Marketing Plan

GlaxoSmithKline

The company’s mission statement: ‘’We have a challenging and inspiring mission: to

improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live

longer. This mission gives us the purpose to develop innovative medicines and

products that help millions of people around the world.’’

GSK is considered as one of the largest research based pharmaceutical and health care

companies ever. Its main headquarters are in the UK (united Kingdom) and is also a

global organization with offices in over 100 countries and major research centers in the

UK, US and China.

But with great power comes great responsibility (yes, a Spiderman movie cliché). In this

case being a big leader brings big responsibility. It means that the company cares about

the impact that it has on the people and to improve and make its mission into a working

plan by making the world into a better place for the people. It is also one of the few

pharmaceutical countries that researches not only medicines, but also vaccines to cure

world diseases like HIV and such. The company has taken an oath and a commitment to

produce its medicine wherever its needed even in poor countries but with prices suitable

for people living there. The company is really proud to have developed some of the

leading global medicines on the field to treat diseases like the after mentioned HIV and

also Malaria, tuberculosis and much more.

The company also produces medicine which is responsible for the treatment of asthma,

anti-viral, infections, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and digestive conditions. In

addition to the above diseases, it is also considered as a leader in important areas of

vaccines and the company is constantly developing new treatments for cancer. And over

all magnificent company. ‘’We also market other consumer products, many of which

are among the market leaders’’ says the company.

Some examples of the company’s products are

-Panadol

-Aqua fresh

-Niquitin

-Horlicks

and much more

The Brand

The brand chosen is Panadol Extra. It is a well known and famous pain relief drug. The

main active ingredient is paracetamol and it has many usages. Paracetamol is an active

ingredient in panadol which is responsible for relieving pain only. It has no effect what so

ever on underlying inflammations, redness, and swelling of any part of the body. It is an

effective no steroidal anti inflammatory drug. It also has the ingredient Ibuprofen which

is responsible for pain relieving too (osteoarthritis in this case).

A randomized trial of acute musculoskeletal pain in children proved that the standard

over the counter and excess dose of Ibuprofen gives much greater pain relief than the

standard paracetamol drug.

Paracetamol is known to have little inflammatory activity unlike asprin, Ibuprofen and

such drugs that are known to cause pain relief.

Despite the comparative efficiency, studies have shown conflicting results when panadol

was compared to NSAIDS (a trial of chronic pain in adults).

now then, paracetamols efficiency when combined with opioids (such as Codeine) has

been questioned by recent Data studies. But because there is little to no data the final

conclusion has been hard. Combination of drugs of paracetamol with strong opioids like

morphine has been shown to improve analgesic effect.

these studies have lead to the development of Panadol Extra, the no. 1 medication for

treating pains ranging from mild migrations to severe headaches. It is a well known

product with many uses due to its analgesic effects. Panadol is a viable choice for patients

with pain of any kind.

B) Current marketing situation

a) Target Market analysis: GlaxoSmithKline is the company responsible for production

of panadol extra. Panadol extra targets a huge part of the market; this is due to the fact

that people need it in almost their everyday lives. The active ingredient Paracetamol is

responsible for the relief of pain.

*The Demographic Profile: The target market for Panadol is anyone with pain

(because it relieves pain) yet there are some segments that the drug can’t target. Those

being:

1- people who are allergic to the active ingredient (paracetamol)

2- Not for children who are under 12. So it is mainly for adults and teenagers. Yet some

products of paracetamol do exist for this age group.

3- It isn’t preferable for pregnant women because it has been reported that some traces of

the drug may be found in the milk used for breast feeding.

Some of the places that are strongly targeted by the company are Hospitals, institutions,

pharmacies, clinics and the list goes on.

Hospitals: intended mainly to deliver the patients the required drug. Panadol is used as a

pain killer used in hospitals.

Clinics: doctors can prescribe Panadol for patients who complain constantly from pain.

*medical uses for panadol:

Fever: Paracetamol is approved for reducing fever in people of all ages. The World

Health Organization (WHO) recommends that paracetamol only be used to treat fever in

children if their temperature is greater than 38.5 °C (101.3 °F). The efficacy of

paracetamol by itself in children with fevers has been questioned [] and a meta-analysis

showed it to be less effective than ibuprofen. Paracetamol has a well-established role in

pediatric medicine as an effective analgesic and antipyretic.

Pain: Paracetamol is used for the relief of pains associated with many parts of the body.

