Executive Summary
The Buckley’s cough syrup is a quality product that treats respiratory ailments.
The product has a high demand in countries with poor weather conditions that lead to high prevalence of cough related respiratory ailments in the population.
The product is yet to be introduced in Saudi Arabia which has poor weather conditions and experiences high incidences of coughs.
This paper has outlined the appropriate marketing strategy for the exportation of Buckley cough syrup from Canada to Saudi Arabia.
The strategy includes investigation and determination of various factors such as; the market for the product, competitive environment, available distribution channels among others.
Introduction
Health is one of the most important basic needs for humans.
The Supply of healthcare products across the globe has created vast business opportunities.
The supply is often facilitated by the producing companies, international agencies or government procurements.
Countries have different requirements for health products depending on the prevalent heath conditions.
Saudi Arabia has a high demand for cough syrups among other products.
The Buckley syrup, one of the world’s best, has not yet been introduced in the Saudi Arabian market.
This paper therefore seeks to determine the best international marketing plan that can be used to introduce the Buckley’s cough syrup in the Saudi Arabian Market.
Country Market selection
From available the statistics it is inferred that Saudi Arabia accounts for 65% percent of the market for pharmaceutical products in Middle East with an annual turnover of about $2.0bn.
The pharmaceutical expenditure is projected to rise by $1.5bn by the year 2015. The high prices of pharmaceutical products indicate that the Saudi Arabia market is still not satisfied.
Drugs for simple respiratory ailments are the most requested. The prevailing weather conditions in Saudi Arabia make the population more vulnerable to respiratory ailments.
Prescription for respiratory ailments, especially for young children is offered in all the above distribution channels. .
The supply of cough syrups to Saudi Arabia has been minimal compared to the market demand and this has led to high prices.
The Buckley’s cough syrup is expected to fill a demand vacuum that currently exists in the Saudi Arabian cough syrup market.
The product is of high quality, effective and certified by all the international quality certification bodies.
It is projected to impact the Saudi Arabian health sector by satisfying the demand for cough syrups.
The syrup is important, especially to toddlers and young children who are more vulnerable to adverse weather conditions prevalent in the country.
The pharmaceutical framework in Saudi Arabia creates a favorable business atmosphere.
The regulations provided are far much better and easier to cope with as compared to other countries.
“Provision of quality pharmaceutical product is the bench mark of all the regulatory programs.” (Saudi Arabia Foods and Drug Authority, 2010)
The Buckley’s syrup is listed among the pharmaceutical products that are eligible for the Saudi Arabian pharmaceutical market.
The inclusion of the product is based on the quality and certification by international pharmaceutical standards monitoring organizations.
Competitive Environment
Buckley’s cough syrup is very effective for treatment of coughs and is expected to have a competitive edge in the cough syrup industry in Saudi Arabia.
Apart from the guaranteed quality, other mechanisms have been formulated to ascertain its competitiveness in the Saudi Arabian market.
Combination of quality and reasonable “pricing will be the most effective strategy after the project launch.” (Turnbull, 2002) The cost of a cough syrup in Saudi Arabia is relatively high; the company is planning to offer slightly lower prices.
This is intended to enable a large proportion of the population to access the syrup, which will in turn ensure competitive advantage.
Profitability will be based on the volume of supply and after gaining the competitive advantage, the prices may be revised in stages.
The company will also consider taking advantage of the fall out between the Saudi Government and its major pharmaceutical provider.
In view of this, the company intends to negotiate with the Ministry of health of the Saudi Arabian government to include the Buckley cough syrup to the list of products purchased and supplied by the Government.
This will go along way to shield the product from unfavorable market behavior.
Profitability will be based on the volume of supply and after gaining the competitive advantage, the prices may be revised in stages.
The company will also consider taking advantage of the fall out between the Saudi Government and its major pharmaceutical provider.
