Product Team Cialis: Getting Ready to Market – Case Analysis

1) What are the most relevant dimensions to use to segment the patient market for ED treatment? Select only the most relevant! Define the segments that emerge from the dimensions you chose.

For a successful launch it is very important to understand the customers and try to segment them in an appropriate way. They can focus their forces in physicians, in patients or in partners. In this case, let us consider the patient market. The most relevant dimensions to segment this market are demographic and psychographic. In the first one, we have some variables that are opportune to use, as they differentiate people potentially interested in purchasing Cialis, and these variables are age, gender, sexual preference, marital status and income. In the second one, we have variables like attitudes, interests and opinions, because people have different lifestyles and so they will have different needs and different ways of thinking. For instance, one person can be a bit embarrassed with this problem, another one can be ok with this; one person can have a spontaneous need of this product, another one can have a regular need to consume this. These are good variables that will able us to define good segments! We can also enumerate another dimension that is in my opinion less important than the others: geographic dimension. In this, we can differentiate people from different countries or states. Finally, in order to define segments, let me consider the dimension I choose as more relevant: demographic. The segments that emerge from this dimension are: young people, old-aged people, male, single, married, widower, employed, student, retired, low yearly income, mid yearly income and high yearly income.

2) Of the segments identified, which would you target initially? Why? Considering all the segments, I would target married people (or living together). A 20mg oral dose of Cialis improved the ability to respond to sexual stimulation over an extended period of time, even 36 hours after taking the drug. It is a significant difference when compared to Viagra, which only lasts approximately four hours after

dosing. So, my idea is to explore a segment that can get more from this important feature, following a “beat” strategy with a differentiated positioning, one of the three approaches referred in the article. In my opinion, a people’s group that would value this characteristic is married people, because they normally have more regularly sexual relations as they living together and sleep together daily. Thus, it is a segment that could be very relevant for Cialis, since they have developed its half-life. Another difference compared to Viagra is side effects. Cialis has less side effects and it is also another advantage for the target I have chose, because married people probably work and so the less side effects they have, the less interference with professional life they will have. 3) What is Viagra positioning in 2002? How would you characterize the Viagra brand?

In 2002, Viagra was the leader in the treatment of male impotence. It was the brand that people associate immediately with erectile dysfunction and it has been generating over $1 billion in sales annually. In 1999 they did an aggressive marketing in response to their fall due to 130 deaths of patients taking Viagra and in 2002 Viagra continued to be positioned at number one. So, they invest a large part in advertising and in sales force in order to be very competitive and the leader ones. We can also add that in 2002 Viagra changed a bit its positioning, when compared to 1998. In this last date, they chose Bob Dole, a 75-year-old to support their ad, and in 2002 they decided to make some ads with Mark Martin, a well-known race driver in his 40s. So, it can show a change in Viagra target, from older people to younger ones (3040 years old). 4) What would be the most effective way to position Cialis in the marketplace?

To answer this question, it seems appropriate to do an analysis using a positioning statement. The Cialis’ target audience, as I said in question two, is married people, because they are the ones who can get more from Cialis’ best developed feature and so they are the group of customers that most closely represents the potential sales. Referring to frame of reference and points of difference, Cialis is competing in a market of pills to erectile dysfunction. Some men are suffering from male impotence

and they have several problems with their partners due to this. So, they will take a drug to be able to respond to sexual stimulation. Cialis has developed a drug with some important improved features, like fewer side effects, more half-life hours and the absorption of Cialis does not be affected by food intake. These are reasons to believe in the product. When compared to the market leader, Viagra, we conclude Cialis is a better product, so let us develop this new brand. 5) What marketing mix activities should accompany the launch of Cialis? A) What would be the most important messages to communicate to the target patients? To physicians? To partners?

