The most relevant dimensions along which to segment the patient market for ED treatment are: Age- there are 30 million people in the US and 150 million worldwide are projected to have ED. An estimated 50% of men between 40 and 70 have some form of ED.
Another way to segment the market is to identify current ED patients; ED dropouts and patients who are interested in an ED drug but had not tried one. Of the segments identified I would target current Viagra users first and then follow that with targeting Viagra dropouts. I would also target Levita users and Levitra dropouts.
Viagra’s positioning in the marketplace in 2002 is dominant. They are the leading, most established player in the ED market aggressive in both sales and marketing. Although Bayer had rolled out Levitra by 2000 they had not captured a large portion of the market by this point.
Cialis should market itself as the safe ED. An option that didn’t interfere with diabetes medication or nitrates. Lilly ICOS should also highlight that Cialis is the ED option with a longer half-life and no side effects or restrictions (blue vision, low fat food consumption).
What marketing mix activities should accompany the launch of Cialis?
What would be the most important messages to communicate to the target patients? To physicians? To partners?
Physicians primary concerns are that the drug is safe for their patients and effective, meaning the drug should work for a reasonable duration of time.
Partners also want to know that Cialis is safe with no major side effects. Partners do not want to feel like sexual activity is only initiated because the pill is taken. Cialis has shown to be effective up to 36 hours after ingestion-this fact should be stressed to partners.
What medium would you use to reach each of these parties and what would your relative resource allocation be to each?
Physicians should be presented to easily digestible facts either through literature or