Marketing strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing strategy - Essay Example The pharmaceutical industry is highly concentrated and only a few companies are doing well in the industry. The main aim of this study is to analyze the marketing strategies adopted by GlaxoSmithKline Plc; a London based pharmaceutical company (Chaffey et al., 2008). The study would also analyze the factors affecting the marketing strategies implemented by GlaxoSmithKline Plc. Since, the company is a UK based company it would also analyze its strategic position in UK as well as in other countries. An analysis of the marketing mix of the company would help in highlighting the key elements of the marketing strategies adopted by the company (Zhou et al., 2010). Introduction Medicines form an integral part of a human’s life because the discovery and invention of medicines have improved the health and quality of life of human beings. The consumption of drugs has increased rapidly. Every year, around 650 million prescriptions are written by the General practitioners alone in UK (Hou se of Commons, 2005). The National Health Service, UK sells medicines worth ?7 billion annually and 80 percent of which is spent on branded products. In UK, it is the most profitable sector after Tourism and Finance. USA has the largest pharmaceutical market and most of the research and development of leading pharmaceutical companies is done in USA itself. UK accounts for 10 percent of the global research and development expenditure. The medical products manufactured by the companies have not only improved the health of the people but has also reduced the need of surgical operations to a large extent (House of Commons, 2005). One of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the world is GlaxoSmithKline Plc, a company which produces effective medicinal drugs for various diseases. It also has a separate healthcare division which produces popular oral healthcare and nutritional products like Sensodyne, Horlicks, Lucozade, Boost, and Gaviscon. The company sells prescription medicines and over the counter medicines. Most of the company’s revenue is generated from the healthcare product divisions which include toothpaste and energy drinks. The company’s top selling prescription medicine includes Avandia and Paxil which are anti depressant pills (GlaxoSmithKline Plc, 2013a). The company believes in complying with the national health guidelines of UK and providing beneficial treatment to the medicine users. Currently, the pharmaceutical industry is facing a number of challenges like slow economic recovery, high cost of development of drugs and stricter health regulations imposed by government etc. Pfizer, a leading pharmaceutical company of the world has announced plan to close down its research and development wing in UK to curb down operational costs (Gallagher, 2012). GlaxoSmithKline Plc had been witnessing a steady growth even amidst this economic slowdown. In the year 2012, the company spent ?4 billion dollars in the research and development of new me dicines, consumer products and new medicines (GlaxoSmithKline Plc, 2013b). Most of the company’s revenue comes from the USA because the sale of prescription drugs is a subject to price control policies of the respective country. The USA is the only industrialized nation where there is no price control