Cialis
Cialis
What are the most relevant dimensions along which to segment the patient market for ED treatment? Of the segments identified, which would you target initially with Cialis?
The relevant dimensions are: age, occupation, marital/partner status, level of education, level of income and ED medication use habits (i.e. Viagra dropout).
Within these segments, the populations to target are:
Age: Men ages 50+ (slight market with men ages 40-49)
Occupation: Retired or employed full time
Marital Status: Married or living together with a partner / have a sexual partner
Education: U.S. – high level of education; Other countries – secondary to primary level of education
Income: U.S. – mid to high level of income; Other countries – low to mid level of income
ED medication use: Viagra dropouts
What is Viagras positioning in the marketplace in 2002? How would you characterize the Viagra brand?
In 2002, Viagra is:
Well-established market leader (5 years of success on market; 9 million men have used drug)
Monopoly
Aggressive in marketing and sales force (NASCAR ads, 30,000 direct sales representatives, many of whom are former military)
Markets to men but targets their female partners
Has 3 million users (and approx. 7 million dropouts)
What would be the most effective way to position Cialis in the marketplace?
Cialis marketers should pursue a primary strategy to �beat’ Viagra by differentiating itself as �better’ and gaining more market share than Viagra. To do so, it should promote the following attributes of Cialis:
Longer duration and shorter onset time: Cialis has a half life of 17 hours and can last up to 36 hours (as opposed to 3 to 5 hours for Viagra). In addition, Cialis has an onset time of 30 min (Viagra is 30min – 1 hr and onset can be slowed by high fat foods).
Fewer side effects / safety factor: Cialis does not cause blue-tinted vision like Viagra, nor is its onset time inhibited by fatty foods (as mentioned above).
Effectiveness as an ED drug. Cialis is actually superior to Viagra.
ICOS and Lilly should:
Target a market of 50+ men who have sexual partners, are married and/or living with someone and are retired or working full time
Market to partners as well as to the men
Assemble a direct sales force that is large enough to compete with Viagra and send them out to market directly to primary care practitioners and urologists
Set Cialis price per pill at slightly higher than Viagra, to indicate superior quality and remind of longer duration
What marketing mix activities should accompany the launch of Cialis?
What would be the most important message to communicate to the target patients? To physicians? To partners?
Cialis is better, safer, has fewer side effects and lasts longer. Cialis is a drug for people like you (ED can and does happen to many people).
What medium would you use to reach each of these parties and what would your relative resource allocation be to each?
Through PCP and Urology offices, directly marketing to these physicians
Through magazine advertisements in men’s magazines and magazines that might target the female partner population
Through television advertisements run at times when a 50+ male audience (or their partners) would be watching
How would you price Cialis? What type of promotions would you offer?
Product:
Cialis – a superior erectile disfunction drug
Green pill (means go)
Price:
Slightly higher than Viagra
Packaged