PharmaMarketing : Understanding Regional Aspects.

Marketing of Pharmaceuticals is management science, guts feelings, hunches, hypothesis, strategies, influencing and many other combinations and permutations. Those companies whose formulations turnover is rising more than 20%, the credit goes surely to the marketing and sales resources, their strategists and planners.
While the market research and brand loyalties and brand management and territories management is a must, the accelerator for the pharma marketing lies through the ground staff resources. That gentleman who goes with a specific bag in his hands with a tie etc. he is key resource and link. A lot is being done to groom and train medical representatives..still all shall agree with me that the financial lot of the medical representative is not so lucrative. Incentives mechanisms instilled in the system does play as carrot and stick mechanism, the problem of sustainable marketing force requires to be now shaped.
Any regional marketing of the medicines in central part of India, especially Rajasthan, MadhyaPradesh, ChhattishGarh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa and Haryana and Delhi shall depend on the following factors:

• topographical knowledge.
• knowledge about the population profile.
• disease profile.
• data base doctors.
• data base retail outlets.
• data base whole sale medicines distribution aspects.
• data base leading players in the market.
• disease analysis : population and demography wise.
• low value medicines markets.
• high value medicines markets.
• hospital/ institutional market shares of the medicines marketing.
• rurl vs urban consumption requirements of the medicines.
• process flow chart of the availability of the medicines in the rural areas.
• process flow chart of the availability of the medicines in the semi urban and urban markets.
• good distribution practices as adopted by the dopts, distributors, agents, stockists and others.
• private versus government hospitals.
• prescription based vs over the counter OTC markets.
• local cultural aspects.
• local preferences for hospitals vs private practioners.
• proficiency in the local language.
• proficiency in the english language.
• proficiency in mobile communication and mobile marketing.
• proficiency in internet based doctors appointments and website driven marketing and communication thereof.
• dress codes of the selling staff.
• understanding the role and responsibilities of the compounders and other supporting staff in the promotion of the medicines in the consumer class.
• availability of the medicines.
• awareness of the doctors on same product price differentials and bands.
• other parameters.

to be continued part III.

drbmsharma.