“Paradoxes of pharmacy marketing: do we pay or invest?” This was the topic of the regular meeting of the Russian Association of Pharmaceutical Marketing (RAFM), which was held on March 2.
According to the moderator of the meeting, the director of the Institute for Public Health Development, co-chairman of the Coordinating Council of the RAFM Yuri Krestinsky, the pharmacy market segment of marketing services is growing much faster than the market itself. He cited the data from the analytical company Alpha Research and Marketing (AlphaRM), according to which there were 60,270 pharmacies in Russia at the end of January. At the same time, 4,300 pharmacies belong to chains with 3 or more outlets. According to experts, the total amount of funds paid by drug manufacturers for certain types of product promotion on the local level in 2015 amounted to 28 billion rubles, and in 2016, to 35 billion rubles.
“These figures are comparable to television budgets, which amounted to about 47 billion rubles in 2016 in the category of medicine and pharmacy,” Yurii Krestinsky emphasized.
The head of consulting for Russia and CIS of the company IMS Alexei Savin described the factors that affect commercial success in the work of manufacturers with chains of pharmacies.
As to signing direct contracts, the size of the chain, its turnover and the potential of its logistics are the key factors for manufacturers, he noted. In marketing contracts, the largest share of them is signed by medium-sized players, while large manufacturers bring the greatest part of revenue and attract patient flow better. The key success factors are the sales volume, a chain’s reputation and the level of supervisory control.
The factors that are important for the manufacturer are a pharmacy chain’s promotion, layout, as well as motivation and education of its staff. The chains themselves believe that the most preferable measures to support the manufacturer is the promotion and selling the goods that have a long shelf life, the speaker concluded.
The Managing Director of Ipsos Healthcare, co-chairman of the Coordination Council of the RAFM Oleg Feldman presented the results of a study of the promotion of drugs by manufacturers in the chain and non-chain retail. 1017 pharmacists from 14 cities of Russia took part in the study. According to the data received, the activity of the companies promoting prescription drugs has recently increased. Pharmacists are highly interested in getting information from medical representatives, including the information on new drugs, and believe that it is useful for their work.
According to the expert, the management of pharmacy logistics is not perfect. In 26% of patient encounters, the needed medicinal product is absent in a pharmacy. In 17% of cases, the requested drug is not provided at all in the pharmacy’s product range. In pharmacies’ assortment, some drugs are restricted by INN, in accordance with the signed contracts. Their share is 16% in chain pharmacies, and 3.8% in other pharmacies. The list of the most purchased drugs is best maintained by non-chain pharmacies, while the maintenance of the full list is almost the same.
After the presentation of the keynote speakers, an expert discussion took place. The General Director of the pharmacy chain Rigla, Alexander Filippov, stressed that the manufacturers should clearly state their goals and objectives when choosing a pharmacy for the promotion of drugs. He gave a striking example: “One pays different price for a taxi ride on Mercedes or Zhiguli, and that is fair. So a manufacturer does not have to choose a large chain for meeting his goal. Sometimes we tell them: we are not what you need. We are expensive and rich, the goals that you set do not cost this money. You will not get any payoff, because you came to a wrong address.”
Alexander Kondratyev, the managing partner of ASNA, believes that any prescription company, which seeks to secure a stable and long-term trend in the development of its brands under current conditions, has to lay a budget for promotion in the chains.
In turn, the General Director of the company Alfa Wassermann for Russia and CIS Olga Glazkova noted that Big Pharma does not even ask the question of paying or not paying the chains: to promote their drugs, they have large budgets. However, small companies that produce prescription drugs in a certain niche often do not have the necessary budgets and choose other ways of promoting their products.
“We cooperate with pharmacies by “kind word“ and communication of medical representatives, without signing any contracts,” she said.
“Paradoxes of pharmacy marketing: do we pay or invest?” This was the topic of the regular meeting of the Russian Association of Pharmaceutical Marketing (RAFM), which was held on March 2.
According to the moderator of the meeting, the director of the Institute for Public Health Development, co-chairman of the Coordinating Council of the RAFM Yuri Krestinsky, the pharmacy market segment of marketing services is growing much faster than the market itself. He cited the data from the analytical company Alpha Research and Marketing (AlphaRM), according to which there were 60,270 pharmacies in Russia at the end of January. At the same time, 4,300 pharmacies belong to chains with 3 or more outlets. According to experts, the total amount of funds paid by drug manufacturers for certain types of product promotion on the local level in 2015 amounted to 28 billion rubles, and in 2016, to 35 billion rubles.
“These figures are comparable to television budgets, which amounted to about 47 billion rubles in 2016 in the category of medicine and pharmacy,” Yurii Krestinsky emphasized.
The head of consulting for Russia and CIS of the company IMS Alexei Savin described the factors that affect commercial success in the work of manufacturers with chains of pharmacies.
As to signing direct contracts, the size of the chain, its turnover and the potential of its logistics are the key factors for manufacturers, he noted. In marketing contracts, the largest share of them is signed by medium-sized players, while large manufacturers bring the greatest part of revenue and attract patient flow better. The key success factors are the sales volume, a chain’s reputation and the level of supervisory control.
The factors that are important for the manufacturer are a pharmacy chain’s promotion, layout, as well as motivation and education of its staff. The chains themselves believe that the most preferable measures to support the manufacturer is the promotion and selling the goods that have a long shelf life, the speaker concluded.
The Managing Director of Ipsos Healthcare, co-chairman of the Coordination Council of the RAFM Oleg Feldman presented the results of a study of the promotion of drugs by manufacturers in the chain and non-chain retail. 1017 pharmacists from 14 cities of Russia took part in the study. According to the data received, the activity of the companies promoting prescription drugs has recently increased. Pharmacists are highly interested in getting information from medical representatives, including the information on new drugs, and believe that it is useful for their work.
According to the expert, the management of pharmacy logistics is not perfect. In 26% of patient encounters, the needed medicinal product is absent in a pharmacy. In 17% of cases, the requested drug is not provided at all in the pharmacy’s product range. In pharmacies’ assortment, some drugs are restricted by INN, in accordance with the signed contracts. Their share is 16% in chain pharmacies, and 3.8% in other pharmacies. The list of the most purchased drugs is best maintained by non-chain pharmacies, while the maintenance of the full list is almost the same.
After the presentation of the keynote speakers, an expert discussion took place. The General Director of the pharmacy chain Rigla, Alexander Filippov, stressed that the manufacturers should clearly state their goals and objectives when choosing a pharmacy for the promotion of drugs. He gave a striking example: “One pays different price for a taxi ride on Mercedes or Zhiguli, and that is fair. So a manufacturer does not have to choose a large chain for meeting his goal. Sometimes we tell them: we are not what you need. We are expensive and rich, the goals that you set do not cost this money. You will not get any payoff, because you came to a wrong address.”
Alexander Kondratyev, the managing partner of ASNA, believes that any prescription company, which seeks to secure a stable and long-term trend in the development of its brands under current conditions, has to lay a budget for promotion in the chains.
In turn, the General Director of the company Alfa Wassermann for Russia and CIS Olga Glazkova noted that Big Pharma does not even ask the question of paying or not paying the chains: to promote their drugs, they have large budgets. However, small companies that produce prescription drugs in a certain niche often do not have the necessary budgets and choose other ways of promoting their products.
“We cooperate with pharmacies by “kind word“ and communication of medical representatives, without signing any contracts,” she said.
Read more: http://www.pharmvestnik.ru/publs/lenta/v-rossii/eksperty-rafm-zatraty-na-prodvizhenie-lekarstv-v-aptekax-sopostavimy-s-telebjudzhetami.html