The Marketing Strategy for Cialis’ Launch
Target Market:
Before selecting a target market for Cialis’ launch, Lilly ICOS needs to determine whether to market the product to mainstream or a niche market. Currently, Viagra is the only ED treatment drug in the market and 9 million men have used the drug. Pfizer has spent $108 million on advertising in 2000 and the product is generating over $1 billion in sales each year. These facts show that as a first-to-market drug, Viagra is marketed to all the ED patients and successfully established brand dominance in the industry. Moreover, physicians are generally content with Viagra and are not easily willing to switch prescriptions. Full-out marketing to the mainstream would be present more risk than return for Lilly ICOS. Therefore, it would be best for Cialis to focusing specifically on a niche group of patients and monitor how physicians and patents respond to Cialis after its new introduction in order to determine whether to go broad later on.

There are many different possible segmentation options, such as age, education, annual income, marital states, income, and habits used to treat ED. In terms of age, men of age 40 and up show lower percentage of not willing to take drugs for ED condition. Men in this age group could also more easily afford treatments and are less likely to be waiting for the condition to go away. As of educations and annual income, patients in the United States are most educated therefore potentially more open-minded about the ED condition. They are also more financially well off in terms of yearly income. Regarding marital status, a compelling high percentage of ED patients are married or living together with a partner. According to these facts, it seems most profitable for Cialis to target at men aged 40 and up, married, and living in the United States. However, targeting at older men is