It has analgesic properties comparable to those of aspirin, while its anti-inflammatory

effects are weaker. It is better tolerated than aspirin in patients in whom excessive gastric

acid secretion or prolongation of bleeding time may be a concern. Available without a

prescription, it has in recent years increasingly become a common household drug.

*Psychographic Profile: Panadol and Panadol Extra are legally available in

Egypt at the prices of 7.0 L.E & 14.0 L.E they are manufactured by GSK Ireland and

packed here by Alexandria Company. So it basically targets the Upper class, the Middle

class, and working class and maybe some of the lower class.

The reason for such a moderate price is due to it being well known and well trusted.

Everyone (almost everyone) knows about panadol extra as a safe medication for pain

killers. It targets people whose social lives are stable and who trust the product. It also

targets people who prefer medication (tablets capsules and such) over herbal ones. Its

price is advantageous to many people indeed

*Behavioral Profile: Consumers usually buy the product when it is prescribed to

them by the Dr. or by a hospital. So basically the people prefer buying the product when

they are in some sensation of some pain or if they need it (if the doctor prescribed it)

the company doesn’t really care for peoples behaviors as much as it cares for its needs in

this scenario. They concentrate on their pain (the people), not attitudes.

*Positioning: Panadol is positioned as one of the safest pain killers in existence.

Statistics show that most people when they hear the word panadol, safety and pain relief

are the words that come to mind. Panadol’s key value is the trust consumers extend to the

brand. This has evolved over its 40 years in the pain relief market. In 1994 Panadol was

rated as the third most trustworthy brand in Australia in the Young & Rubicam Brand

Asset Valuator study.

Panadol IS one of the safest choices there is and is prescribed by most physicians here in

Egypt.

b) Competition Review: panadol has many competitors like

1) Novandol (sanofi Aventis)

2) Abimol (Manufactured by: Unipharma company)

3) Paramol (masr lel mosta7darat el tebeya)

4) Paracetamol (el Nasr)

5) Piral (el qahera)

Example: Abimol

INDICATIONS

- Relief of pain and fever associated with influenza, common cold and other febrile

conditions.

- Headache, toothache and neuralgia.

- Dysmenorrhea, arthralgia, myalgia and similar disorders.

All of which have the active ingredient paracetamol in them.

Competition might seem tough, but it actually isn’t for panadol

statistics show that almost 80% of the world population know what panadol is and also

acknowledge it as the no 1 pain killer. This is why competitors are trying to turn the other

segments, mainly for children as panadol isn’t advised for children (although some

products are) but mainly not. Panadol extra is intended for adults and teenagers only and

that is why competitors try to get a bigger share in the market by luring people in by their

products that are intended for children.

The competitors offer different products but with different names and possibly other

properties. But they all have paracetamol as an active ingredient inside of them and thus

all of them are treated as pain killers and considered as competitors for panadol extra

with a market share and competing with it.

C) SWOT analysis:

the company’s strengths

- researching and developing new drugs constantly. Vaccines and diseases are of the

company’s biggest strengths as the company does a lot and it also spends a lot on

researching and developing new products. Especially when it comes to diseases where it

is a main priority by the world health organization where the company keeps on

researching for treatments and such stuff.

-the company’s strong generation of cash and profits means that the company will have a

good return to shareholders and also it will be able to generate a value, a profit, and a

goodwill for their stock for their stockholders. This will definitely strengthen the

company greatly.

-the products of GSK are sold in over 150 countries worldwide, which clearly shows a

really big market share of the company globally (1 of which is located in Egypt).

GSK has been stated as one of the best 100 companies in ‘’working mother magazine’’

which also contributed to boosting its name and making it well known worldwide.

-The provision of finances and health facilities to non-profit organizations and giving for

charitable purposes also increases the credibility of the company in general.

WEAKNESSES:

-the relatively high price (7-14) isn’t acceptable by a lot of consumers in Egypt, where

almost half the population falls in the working class category and cannot/do not prefer

buying such an expensive product (in their point if view) so they revert to competitors for

cheaper prices.

- The sudden decline in sales due to present financial constraints which are still having

their affects globally also resulted in firing of large number of employees.

Opportunities:

- the company’s vast experience in terms of health and pharmaceutical industry will

definitely be giving them a competitive edge that they can use to beat down their

opponents (not literally of course).

-the company generates a lot of profit yearly, which means that the company can

produce and develop new products. This also means that its investment in the market

will rapidly increase. This might come out as a competitive advantage to move forward.