In view of this, the company intends to negotiate with the Ministry of health of the Saudi Arabian government to include the Buckley cough syrup to the list of products purchased and supplied by the Government.
This will go along way to shield the product from unfavorable market behavior.
Target Market
The consumers of the product (Buckley’s cough) will be the patient suffering from respiratory complications which result in coughing as one of the symptoms.
Respiratory ailments that require syrup medication are prevalent in Saudi Arabia due to the adverse weather conditions.
Thus the Buckley’s cough syrup will come to the rescue of Saudi Arabian citizens to solve this medical issue.
The government of Saudi Arabia has favorable policies regarding the supply and distribution of quality health products.
This is aimed at reducing constraints in accessing health services by the people of Saudi Arabia.
The distribution will be done through the various channels including; “emergency care centers, retail pharmacies, health inclined organizations, Government programs, long term care centers and hospitals.” (Saudi Arabia Foods and Drug Authority, 2010).
Product Strategy
The project aims at exporting the Buckley’s cough syrup from Canada to the Saudi Arabian Market.
This is will be a company that buys and delivers the cough syrup to Saudi Arabia for resale.
The Buckley’s cough syrup will be a new product in the Saudi Arabian pharmaceutical market. A market entry strategy has been designed to ensure that the product is introduced into the market, familiarized, and supplied well for best customer and distributor satisfaction.
The entry strategy is designed to address all the areas of concern, specifically, transportation, handing and distribution of pharmaceutical products.
Being a new and definitely superior product in the market, “technical innovation strategy has been designed to deal with familiarization.” (Turnbull, 2002) Saudi Arabia and Canada are thousands o miles apart and therefore the safety of the syrup while in transit is an important factor.
A strategy has been designed to ensure the security of the product while in transit. Market entry strategy will be implemented through process such as.
Distribution Strategy
Syrups are normally bottled; the transportation mode needs to be safe due to the delicate nature of the syrup packaging.
In addition the transportation needs to be fast as drugs and other potent materials degenerate quickly when under unfavorable conditions.
In consideration of the above factors the best transportation mode for the cough syrup will be t air.
This will ensure that the drugs are delivered fast and with no disruptions to the form.
The drugs will be transported on usual cargo airlines that play the Canada Saudi Arabia route.
The exportation process is designed to create a smooth, safe transportation of the Buckley’s syrup from Canada to the distributors in Saudi Arabia.
The process includes: order information, order processing, order preparation and certification, insurance, freight forwarding, customer care and guarantees.
This will be in liaison with an office to be setup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The office will coordinate the processing and distribution of consignments in Saudi Arabia.
- Order information: the information requesting the order to supply the syrup will be relayed to the company’s office which will be set up in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh. Among other functions; the office will receive the quotations for orders from the customers and relay the same to the main office in Canada. The information will be processed as per the customer’s demands.
- Ordering process: on behalf of the customer, the company will order the specified quantity of cough syrup from the Buckley cough syrup manufacturer. It has been confirmed that the firm will be processing the orders faster to enable delivery within the specified period.
- Order preparation and certification: ones the specified Quotation have been obtained from the manufacturer, preparation and documentation will be done to ascertain that the amount being sent is actually what the customer requested for. After all the paper work has been done the consignment will be forwarded for exportation.
- Freight forwarding: the consignment will be cleared for export, and will be delivered to the airport for transportation to Saudi Arabia. Appropriate information will be send to the agent in Saudi Arabia, informing him or her about the consignment and the specifications. When the order arrives in Saudi Arabia, the agent will pick it and deliver it to the owner.
- Customer care: There will be a resident customer care unit in Saudi Arabia. Its functions will be to ensure customer information and satisfaction. The unit will have an open telephone line that customers can get through any time during the working hours.
- Guarantees: On obtaining the order information, the information will be studied to decide how best the demands made by the customer can be satisfied. This will take into consideration the time it takes to order for the consignment and transport it. After all the factors have been considered and the customer will be given a guarantee regarding the delivery of his or her consignment. Should the orders be late, or get lost in transit, the customer will be refunded or another order processed for him/her.
