IDENTIFYING AND DEVELOPING THE INTEGRATION AREAS OF FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS AND PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES MARKETING PROJECTS

ABSTRACT

The relevance is due to the fact that in the marketing sense, promotion means a set of actions taken to stimulate the sales of a product: advertising campaigns, sales promotion, personal sales, direct marketing, public relations. The World Health Organization defines it as follows: pharmaceutical promotion in the field of marketing integration projects is all informational and incentive actions carried out by manufacturers, distributors, the effect of which is aimed at stimulating the prescription, supply, purchase or use of drugs. This article focuses on identifying and developing areas for integrating marketing projects with fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and pharmaceutical companies.

Keywords: pharmaceutical company, marketing, fast moving consumer goods, advertising, integration.

According to R.B. Archibald, «the concept of promoting fast moving consumer goods and medicines can be considered in two aspects: broad and narrow. In a narrow sense, they usually mean the communicative component, or a set of signals emanating from the firm» [1]. In a broad aspect, it implies the entire range of strategic marketing decisions, covering sales, price and communication components, as well decisions on the hierarchy and interconnection of these components at different stages of the existence of drugs on the market. The classification of the integration of marketing projects of fast moving consumer goods and pharmaceutical promotion companies is quite diverse. The analysis of sources made it possible to identify the following main groups:

- advertising;

- personal sales;

- sales intensification, or sales promotion methods for otc drugs (contests, lotteries, discounts, etc.);

- public relations, including participation in exhibitions and fairs, educational trainings, seminars, conferences.

Some researchers also distinguish synthetic elements of marketing communications, among which branding, packaging, corporate identity should be called.

In the context of pharmaceutical promotion, advertising can be characterized as an indirect, non-personal form of transferring information about a product to the end consumer or his representative represented by a doctor, pharmacist. The main advertising media are special magazines, brochures and a direct mailing system for newsletters to the target group. Nevertheless, mass media, such as television, radio, and the internet, are gaining increasing importance in the advertising of medicines today. At the same time, one should not forget about the legislative restrictions on the advertising of medicines, such as the prohibition of advertising of medicines in the absence of the subject's permission for their production and sale [2]. At the same time, the information provided in the advertisement must comply with the pharmacological properties and the requirements of state standards.

Orientation to a management system based on the principles of integrated project marketing is a distinctive feature of this fifth, in accordance with the classification, period. At this stage of development, it became clear that long-term success in the market is guaranteed by the establishment of long-term balanced relationships (i.e. relationships in which mutual interests are satisfied) between the enterprise and all affected groups of influence. The creation and retention of competitive advantages in these conditions requires special efforts, including the presence of additional reserves, both material and intangible. Due to the limited availability of material and non-material resources, marketing faces new challenges - reducing costs by optimizing its own work, reducing the cost of production, as well as finding and using new potentials. Enterprise management on the basis of integrated project marketing began to more actively involve the public factor in the process of making managerial decisions. Environmental, social, political and ethical aspects, as well as trends in the development of society as a whole, could not fail to find their reflection in the management system at advanced enterprises. These global processes are considered as factors influencing the success of entrepreneurial activity. Thus, integration marketing can be defined as a new form of managing the market activity of an enterprise in a modern market. The variety of new forms and methods of managing the market activity of an enterprise, expressing focus on a specific market, a specific situation and, in some cases, a specific consumer, allows, nevertheless, to talk about the general principles of enterprise management on the basis of integrated project marketing. First of all, in the conditions of the modern market, it is marketing that is assigned the role of an element that binds together all the structural parts of the enterprise.

Sales promotion, or sales promotion methods for over-the-counter drugs, refers to the plan of measures taken by pharmaceutical companies to ensure unhindered access to medicines for medicine and patients [3]. This activity refers both to work on optimizing the interaction of production units and trading systems, and to work aimed at obtaining consolidated orders as a result of tenders and competitions. On the other hand, the intensification of sales is also provided by the creation of mechanisms for managing the interest of medicine and trading systems in working with the products of this company. The tools for developing the areas of integration of marketing projects of fast moving consumer goods and pharmaceutical companies include:

- material incentives for doctors and pharmaceutical personnel;

- provision of free samples;

- conducting contests among buyers with the provision of prizes with tangible or intangible value;

- involvement of so-called opignon leaders in the promotion of goods, that is, medical professionals who are able to form or influence the formation of opinions. Pharmaceutical companies contact them, invite them to seminars and involve them in the promotion of their drugs. Those, in turn, either promote the drugs to their patients or use the drug information during some health show;

- opening of hot lines for a specific disease. Let us dwell on the latter in more detail.

For this category of pharmaceutical brands, the «hot line» is especially effective in combination with such elements of complex PR programs as contests, consultations of specialists in specialized medical centers, promotion actions in pharmacies and medical institutions. There is one more scheme - a two-stage «hot line», within the framework of which, first of all, a doctor - a narrow specialist on a specific problem - consults. Practice shows that subscribers value the advice of a specialist much higher than the advice of the most qualified operator. In addition, questions to professionals can be asked not only by patients, but also by colleagues and doctors who are interested in the peculiarities of using the drug, especially a new one. While the majority of viewers and readers still try to ignore advertisements in newspapers, magazines, on television, the hotline is called only by those who really care about this problem.

