Product, Price, Distribution, and Promotion - Essay Example

?Product, Price, Distribution, and Promotion Table of Contents Product, Price, Distribution, and Promotion Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Intensity Level 3 Marketing Mix 3 Product 3 Price 4 Place/Distribution 5 Promotion 5 Conclusion 6 References 7 Introduction In the age of increased work pressure and large scale environmental pollution healthcare industry has emerged as one of the most important segments. There have been numerous scientific discoveries in the healthcare sector with advanced medical facilities for patients. The present study would deal with the marketing strategies for setting up a new healthcare facility towards ailments of cardiac disorders in India. The choice of market assumes significance considering the high economic growth of the nation as well as the demand for quality healthcare in the nation. Intensity Level India emerges as one of the most favorable destinations for setting up a healthcare unit for cardiac ailments because of the huge market size. A research reports currently values the Indian healthcare industry at about 34 billion US dollars. This value is expected to reach up to the tune of 40 million dollars by the end of 2012. In addition to this the burgeoning population of the nation also adds to the profitability of the Indian market. In addition the lack of facilities with the government hospitals acts as a lucrative opportunity for the private sector considering the fact that approximately 80 percent of the healthcare spending is being done by the private sector in the nation (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2007, p.1-2). Marketing Mix Product The proposed cardiac super specialty center would have all the aspects that would provide world class treatment facilities. The hospital would have a narrow breadth with regards to the product offering and would only focus towards cardiac and heart ailments (Berkowitz, 2006, p.218, 219). Apart from separate wings like emergency, and outdoor, the hospital would also have dedicated Intensive Cardiac Care Units, High Dependency Units that would be equipped with latest machinery and equipments. In addition to equipments the hospital would also have quality paramedical staff including qualified nurses and attendants to regularly cater to the patients. Highly expert doctors would be kept as specialists for different ailments related to cardiac problems. In addition to this the hospital would also have tie ups with leading hospitals abroad and would have video conferencing facilities that would help the doctors to consult expert doctors from across the globe. The hospital would also have outdoor facilities for the patients. The hospital would have a 24 hour dedicated emergency facility for catering to any emergency. Specialized trauma care centers would also be established to cater to patients suffering from severe trauma. Price The new healthcare unit would follow a premium pricing strategy that would be based on the level of specialized healthcare facilities being provided to the organization. A skim based pricing strategy would be adopted as the hospital would be targeting only premium segment patients who are more concerned about the quality of treatment and do not bother about the costs. This would help the hospital to earn better margins to maintain its sustainability and profitability. Maintaining a premium pricing strategy would help in generating greater financial viability and sustainability for the organization to grow and prosper in the future. The hospital would also have tie ups with leading insurance providers and would also provide cashless treatment to the patients based on the quantum of insurance coverage. High level of transparency would be maintained in the billing section with prior consent from patients before initiating any treatment. As a part of corporate social responsibility the company would also provide free treatment to the needy patients. Three percent of the total bed strength would be reserved for charitable purposes. Place/Distribution The new hospital would be located in any of the top four metros of nation namely Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore. These cities have a good number of individuals who have higher income levels and can afford to pay a premium price for the services of the hospital. These cities also have high pollution levels leading to higher cardiac problems. Hence a location in these high growth trajectory cities would benefit the organization and help generate sustainability. Promotion Promotion is perhaps the most important aspect that would finally help the new hospital to cater to the competition levels prevailing in the market. The company would use promotional tools like direct marketing to have tie ups with corporate houses. In addition the company would also use other channels for communication including advertising, television as well as the print media to generate awareness among the individuals. Online marketing would also be used to tap the vast population of ‘netizens’ across the world. The company would also leverage the aspect of medical tourism considering the low cost of healthcare aspects like angioplasty, CABG etc that are relatively cheaper in India as compared to the Western nations with the same expertise. In addition promotional tools would also be used to tap patients from neighboring nations like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka that also have a considerable number of patients but have to visit other nations owning to the poor state of healthcare facilities available in those nations (Kumar, 2009, p.87). Online marketing using social networking would be used to make the presence felt in the online circles and to improve the positioning and brand image of the organization in the minds of the customer. In addition to external stakeholders the company would also be have a communication strategy for its internal employees. Open channels of communication would be established that would help in the smooth flow of information across the organization. This would ultimately aid in the decision making process and would also help generate organizational efficiency that would help generate employee motivation and job satisfaction leading to organization sustainability and profitability. Conclusion The proposed cardiac specialty health care centre has tremendous opportunity in terms of attracting a large number of patients. Opportunities not only exist within the internal markets in the nation but also in external markets in the neighboring nations. Adopting a quality focused approach and effective and quality care3 would ultimately help generate competitive advantage in the long run in the highly profitable healthcare industry in the nation. References Berkowitz, E.N. (2006). Essentials of health care marketing. Jones & Bartlett Learning. Kumar, S. (2009). DESIGNING PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES FOR MEDICAL TOURISM IN INDIA: A CASE STUDY OF AN OPHTHALMIC HOSPITAL IN NCR. Retrieved September 1, 2011 from http://medind.nic.in/hab/t09/i2/habt09i2p86.pdf. PricewaterhouseCoopers. (2007). Healthcare in India Emerging market report 2007. Retrieved September 1, 2011 from http://www.pwc.com/en_GX/gx/healthcare/pdf/emerging-market-report-hc-in-india.pdf. Read More