Combination of Marketing Strategies for Increase of Anti-Smoking Drugs Sales

Abstract

Although a wide variety of anti-smoking drugs have been registered on the pharmaceutical market, smoking continues to show high prevalence with most smokers being nicotine-dependent, which can lead to the necessity of pharmacological treatment. The existence of a legislative basis for smoking control and limitation of its harmful effects is a necessary but still insufficient prerequisite. In the present paper, different marketing approaches (legislation changes, Rx-to-OTC switching strategy, promotion campaigns and price alterations) as a complex corporative strategy for stimulating the sales of a specific product have been examined. Documentary and comparative analysis were carried out. The results show that synchronisation of advertising measures with the other marketing approaches leads to an increase in sales and are of utmost importance.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

The World Bank Groupe (2000). Economics of tobacco in Hungary, http://www1.worldbank.org/tobacco/pdf/country%20briefs/Hungary.doc, accessed 2000.

Bulgarian National Statistic Institute (2001). National Statistic Institute Archives, http://www.nsi.bg/Census/ZdrSst2001.htm, accessed March 2001.

Bulgarian Ministry of Health (2004). Ministry of Health Regulations Archives, http://www.mh.government.bg/norm_acts.php. accessed 8th December, 2004.

World Health Organization (2005). WHO/WPRO overview, http://www.wpro.who.int/health_topics/tobacco/, Regional Office for the Western Pacific, Accessed 2005.

World Health Organization (2005). World Health Organization Archives, http://www.wpro.who.int, accessed 2005.

Stojanova

(2004). Is it health the Health Law?, http://tobacco.defartists.com/bg/index.php?page=newsid&id=80, Novinar, in online initiative against tobacco smoking, accessed August 2004.

Bulgarian Drug Agency (2000–2005). Bulgarian Drug Agency Archives, http://bda.bg/web_bul/main.htm, accessed 2000–2005.

Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (2001). Healthy People 2010: 27 Tobacco Use, http://www.healthypeople.gov/document/html/volume2/27tobacco.htm, US Department of Health and Human Services, Accessed 30th January, 2001.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (2006). NIDA InfoFacts: Cigarettes and Other Nicotine Products, http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/Tobacco.html, accessed July 2006.

10.

World Health Organization (2002). Smoking statistics, http://www.wpro.who.int/media_centre/fact_sheets/fs_20020528.htm, accessed 28th May, 2002.

11.

Yang

Chen

Zhang

Samet

J. M.

Taylor

C. E.

Becker

(2001). Smoking cessation in China: Findings from the 1996 national prevalence survey. Tob. Control 10, 170–174.

12.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (1997). Cigarette smoking among adults — United States, 1995. MMWR Morb. Mortal Wkly. Rep. 46(51). 1217–1220.

13.

US Department of Health and Human Services (1988). The health consequences of smoking: Nicotine addiction. A report of the Surgeon General, Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office of Smoking and Health. DHHS Publication No. (PHS) (CDC) 88–8406.

14.

World Health Organization (1994). International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (10th edn), World Health Organization, Geneva.

15.

Etter

J. F.

(2006). Cytisine for smoking cessation: A literature review and a meta-analysis. Arch. Intern. Med. 166(15), 1547–1550.

16.

Silagy

Formica

(2001). Place of bupropion in smoking-cessation therapy. Lancet 357(9268), 1550.

17.

Silagy

Lancaster

Stead

Mant

Fowler

(2005). Nicotine Replacement Therapy for Smoking Cessation. http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab000146.html, The Cochrane Library, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Chichester, UK.

18.

Silagy

Mant

Fowler

Lodge

(1994). Meta-analysis on efficacy of nicotine replacement therapies in smoking cessation. Lancet 343(8890). 139–142.

19.

Novotny

T. E.

Cohen

J. C.

Yurekli

Sweanor

Beye

(2000). Smoking cessation and nicotine-replacement therapies. http://www1.worldbank.org/tobacco/tcdc/287TO308.pdf Worldbank, Accessed 2000.

20.

Tonstad

Farsang

Klaene

Lewis

Manolis

Perruchoud

A. P.

Silagy

Spiegel

P. I.

Astbury

Hider

Sweet

(2003). Bupropion SR for smoking cessation in smokers with cardiovascular disease: A multicentre, randomised study. Eur. Heart J. 24, 946–955.