In addition, feedback from consumers of their products is very important for pharmaceutical manufacturing companies. Their positive feedback and suggestions are an incentive to work, which helps to strengthen the leading position, including through prompt response to market demands. The stands of leading pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors are always among the most visited. Exhibitions attract the attention of both professional professionals and ordinary visitors.

Thus, in modern conditions, the use of marketing technologies for promoting pharmaceutical products is becoming very relevant. Fast moving consumer goods and medicines (with the exception of those belonging to the prescription sales group) acquire all the characteristics of consumer goods on the market and require the use of appropriate promotional tools. Each of these tools has its own strengths and weaknesses, features of application in the pharmaceutical market. In such conditions, the means of pharmaceutical promotion used must comply with the concept of social and ethical marketing, orienting drug manufacturers and sellers to consumer needs, the needs and requirements of society as a whole and not only to their own benefit.

The task of a marketing project is not to create good promotional materials or PR programs - its task is to create and increase sales of certain brands. The sales process is individual - it depends on the knowledge and skills of each specific seller, who, like a tailor, «adjusts» it to a specific client [4]. One of the most common problems for pharmaceutical companies is the lack of a clear division of responsibilities (and responsibilities in case of failure) between the various departments of the company. The indicator of the profitability of the entire company and determines the degree of customer satisfaction

In the next phase of market and marketing development, other factors were included in the enterprise management process: the whole complex associated with the market was in the center of attention. The final reorientation to the sales market took place. In addition, the specific needs and wishes of the consumer have risen to the same level with the factors influencing the success of the enterprise. Marketing has become a general and central concept of management, containing the function of coordinating all market activities of the enterprise.

One of the features of the modern world economy is the ever deeper specialization of both its fields and tools for creating market relations, including marketing. The pharmaceutical market is a part of the consumer environment, which, in turn, is one of the components of the country's macroeconomics - therefore, all changes in the latter immediately affect the structure and policy of drug sales. It is known that, globally, all existing macroeconomic markets can be divided into three main types:

- consumer goods market (so-called FMCG - clothing, food, medicine, etc.);

- service market (banking and insurance);

- the market for industrial goods (transport, machinery and equipment) [5].

On the one hand, it has signs of the consumer services market (direct action of advertising, packaging, the presence of a retail network, etc.). On the other hand, there are signs of the services market, which are characterized by such signs as intangibility, impossibility of storage (the proposed concept of «health» fits precisely these definitions).

A strong emphasis on the classic marketing mix is ​​a hallmark of this period. For product promotion and sales promotion, tools such as price advantages, delivery terms and product quality are used. Marketing management at this stage was also distinguished by the aggressive use of such a marketing tool as advertising. In addition, special emphasis was placed on the organization of the sales system. The more organized and ramified the sales system with the required degree of intensity of advertising campaigns, the more product can be sold. A vivid example of this stage is such actions as the «exchange» of a consumer's product for a new product with a surcharge (this system is currently used at a number of Russian enterprises, for example, in the furniture business).

This feature explains the rigidity of the pharmaceutical market - all changes occur very slowly and must be planned in advance - the main emphasis in promotion is made on direct sales by medical representatives, despite the fact that such a tool is the most expensive - making a decision on the appointment (purchase) of a drug is a complex process, which takes into account not only the price of the product, but also its efficiency, safety, convenience for the doctor and the patient, the country of origin.

Just like in any other field, you can use both quantitative and qualitative research methods. If this is a quantitative study, then interviewers do not need specific additional knowledge or skills beyond the basic skills required to conduct interviews. They simply follow the instructions in the questionnaire or in a separate guide. To integrate a marketing project into fast moving consumer goods and pharmaceutical companies, it is necessary to examine all available information about the drug for which the study is being conducted:

- the group of drugs to which it belongs;

- indications for use;

- contraindications;

- side effects;

- form of release, composition, packaging;

- dosage, consequences of overdose;

- conditions for dispensing from pharmacies (prescription, over-the-counter);

- combination with other drugs;

- the price of the drug.

Most of this information is usually found in the drug annotation. In addition, when working on pharmaceutical projects, you still need to get answers to the following questions:

- what are the legal norms regarding the distribution of medicines and their prescription?

- what is the pharmaceutical company's policy regarding the promotion of the drug, that is, is advertising allowed in the media or is the drug promoted only through medical representatives?

- are there morbidity statistics for the disease under study?

- have there been any conferences, seminars, round tables and other similar events dedicated to the studied drug or disease?

Similarly, integration marketing is often viewed as a key component of the strategic planning of a modern enterprise. Thus, marketing should be understood rather in a functional sense, and not as the main orientation of the strategic management of the enterprise.

Reference:

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3. Boonghee Y., Naveen D., Sungho L. An examination of selected marketing mix elements and brand equity // Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 1 (3), 2000. – P. 195-197.
4. Mugenda, O.M., Mugenda A.G. Research Methods: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches. – Nairobi: African Centre of Technology Studies, 2003. – 52 p.
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