Objectives, Target Market and Positioning of Kadri Pharmacy - Essay Example

?Individual Report SWOT Analysis of Kadri Pharmacy Strengths Kadri Pharmacy has a staff that is well trained and experienced in the field of pharmacyThe pharmacy is strategically located along the busy 87-89 Meadow Street in Preston (NHS 2010) which means that it is easily accessible to many people Established in 1987, Kadri Pharmacy Limited has along history (Company Check 2013) that may generally be associated with experience and stability The pharmacy has a positive net worth going by 2011 reports and a relatively strong asset base for an organization its size Company Check 2013) The organization is a one stop shop for customers who need over-the-counter and prescription drugs. The organization offers Electronic Prescription Service to customers (NHS 2010) which means that people who would otherwise collect drugs from their general practitioners may become customers of Kadri Pharmacy for the sake of convenience and cost. Weaknesses Although the company has been in existence for over two decades, it has lagged behind in terms of utilizing technology to effectively serve customers and market itself. In respect to this, the organization has not established a website and has not engaged in online marketing and advertising to a very limited extent (NHS 2010). The company has not set itself apart from other players in the pharmaceutical industry in any way. The company does not feature among the top pharmacies in the neighborhood Even though the company serves customers six days a week (NHS 2010), it only operates during the day thus missing out on potential night sales that more established pharmacies enjoy. The layout of the pharmacy does not emphasize its commitment to continuous growth and convenience. Many customers find themselves confused as they go though the pharmacy looking for the products of their choice which means that customers face a lot of inconveniences in their shopping experience. The store appears crowded with goods, which goes against the company’s desire to appear clean, organized, and novel. Furthermore, the pharmacy does not have an enviable design and no clear signs are used to direct visitors within the store. Opportunities Kadri Pharmacy is owned by a sole proprietor who may sell some shares to other investors to boost its capital base and accelerate its growth The pharmacy is not part of any group but may join forces with other organizations so as to strengthen its brand. Public and patient activism against obesity in the country is growing. Also, the population of people who are aging is steadily growing. This is a sign that the market for pharmaceutical products is bound to increase in view of the health issues and concerns (Alan 2011, p1). New tools and methods of communication and information technology such as the social media present new opportunities in the digital era. The pharmacy can apply e-commerce tools and strategies to reach people who live beyond Preston and therefore increase sales. Enhanced communication tools such as telehealth/telecare have seen the development of new processes of delivering services in the health care industry. Such tools may be applied by the company to increase efficiency in service delivery. The harmonization of the healthcare system across Europe is a major strength for the pharmaceutical industry. There is increasing pressure on the healthcare UK healthcare system (Alan 2011, p1). This means that generally there is a growing demand for healthcare services including pharmacy. Threats Consumer’s expectations are being changed by patient awareness and this is putting a considerable amount of pressure on consumer service (Alan 2011, p1). This may effectively lower the profits of the business The global economic crisis has made customers reluctant to use their money on healthcare. This means that the business may not make as much profit as it otherwise would if the crisis never occurred. There are several pharmacies in Preston, many of them bigger and better established than Kadri Pharmacy Limited. Generally, customers may prefer bigger and more established organizations to smaller ones to save on costs among other reasons. With regulations restricting adverts related to healthcare, Kadri Pharamacy may not engage in vigorous marketing of many of its products as it otherwise would without the regulations Digital Market Plan Objectives, Target Market and Positioning The objective of this market plan is to increase sales volumes of Kadri Pharmacy products and by extension, its profitability. Through the application of the market plan, the business hopes to make a profit of ?300,000 within the first year of its institution. The target market includes people living in the larger Preston area, with a focus on the richer residents of the area. The plan seeks to establish the business as a convenient and affordable one stop shop for that caters to the needs of the old and those who are obese. The plan relies on intelligent Internet marketing to attract and grow the number of motivated customers who visit the yet to be established Kadri Pharmacy website, create confidence in the organization, and create awareness of the organizations’ services and products. Further, the plan is aimed at creating and growing leads which hopefully will translate into sales and profits. Digital Marketing Mix and Relationship Management Tactics In order to achieve the objectives of the plan, several tactics and strategies will be applied. These tactics or strategies while all dedicated to achieving a common goal, will be applied in sequence or simultaneously in such a manner as to maximize benefit. So as to establish a strong presence on the Internet, the company will have to develop an attractive, educative/informative, and user friendly website. The website will incorporate WordPress based blogs so as to ensure that the platform used is always adequate and current. The website will be designed such that navigation though the various pages will be easy with the possibility of maintaining a high click-to-conversion ratio. The page names will reflect the content that feature in them with the aim of optimizing them to search engines. While there will be several pages on the website, a thank you page compete with add a contact form will be among them. With a website in place, the site will be optimized for search engines by posting search engine optimized articles on the website and its blog. The heavily key-worded articles will include messages that focus on the target market. Intensive research will be conducted