- Insurance: the orders will be delivered via an ensured airline. The wellbeing of the consignment while transit will be our responsibility. In the goods are lost while in transit, the agency will solve the issue on behalf of the customer. Compensation to the customer will be done by the agency.
- Government regulations: All the orders will be processed in line with the laid down “regulatory framework by the Government of Saudi Arabia.” (Saudi Arabia Business Guide, 2003) Payment of duties and other taxes will be conducted by the distributor in Saudi Arabia and this will be factored in the customer’s charge sheet.
- The distribution channels existing in Saudi Arabia include: “emergency care centers, retail pharmacies, health inclined organizations, Government programs, long term care centers and hospitals.” (Saudi Arabia Foods and Drug Authority, 2010) To ensure that the Buckley cough syrup is available to the majority, we intend to make use of all the channels, with emphasis being placed on retail pharmacies, private hospitals and government sponsored programs.
The above model will only work in the initial period during market assessment. After market penetration the processing of orders will be done in Saudi Arabia.
This is because, once we establish a customer base there will be no need to import a consignment for each order.
The agency will establish a storage facility in the “capital Riyadh to serve the market demands.” (Kalton, 1999) The storage facility will be replenished on regular basis.
The capacity will be increased with increase in the customer numbers.
In case the agency gets a major tender to supply the cough syrup and our storage capacity is overstretched then we will revert back to the later model.
Communication Strategy
The Buckley’s cough syrup has never been used in Saudi Arabia. It will be a completely new product in the country and therefore a strategy has been developed to familiarize the people of Saudi Arabia with the syrup. The strategy includes: Advertising, personal promotion, competitive pricing, commissions and training of customers.
Advertising: the product advertisement will be done through all media outlets, both print and electronic. The advertisements will aim to reach as many people as possible. The specific adverts will be through local papers, television, radio and posters. The adverts will inform the public on the product specifications, quality and where it can be found.
Personal promotion: The agency will train a number of local support staff, whose function will mainly consist of education. Where by they will be going out to the retail outlets and offer information on the Buckley’s cough syrup to potential customers. The potential customers in this case will be. Hospital directors, retail pharmacy owners, directors of non governmental organizations and care center officer.
Training of customers: The Buckley cough syrup is a prescription drug. For optimal and safe use, the agency will provided additional training to complement the indications labeled on the containers. This will go a long way in establishing a mutual relationship with our customers.
Pricing Strategy
The company will adopt a competitive pricing strategy for a successive product launch into the Saudi Arabian Market.
The initial price per unit Buckley’s cough syrup will be set competitively to attract more buyers especially the retail pharmacies and private hospitals.
Since the quality of the product is assured a substantial market penetration is estimated to have been realized 1-2 years after product launch.
“Competitive pricing strategy will include discounts on certain amount of products purchased.” (Sidney, 1996).
Conclusion
The demand for health products has been on the rise world wide creating vast business opportunities for pharmaceutical companies.
The Buckley’s cough intends to quench the Saudi Arabian thirst for cough syrup through an elaborate market plan.
Though the agency will spend a lot of money on the marketing activities; it will be justified at the end by ensuring acquisition of a sizable market share.
The strategy will be modified to take into account bureaucracy and additional requirements, incase the agency is prompted to supply the cough syrup to Government hospitals.
Reference list
Kalton, J. (1999). The Middle East and the Asian Markets. Mumbai: Wishwa Prakashan.
Saudi Arabia Business Guide. (2003). Web.
Saudi Arabia Foods and Drug Authority. (2010). Web.
Sidney, J. (1996). Reengineering Management: Expansion to new Markets. London: Harper Collins Publishers.
Turnbull, D. (2002). Strategies For international Marketing. Cunningham: Croomhelm publishers.