaching the RMP doctors to bridge the gap between the product and their ultimate
customers – the patients.

Over the last couple of years, pharma marketing professionals are slowly changing their strategies.
This drift is driven by market forces. Patients' understandings of the disease and disease
management have also seen a positive shift. Today, a doctor is subject to a lot of questioning and
reasoning by the patients both about the disease and disease management. Hence, we see some of
the products in the ''direct-to-consumer'' mode of sale wherever the regulatory requirements
permit. For Indian companies marketing differentiation coupled with aggressive selling is the key.
Even today more than 50 per cent of Indian pharma market is rural and the ''GATT Effect'' will not be
immediate in rural India. To know the doctor's mind and also to occupy a place there with a brand;
the brand manager must be in the market with the doctors and understand the specific needs of the
doctors and design promotion. Aggressive sales push at the doctor and retailer level and consistent
repeat visits can drive a brand ahead. An old saying is that ''Doctors have a very strong memory and
hence forget what they do not want to remember.'' The challenge to a marketing man today is to
ensure that his brand falls in the category of ''Want to remember'' with as many doctors as possible.
This is an extremely difficult task, needing a lot of innovative approach. This is precisely the real task
of a sales personnel in pharmaceutical marketing .Slowly and steadily the industry is growing to beat
all the possible hurdles away. Hopefully success is not far away.

REFERENCE:

1. "A Review Of Marketing Strategies Work By Different Pharmaceutical Companies" by Saurabh

Kumar Saxena, www.iitk.ac.in.

2. Drugs and Pharmaceuticals: International Pharmaceutical Industry-A Snapshot, Jan 2004, ICRA
3. "International Marketing Strategies in India" by Prathap and Micheal, Vikalpa, (IIMA),Oct-Dec
2005

4. Kotler,Keller,Koshi,Jha , Marketing Management

5. Pharmaceuticals: The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry, Feb 2005, ICRA

6. 'Pharma Marketing – The business of Paradigms' by Ramakrishnan Iyer, Pharma Plus,dt.31st

March 2005.

7. www.Dr reddy's lab