In terms of communication, I would promote this product mainly with patients, since they are the ones we want to persuade to purchase our product. As we can see in exhibit 8, a good percentage of people are waiting to see if the condition will go away, they do not care so much because it does not happen all that often and they are embarrassed to talk about it, so these are the main barriers in which they have to work, and to do that they have to reach patients. However, it is also important to communicate to physicians and partners. To patients, I would focus my message in the quality evolution of Cialis, when compared to the other pills actually in the market. The importance is to convey the message of a premium product not only by rational aspects but also with some emotion ones, as a good product that provides good and most enduring moments with a partner. To physicians, it is advisable to have a message more based in rational aspects, instead of emotion. In this case, it is important that physicians know the product, believe in the product effects, have confidence in the product and finally prescript and advise this drug to a patient. So Cialis has to reveal the benefits of the product when compared to their competitors, and its success, relying for this in the successful phase I, II and III clinical trials, because efficacy is the most important attribute for physicians. Another important attribute is safety, so they have to make a review and prove the safety of the product, also focusing the message on this aspect. Finally, although physicians do not give much importance to this feature, it may be important to give some relevance to the duration of Cialis.

The communication to partners is also a good way to promote the product. Sometimes some men do not want to think and talk about their problems, so if women have the initiative to talk about this it can increase the probability of a man buy the product. In this case it is useful to have a message based in loving and well-being aspects, to seduce women to get back to sweet moments and get more hugging and more kissing. B) What medium would you use to reach each of these parties and what would your relative resource allocation be?

In my opinion, I think it is more important to focus Cialis medium forces in patients and secondly in partners, because they are the ones Cialis wants to persuade and it is possible to reach these two parts in identical ways. One type of advertising is on television, here my goal is to create some ads with celebrities exposing their problems and solving it with Cialis, having then a nice quiet moment. It is appropriate to advertise in the most viewed channels by married people, like a movie channel and probably at night, like 10 p.m., after dinner. Another medium it is important to reach is radio, and here they can advertise in some radio stations that married people listen when they go to work. Moreover, it is my idea to put some advertising posters in pharmacies and in some nocturnal spaces, especially those designed for older age than young people, for instance in a bar or a pub, since these are places that are frequented by couples. If they see advertising, they probably will talk about this subject and eventually become interested in Cialis product. Finally, another important way in these segments is to put a Cialis stand in various hospitals, in order to reach people when they go to an appointment of any specialty. Thirdly, relatively to the other part – physicians, I suggest not spending money on advertising, but investing on sales force, since the importance here is to disclose the benefits, the improvements of this product when compared to Viagra, its efficacy and safety to physicians. Thus, it could be interesting make an agreement with an hospital that enable Cialis to do some presentations and meetings with doctors. C) How would you price Cialis? What type of promotions would you offer? In terms of price, I think the best hypothesis is a premium pricing, in order to encourage favourable perceptions among buyers. In this case, it is important to reflect

Cialis’ longer duration, the absorption of Cialis does not be affected by food intake and the fact of having fewer side effects, and these incredible features when compared to Viagra should be linked with a higher price, in order to Cialis be perceived as a quality and distinct product. Moreover, married people (my target) normally are at an older age and so they are willing to spend more money in these kind of products. Therefore, my suggestion price would be $12 per pill. Relating to this, I would try to make some agreements with insurance companies and with National Health Service, in order to cover a part of Cialis pill and be an incentive for people to purchase. Relatively to promotion, I would sell Cialis in pharmacies with an appealing advertising. To enter in the market, I think it is important to spend some money in ads in all pharmacies and associated this brand with some fashion and beautiful people, even celebrities, to convey the idea that this problem is normal and cannot be construed as shame. There are some ways to treat this problem and we will show that also known people can suffer from ED. I think it is also important to promote this new product to female sector, as I said in the previous question, since then they would talk to their husbands about Cialis and its good effects. Finally, ICOS and Lilly may do some quantity discounts to encourage a continued consumption. 6) What competitive response do you anticipate from Pfizer? From BayerGlaxoSmithKline? Pfizer is very known for its marketing power since they spend a lot of money in advertising in order to be the leading brand. When they notice Cialis has been developing a new product with a better performance and with excellent marketing campaigns, I suppose Pfizer will invest more money in R&D, even more than they spent, to be able to compete with Cialis and who knows develop a new different feature. Probably they will also create some new advertising programmes to communicate Viagra developments. From Bayer I do not expect any particular reaction, because they are focusing their strategy in diabetic men, considered a hard-to-treat segment. So, as Cialis is segmenting a different target market, probably Bayer will not react, since people that are covered by these two segments in common are rare.