Product Team Cialis: Getting Ready to Market Harvard Case Solution & Analysis

Product Team Cialis: Getting Ready to Market Case Study Solution

Introduction

Positioning is the combination of all the activities that are required to create, maintain and sustain the concept of the value created by different brands within the minds of the customers as compared to the competitors of any company. There are different strategies for positioning any product. All the approaches have the same objective of creating a favorable image of the product in the minds of the customers but they represent different strategies due to different attributes(Liu, 2012). Usually there are 7 types of positioning strategies used by the marketers and products can be positioned on the basis of their price, customer benefits or product characteristics, use and application of the product, product process, product class, cultural symbols or the competitors that are the implicit or explicit frame of reference for the company’s products(Yi, 2017).

In this case study, we examine the launch of Cialis into the market when Viagra and existing products are already dominating the market. Cialis is a new medication for the erectile dysfunction and this brand was identical with Viagra. In order to develop a healthy competition and grab a high share of the market, the market segments need to be identified within the patient market that need to be targeted by Cialis. A new value proposition has needs to be developed that would position Cialis in a different manner to beat Viagra in the market and also within their own target segments such as the Viagra Dropouts. Viagra dropouts are those customers that used the Viagra at least once in the past then then discontinued their usage. In this paper, we discuss the segmentation criteria, target market and positioning for Cialis.

Question 1

What are the most relevant criteria to segment the patient market for ED treatment? Of the segments identified, which would you target initially with Cialis?  Why?

The most relevant criteria to segment the patient market for ED treatment would be on the basis of the demographic variables such as age, marital status, income, life stage and education, based on psychographic variable such as values and behavioral variable such as usage patterns. Age has strong positive correlation to the erectile dysfunction incidence and as shown in exhibit 6 in the case exhibits, majority of men suffering from ED are living with their partners or are married(Fennel, 2003). Furthermore, purchasing powers are explored by accounting for education and income. Usage patterns allow us to un group customers into current users of Viagra, Viagra dropouts and never used Viagra(Kennedy, 2001).

Based on the above variables, three key segments could be identified. These would include ‘Young Adults’, that have great commitment for sexual relations and are placed in never used Viagra group and have high level of education along with zero income. The second segment is ‘Stable Husbands’ segment in which husbands between ages 30 to 65 with enduring long term relationships with their spouses are included. Their education level is significant and they have considerable income and savings. They have Viagra dropouts and current user of Viagra usage patterns(Fennel, 2003).

Product Team Cialis Getting Ready to Market Harvard Case Solution & Analysis

The third segment is of the ‘Retired Seniors’ that are above 65 years of age and have been living with their partners for a long period. They have medium to high level of education, with moderate income and significantly high savings. These are current Viagra users and possess the following values: Pride, Family, Activeness, Comfort, Religiousness, Dignity, Fidelity and Traditionalism. Among the above three identified segments, it would be more reasonable to target the ‘Stable Husbands’ segment with a differentiated positioning strategy. The market size of this target segment would be around 22.5 million as shown in exhibit 1 in appendices. Men within this segment have value relationship accomplishment and stability and the ability of men in this segment to start sexually begins inconsistently. Husbands usually start to lose focus and develop distant connection which makes Cialis more relevant to this segment because it would allow to maintain a coherent sexual performance. Cialis would remove pressure and provide more freedom in the sexual lives of couples(Shelby, 2004).

Question 2

Who would you target with Cialis – only patients or somebody else? Why?

Cialis should be targeted to a wider audience and this should not only include the patients but it should also include the physicians and the partners of the ED patient. Cialis is a quality of life drug therefore, the patients need to be aware of this drug and the communication focus to the stable husbands should highlight the duration, safety and efficacy of the new drug. Next, it should be targeted to the physicians because of the fact that Cialis is a prescription drug(Kotler, 2009).

The physicians should include all the urologists and the family doctors based on information provided in exhibit 7b. Physicians should be communicated about the benefits of this drug and how Cialis would be the best drug for all the patients suffering from ED. Doctors are the one that worry most about the well-being of their patients therefore, this should be targeted to the doctors as passing on the strong effectiveness of this drug(Pickton, 2005). Doctors can argue on the basis of the experimental evidence that 81% of men with ED had responded with a sexual stimulation after taking just a small dose of 20 mg of Cialis.................

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