to identify the keywords to use in the articles. The website will be submitted to different search engines including Google and Yahoo and the target geographical areas assigned to it. Through these strategies, the website will rank favourably with the different search engines with the result being higher chances of the website being visited by people browsing the net and searching healthcare products. Many informative articles will be written and posted on the web with links to the website to create leads. Furthermore, the organization will solicit links form other websites to ensure that it benefits from content posted on other sites. The organization will submit short descriptions of itself to online industry trade directories and create inbound and outbound links with customer affiliation groups, associations, as well as industry groups. By collecting personal contacts of online and offline visitors to the business, the organization will engage in marketing itself and its services by sending direct mails. By engaging people at a personal level, Kadri pharmacy hopes to secure several positive responses and return visits. Further, the organization will be able to address the concerns of customers and potential customers thereby boosting their confidence in the organization. Pay per click adverts (AdWords) will also be used to attract potential buyers to the website. By posting pay per click ads on search engines, interested potential buyers are effectively directed to the website from which they can purchase the organization’s products. In order to complete transactions, the website will have e-commerce tools integrated to it. This will ensure that customers can conveniently pay for the products that they purchase online. The products purchased would then be shipped to the buyer or collected by the buyer at the physical pharmacy. Many people in and beyond Preston visit social sites to pass time, make money, or to get in touch with friends and family. In order to make use of the potential of social media as a marketing tool, Kadri Pharmacy will set up a profile on different social networking websites including Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedln. On all postings, there will be links to the company’s blog, website and articles. How Offline and Online Strategies Will Be Integrated While this plan focuses on online marketing techniques, the organization will seek to establish and maintain relations with both online and offline businesses (and individuals) that may contribute to the development of the business. This category includes individual patients/customers, professional organizations, individual professionals, and medium/small-sized businesses. In order to ensure that the business location is known to both online and offline customers, the business will be advised on the Internet and on print media and a map to its location included in the advert. This will be done on the third month after the creation of the website. Also, the company will publish press releases online and on print media to ensure that as many people in and around Preston get to know about the business and its offerings. The company will produce press releases periodically, on the fourth, sixth and eighth months after the website has been created. The press releases and print adverts will consume about ? 1,000. Implementation Plan The market plan hopefully will be implemented in a period of 12 months. The creation and hosting of the website is expected to take a period one month. The establishment of the website will forma a stable foundation for the application of other marketing endeavours. Without a website, translating some leads into sales would not be possible. The institution of pay-per-click advertising will take approximately two weeks. The AdWords will be created by the marketing manager of Kadri Pharamacy who is well versed with the process of creating, publishing and managing AdWords. The AdWords will see potential customers within and around Preston realise the existence of a good pharmacy in the locality. Pay per Click advertising has the advantage that it can be highly targeted and thus can produce leads that may eventually translate into sales. Given that the application of AdWords as a marketing tool, they will be used sparingly on second month and thereafter the every other month once the website has been hosted. So that the organization does not spend so much money on AdWords, the company will set aside a total of ?500 for pay per click marketing for the entire year. If an AdWord does not attract al least 20 leads within the first two weeks of its publishing, it will be removed or edited appropriately. Website optimization through the use of WordPress, search engine optimized articles, directory links and search engine links will be an ongoing process. Articles for the website’s optimization will be published at least four times every month. Yet again, the organization’s blog will be updated at least twice every month. These limits are set so as to control the amount of cash the organization spends on blogs and articles. By updating the blogs and posting new articles, many potential customers will be directed to the company’s site where they may leave their contacts or proceed to purchase services/products. The articles to be published will be written by a person contracted to do the job. The individual will be one that is knowledgeable in copywriting and search engine optimization. The individual will be paid for the service as well as for linking the articles to the social networking sites. Creating social site profiles will see people gaining awareness of the business’ existence. The establishment of the profiles will take a period of two weeks. Linking the profiles to the website, blog, and website articles will be an ongoing process considering that articles will be published periodically. References Alan (2012) A PESTLE Analysis for the Pharmaceutical Industry, Strategic-Planet, viewed from: [Accessed 23 April 2013]. Company Check (2013) Kadri Pharmacy Limited, viewed from: http://companycheck.co.uk/company/02204483 [Accessed 25 April, 2013] NHS (2010) Kadri Pharmacy Ltd, viewed from: http://www.nhs.uk/Services/pharmacies/Overview/DefaultView.aspx?id=8021[Accessed 25 April, 2013] Northampton General Hospital (2012) Developing a Clinical Strategy at Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust: Pharmacy Service, NHS Trust, viewed from: http://www.northamptongeneral.nhs.uk/Downloads/OurServices/Pharmacy/Pharmacy-Clinical-strategy-2012-v3,-new-template.pdf [Accessed 25 April, 2013] Read More