Chapter 11 slides for
Marketing for Pharmacists,
2nd Edition

 Discuss the purpose of promoting pharmacy products and pharmacist services.
 Explain barriers to effective marketing communication, using the communication model.
 Describe the information processing model.
 Use the information processing model to discuss the relative effectiveness of various communication media.
 List the six forms of promotion used to communicate marketing messages.
 Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each of these forms of promotion.
 Offer basic recommendations for promoting services.
 Describe the steps used in developing a promotional plan.

Promotional Communications
Promotional communications are communications with a purpose.
 About a product’s existence, features, benefits.
 Ultimate goal is to influence behavior.
 Consumer opinions are fine but meaningless if they do not result in people doing what you want (e.g., most trusted).

 To inform
 Prescription refills now on the
Internet.
 To persuade
 Our prices can’t be beat!
 To remind
 Don’t forget, we’re still America’s most trusted.

Should be based on
 Company mission
 SWOT analysis
 The other P’s of the marketing mix

Promotion
Promotion must have a clear message.
 Develop clear company image/identity
 Involves asking, “what are we?”
 Whether a company or individual tries or not, some identity will be formed in the mind of the customer.

 Cheap-Online-Pharmacy.org
 Costco
 Medicine Shoppe
 CVS
 Good Neighbor Pharmacies
 Hinky Dinky Pharmacy

“Winn-Dixie division ties turkey sales to pharmacy”
Customers receive a free 10-12 pound turkey with the transfer of two or more prescriptions to Winn-
Dixie pharmacies.
The food chain ran a full page ad in the front section of the Atlanta Constitution/Atlanta Journal
An average of 50 to 60 people per store have taken advantage of the promotion every year for the last five years.
Supermarket News, Nov 21, 1994 v44 p 35.

Figure 11-1: Elements of promotional communications
Promotion Consumer Action

All communications follow this simple model.
TIP
Tailor messages to the situation.

Receiver
Sender
Encoding
Medium
Decoding
Receiver
Receiver
Feedback
The Communication Model

Each step in the model is a hurdle that must be overcome.
TIP
The message can be lost at any point.

Selective attention
 1600 commercial messages per day
 80 messages consciously noticed
 12 provoke some reaction
Some advertisers try anything to get your attention.

Selective distortion
 Twisting message to hear what you want
Selective recall
 Committing message to longterm memory

Information
Processing
Model
Message Sent
Through a Promotional Medium
Exposure to the Message
Attention to the Message
Comprehension of the Message
Acceptance of the Message
Retention of the Message in Memory
Action Taken in Response to the Message

 Message must run a path with multiple barriers to its progression.
 Failure at any step means ultimate failure of the communication.
 Communications must reach, grab attention, be comprehensible, be accepted, and be retained to be effective!

Use messages that are…
 Simple
 Clear
 Interesting
 Repeated

Options for promotion
Marketer Controlled
Advertising
(e.g., magazines, TV)
Personal Selling
(e.g., detailing)
Direct Marketing
(e.g., telemarketing, mailings)
Promotional Sales
(e.g., sampling, coupons)
Promotional
Methods
Marketer Influenced
Public Relations
(e.g., press releases, events)
Buzz Promotion
(e.g., cultivating thought leaders)

The message, medium, and delivery are directly managed through the payment of money.

 Any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion by a sponsor
- Print: newsletters, outdoor ads, newspaper, magazines, yellow pages.
Includes patient package inserts and educational literature
- Broadcast: TV and radio
 Low cost/exposure, useful for creating images, easy to ignore

Service advertising strategies
Present services more tangibly
 Incorporate physical elements of service into the promotion (e.g., counseling areas)
 Associate service with concrete, specific language and symbols
(e.g., Prudential)
 Capitalize on word-of-mouth recommendations (e.g., customer testimonials)

Service advertising strategies
(continued)
 Demonstrate the customer’s participation in the service process
 Present pharmacist and patient in promotions.
 Provide documentation to demonstrate the consistent quality of services
 98% satisfaction (we’re working on other
2%)
 Awards for excellence

Service advertising strategies
(continued)
 Present a series of actions using drama to provide a unifying framework for describing and communicating aspects of the service experience

 Personal written or oral
presentations to customers as individuals or groups
 E-mail, telephone call, presentations
 Immediate, interactive, and hard to ignore.
 Personal relationships are cultivated.
 Unlike advertising, messages often require response.