21.

Zatonski

Cedzynska

Przewozniak

Karpinska

Lewandowska

Pstrucha

Jonska

Surowinska

Wojciechowska

Jaworski

(2005). An open label observational study of herbal cytisine (Tabex) as an aid to smoking cessation. Poster presented at the Conference of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobaco, Prague, 20–23 March, p. 16.

22.

Zatonski

Cedzynska

Tutka

West

(2006). An uncontrolled trial of cytisine (Tabex) for smoking cessation. Tob. Control 15, 481–484.

23.

Hughes

J. R.

Shiffman

Callas

Zhang

(2003). A meta-analysis of the efficacy of over-the-counter nicotine replacement. Tob. Control 12, 21–27.

24.

Pray

S. W.

Pray

J. J.

(2003). Nonprescription Options for Smoking Cessation. http://uspharmacist.com/index.asp?show=article&page=8_1025.htm. US Pharmacist, Jobson Publishing, accessed 13th March, 2003.

25.

Chaloupka

F. J.

Tauras

J. A.

(2004). The impact of nicotine replacement therapies on cigarette demand, http://www.allbusiness.com/finance/3502596-1.html. Journal of Economics and Finance, Accessed 2004.

26.

T. W.

Sung

H. Y.

Keeler

T. E.

Marciniak

(2000). Cigarette consumption and sales of nicotine replacement products. Tob. Control 9, 1160–1163.

27.

Sopharma JSCo (2005). Sopharma Company Archives, http://www.sopharma.bg/main.php, accessed 2005.

28.

Sopharma JSCo (2005). Tabex Site Archives, http://tabex.sopharma.bg/en/tabex.html, accessed 2005.

29.

Zatonski

Cedzynska

Tutka

West

(2006). An uncontrolled trial of cytisine (Tabex) for smoking cessation. Tob. Control 15, 481–484.

30.

Dimitrov

Dotcheva

Lambov

(2004). Preparation and characterization of polyethilene oxide hydrogels with cytisine. Acta Pharmaceut. Turcica 46, 49–54.

31.

Dimitrov

Shenkov

Lambov

(2004) TI Comparative technological and biopharmaceuticals studies on the cytisine tablets. SO Pharmacia 51 (3–4), 14–20.

32.

Internet Media BIG.BG (2006). Markets: Another lev above for our own cigarettes, http://big.bg/modules/news03/article.php?storyid=1323, accessed 3rd January, 2006.

33.

MIS Consulting Inc (2001–2006). PharmMIS database Archives, http://www.mis.hu, Pharmaceutical Marketing Information System, Budapest, accessed 2001–2006.

34.

Cohen

J. P.

Paquette

Cairns

C. P.

(2005). Switching prescription drugs to over the counter. BMJ 330, 39–41.

35.

Bunney

R. G.

(2005). Switching prescription drugs to over the counter: Over the counter licensing is linked to direct to consumer advertising. BMJ 330, 906.

36.

Duerden

Walley

(2005). Direct to consumer marketing: Switch to over the counter can become indirect advertising directly to consumers. BMJ 330, 906.

37.

Navigant Consulting, Inc (2003), RX-to-OTC Switching, Market Analysis, Data & Figures, Press Release, http://www.the-infoshop.com/press/fe14207_en.shtml, accessed 24th May, 2003.

38.

Hollon

M. F.

(1999). Direct-to-consumer marketing of prescription drugs: Creating consumer demand. JAMA 282(13), 1227.

39.

Tauras

J. A.

Chaloupka

F. J.

(2003). The demand for nicotine replacement therapies. Nicotine Tob. Res. 5(2), 237–243.

40.

Ranson

M. K.

Jha

Chaloupka

F. J.

Nguyen

S. N.

(2002). Global and regional estimates of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of price increases and other tobacco control policies. Nicotine Tob. Res. 4(3), 311–319.

41.

Ranson

M. K.

Jha

Chaloupka

F. J.

Yurekli

(2000). The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of price increases and other tobacco control policies. Tobacco control in developing countries, New York: Oxford Universities Press, pp 427–447.