- The goodwill of the company in the eyes of the customer may increase due to the fact

that the company posts large charitable grants for poor countries

Threats

-The pharmaceutical companies now days are facing difficulties to find new drugs as

much has already been discovered, so compared to old times it is difficult getting new

inventions and innovations. So a large budget on research and development may be a

threat

-A large number of health and pharmaceutical companies may also be a threat to

GlaxoSmithKline

Competitors play an important role in this.

-A big settlement of complains and charges resulting in huge fines to GlaxoSmithKline

may also be a big threat to the company in future because it may be giving a lot of

finances in settling the charges against it as it has been doing in future

- The present global crisis and financial decline in overall economy has also greatly

affected the company’s financial conditions.

D) The marketing strategy:

Promotion: Panadol has done a great deal in the promotion field, not only in Egypt, but

world widely. Panadol has virtually used every means of promotion available ranging

from promoting to TV advertisements to promoting to doctors in private clinics. Its

coverage keeps on increasing day by day.

The concept of its advertisements on TV talks about how people use it (panadol) in heir

personal lives. In one advertisement, a Surgeon talks about how he uses panadol in his

everyday life. He goes to the hospital, does his job and feels at the end of the day some

mild pain. He then talks about the product, which is panadol, and how it affects him.

People in these advertisements usually are convinced by the product and they try to lure

the people into believing them. A well developed plan. Owing to the visual similarities of

competing products, a clear differentiation of the pack was also needed. Panadol believed

that the lookalikes were deceiving consumers as being their trusted Panadol.The

Company’s mission was to ensure that the customer is given Panadol when he or she asks

for it. This strategy was a tremendous success – it was, in fact, evidenced by sales data

which reflected rapidly rising demand. To achieve this, GSK launched a 360-degree

Campaign. This was achieved by establishing what is now known as the ripples of relief,

which are a part of the new design and use characters from varying social levels and

skills. They provide messages of product usage in the form of testimonials.

Place: GSK has placed itself in many places, recently campaigns have started to

introduce it to newer markets and to target even more segments than it used to.

It tries to sell for lower prices in the lower segments to eliminate competition. It has a lot

of distributers. It also has some kind of general coverage where nearly every hospital or

clinical institution in Egypt has Panadol as a pain killer. Also doctors and physicians

describe it to patients more often than anyone thinks. It is really effective as a medicatio n.

Also local pharmacies are considered as one of its places where the company is obliged

to accept the demands. Panadol extra has a huge control over the market (in terms of pain

killers) and has earned this reputation fairly. A well earned title for a deserving company

with has a large magnitude and a large impact on the market.

To sum it up, it distributes to Doctors, physicians, clinical facilities, institutions,

hospitals, local pharmacies and much more. The list goes on.

Price: ‘’At last Panadol & Panadol Extra are Legally available in Egypt at the prices

of 7.0 L.E & 14.0 L.E they are manufactured by GSK Ireland and packed here by

Alexandria company’’ is a statement on the official drug purchasing site for Egypt

http://www.arabrxlist.com/. It states that there the prices are 7 LE and 14 LE. 7 for being

Panadol and 14 for being Panadol Extra. The difference lays in that the Paracetamol

concentration in which in panadol extra concentrations of the active ingredient are much

more than that in the normal drug (panadol).

Product: Panadol has led innovation in pain relief. After its introduction in tablet form

in 1956, a constant flow of new presentations and forms have been introduced to offer the

consumer a variety of choices. In 1971, the round tablet in the cellophane pack made

history in the progression of Panadol. This was followed by the blister pack in 1992.

Later, in 1998, the caplet in the blister pack replaced the familiar round tablet. Panadol

has believed in continuous improvement and setting standards by way of launching

extensions and variants to strengthen its brand franchise. As a result, several line

extensions have been added to a growing market. These included PFC – relaunched in

1985 with no sugar and no alcohol, quite unlike other variants available at the time. In

2004, recognizing the need for Paracetamol that acted twice as fast to keep up with the

fast-paced lives of consumers, Panadol Actifast was introduced to the market. All

Panadol’s adult products are manufactured in Dungarvan, Ireland – the manufacturing

hub for many markets. Stringent quality controls are in place during its production

process. Process ensures that customers receive a Panadol’s market leadership in the

pediatric range.

Panadol Actifast tablets are manufactured with a film coating that makes swallowing

easier and to circumvent any bitter taste. Actifast also includes Sodium Bicarbonate,

which accelerates absorption into the body. As a result, it is absorbed into the body twice

as fast as the standard product.

GKL has researched the market clearly and because of that it made an amazing marketing

strategy as mentioned above.