 Patient counseling
 Phoning physicians to get them to change a patient’s therapy
 Hospital in-service programs for nurses
 Hospital grand rounds
 Brown bag meetings
 Counterdetailing

 Preliminary stage: Gather patient information.
 Step 1: Assess information.
 Step 2: Ask probing questions.
 Step 3: Present eatures and
benefits.
 Step 4: Address concerns.
 Step 5: Make the offer.

• A short, scripted speech designed to promote something in the time it takes to ride an elevator.

“Hi, my name is Bill Pharmacist.
I work with patients to control their diabetes. I have a clinic at
Jones Pharmacy. If you are interested, here is my card. Call the number and ask for me.”

 Individualized nonpersonal communication
 Nonpersonal because communications standardized, mechanized to names on list
 More efficient than personal selling but less effective
 Impersonal
 Less credible

Telephone
800 #’s
Internet
Web sites
Database
Companies
Customer
Surveys
Existing Customers
•Loyalty Cards
•Scanner Data
Customer
Database
Contact
Coupon and
Sample
Redemptions
Direct Communications
•Newsletters
•Direct mailings
•Coupons and deals
•Telephone callbacks
•Automatic Rx refills
•Targeted magazines
•E-mail messages
•Referrals to local MDs
•Salesman visits
•Educational videos
•Free samples
•Screenings
•Support groups
•Free classes

 Messages used to promote quick sale not included above
 Price deals, coupons, contests, sweepstakes, refunds and rebates, point of purchase displays
 Used to get attention and stimulate action
 Can generate expectations of deals and cause customers to be overly price sensitive

Sales promotion
 Trust is a key.
 Misuse of customer information can change loyal customers to enemies.
 Giant Foods and CVS mailed refill reminders and information about new drugs.
 Negative public relations responses.

Marketer attempts to indirectly influence the actions of impartial parties who are independent of marketers.

Public relations encompasses a broad range of activities associated with the process of building a positive image and goodwill with the public.
 Lobbying
 Government relations
 Media relations
 Publicity
 Communications with constituents
 Public appearances with groups
 Community relations

Goal
Assessing Goodwill
Influencing
Goodwill

 Any nonpaid attempt to get
favorable coverage by the news media or prevent nonfavorable coverage

 Can be relatively inexpensive if it is do-ityourself.
 Creates good will and humanizes a business.
 Gets greater attention.
 The negative side is that image is out of the hands of the marketer.

Word-of-Mouth Marketing
(Buzz Marketing)
Active attempts to promote positive word-of-mouth (WOM) discussions about a product or service

A message
An opinion leader
Try This
New
Thing!

 Evokes an emotional response
 Personally relevant
 Meets an unmet desire (i.e., new)
 Clearly superior to what is currently available
 Consistent with current belief systems
 Visible
 Has a good story

 They are perceived as credible.
 They interact with others by job or nature.
 They travel.
 They are information-hungry by job or nature.
 They are vocal.
 They are exposed to the media.

 Choose something that is buzz-worthy.
 Identify opinion leaders.
 Get opinion leaders talking.
 Identify and overcome obstacles to adoption.
 Utilize multiple communication channels.
 Encourage adaptation.

Choosing a Medium
 Complicated message – TV or newspaper
 Emotional message – TV or newspaper
 Cheapest way to reach most people – public relations or radio
 Most effective way to individualize message – direct marketing or personal selling
 Receiver is short on time – radio or newspaper

Requires understanding of product, customers, competitors, price, and target market

1.
Define objective of promotion.
2.
Craft message and strategy for delivery.
3.
Select communication mix.
4.
Measure effectiveness.

1.
 Based on positioning statement
 e.g., Johnson’s Apothecary, page 258
 Inform, persuade, and/or remind?
Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh

2.
 Solving four problems:
 What to say
 How to say it in words
 How to say it in pictures
 Who should say it
 When designing message and strategy:
KISS

Be sincere; be brief; be seated.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt

3. Select a communication mix
Depends on
 Message (e.g., complex, simple)
 Effectiveness in comparison with other media
 Ability to individualize message
 Need for two-way communication
 Ability to reach one’s target market
 Cost

4. Assess effectiveness
 Assess the result of your communications.
 There is no way of knowing your communications are effective unless you assess.
The greatest problem in communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished.
- George Bernard Shaw

 Match media to the message.
 Integrate promotion with overall marketing strategy and business objectives.
 Be clear about the purpose of your communications.