In the product, it made a safe product with a guaranteed effect that would most likely

satisfy the company’s customers.

In the pricing category, the panadol extra costs around 14 pounds which targets a whole

segment. To target even greater segments, they made the normal Panadol medicine for 7

LE only. It has similar effects (though the concentration of paracetamol isn’t the same

where it is intensified more in the Panadol extra)

in the promotion section, the company made sure to make big and clear promotions and

also to sponsor poor countries and aid them with introduction of the designated medicine

with lower price than that they would normally sell it at.

in the place, the company commands many channel distributers and has a strong coverage

over the country where almost every pharmacy has the medicine panadol in it (due to

high demands)

GSK has grown a big way and is worthy of the title that it got of being one of the most

trusted pharmaceutical countries in existence.

Things you didn’t know about panadol:

-Panadol is the most widely available pain reliever in the

world; it is marketed in over 80 countries and is the market leader in

many.

-The ‘dol’ in Panadol is derived from the Latin word ‘dolor’, meaning

pain.

-Panadol was first launched in 1956, and was initially only available on

prescription.

-In 1994, Panadol was rated the third most trustworthy brand in Australia

Summary

GSK is one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies. Headquartered in the UK, it is a global organization with offices in over 100 countries and major research centers in the UK, USA, Belgium and China. (Responsible for production of panadol).

B) Current marketing situation a) Target Market analysis: GlaxoSmithKline is the company responsible for production of panadol extra. Panadol extra targets a huge part of the market; this is due to the fact that people need it in almost their everyday lives

*The Demographic Profile: The target market for Panadol is anyone with pain (because it relieves pain) yet there are some segments that the drug cant target.

*Psychographic Profile: Panadol and Panadol Extra are legally available in Egypt at the prices of 7.0 L.E & 14.0 L.E they are manufactured by GSK Ireland and packed here by Alexandria company. So it basically targets the Upper class, the Middle class, and working class and maybe some of the lower class.

*Behavioral Profile: Consumers usually buy the product when it is prescribed to them by the Dr. or by a hospital. So basically the people prefer buying the product when they are in some sensation of some pain or if they need it (if the doctor prescribed it)

*Positioning: Panadol is positioned as one of the safest pain killers in existence. Statistics show that most people when they hear the word panadol, safety and pain relief are the words that come to mind. Panadol’s key value is the trust consumers extend to the brand

b) Competition Review: panadol has many competitors like

1) Novandol (sanofi Aventis)

2) Abimol (Manufactured by: Unipharma company)

3) Paramol (masr lel mosta7darat el tebeya)

4) Paracetamol (el Nasr)

5) Piral (el qahera)

Example: Abimol

C) S.W.O.T. analysis:

Strengths

• Research and development on new drugs, vaccines and diseases is one of the biggest strength of GlaxoSmithKline as the company is doing a lot and spending a lot on research and development projects. Especially a lot is being done by the company regarding the diseases which are set as a main priority by world health organization

Weaknesses

• the relatively high price (7-14) isn’t acceptable by a lot of consumers in Egypt, where almost half the population falls in the working class category and cannot/do not prefer buying such an expensive product (in their point if view) so they revert to competitors for cheaper prices.

Opportunities

• A vast experience in health and pharmaceutical industry will definitely be giving them a competitive edge on others.

Threats

• The pharmaceutical companies now days are facing difficulties to find new drugs as much has already been discovered, so compared to old times it is difficult getting new inventions and innovations. So a large budget on research and development may be a threat

The marketing strategy: Promotion: Panadol has done a great deal in the promotion field, not only in Egypt, but world widely. Panadol has virtually used every means of promotion available ranging from promoting to TV advertisements to promoting to doctors in private clinics. Its coverage keeps on increasing day by day. Place: GSK has placed itself in many places, recently campaigns have started to introduce it to newer markets and to target even more segments than it used to. it tries to sell for lower prices in the lower segments to eliminate competition Price: ‘’At last Panadol & Panadol Extra are Legally available in Egypt at the prices of 7.0 L.E & 14.0 L.E they are manufactured by GSK Ireland and packed here by Alexandria company’’ is a statement on the official drug purchasing site for Egypt http://www.arabrxlist.com/. It states that there the prices are 7 LE and 14 LE. 7 for being Panadol and 14 for being Panadol Extra. Product: Panadol has led innovation in pain relief. After its introduction in tablet form in 1956, a constant flow of new presentations and forms have been introduced to offer the consumer a variety of choices. In 1971, the round tablet in the cellophane pack made history in the progression of Panadol.