Report: Marketing Planning and Strategy for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of a marketing plan for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), focusing on the launch of a new flu vaccine. It begins with an introduction to GSK and its products, followed by an examination of market analysis techniques, including SWOT and PESTLE analysis, to understand the external and internal factors influencing marketing decisions. The report then delves into developing effective marketing strategies, including the formation of a marketing mix and strategies to overcome economic, demographic, political, and technological barriers. A detailed marketing plan for the new vaccine is presented, outlining objectives, product segmentation, targeting, and positioning. The report emphasizes the importance of marketing planning in the strategic planning process, highlighting the benefits of a well-defined plan in increasing sales and identifying consumer needs. Recommendations for pricing policies, distribution, and communication mixes are provided, along with an analysis of factors that affect the effective implementation of a marketing plan, such as demographic factors and market share considerations. The report concludes by stressing the significance of marketing planning in the success of GSK's new vaccine launch.

Marketing planning
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Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................3
Task 1...................................................................................................................................................3
A...................................................................................................................................................3
B...................................................................................................................................................3
Task 2...................................................................................................................................................4
A...................................................................................................................................................4
Task 3...................................................................................................................................................5
A...................................................................................................................................................5
B...................................................................................................................................................6
Task 4...................................................................................................................................................7
a............................................................................................................................................................7
B...................................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion............................................................................................................................................9
1. REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
The present report is based on Glaxo smithkline Plc (GSK), which is a British
Pharmaceuticals company situated in London. It make dugs and vaccine and top selling products
are Advair, Flovent, Lamitcal etc. GSK firstly developed the first Flu vaccine, and Nicorrtte. The
present report covers an organization capability for planning its future marketing activity is
evaluated. Along with this, how organization may overcome barriers to marketing planning is
examine. Why marketing planning is essential in the strategic planning process for company is
explained.
TASK 1
A
According to the given scenario, I had apply for a job in GSK company as a manager at
glaxsmithkline UK. Here in interview process I required to present a detailed marketing planning
for new flu vaccine for old people. For this purpose I describe changing perspective in marketing
planning that are as follow
Market analysis: it is important part of marketing planning. In this GSK company need to
analysis the market for getting a knowledge of market. Here it came to know what currently in
market going on. Demand of the product and further they came to know about that price of product
not affecting sale or not. They conduct internal and external research show that market condition
can be known easily. It is first and important for launching a product in a market. For this GSK
company can use SWOT or PESTLE analysis
Developing marketing strategy: After analyzing a internal and external market then
company need to adopt a effective marketing strategy so that it can a competitive advantage GSK
company can set a objective and on the basis of it, they can make a effective marketing strategy.
Formation of marketing mix; GSK company can use marketing mix elements for the help
of this element company can easily set a price of product and promote it by using a social
networking sites. Through this it can launch a new a product and deliver it to its customer.
Ability of GSK company for planning its future marketing activity
A GSK company have a new technology which help them in launching a new product and in
marketing planning (McDonald 2013.). Its online presence is very strong so company can easily
share details online with a people and it can easily review the products. Further company have a
strong customer base which help it in increasing a sell of the company.
B
There are two type of techniques for organizational auditing through which factor which
affect the GSK marketing planning. Macro environment analysis techniques is used for carrying
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out the organizational audit and it help in analyzing a external factor which affects marketing
planning.
Two external factor are as follow
Technological factor: There is rapid growth in a technology system which affect the business
decision. Speed of technology, research and development budget technology can easily affect the
GSK marketing planning.
Economic factor: Environment is one of the external environment factor that is inflation, interest
rate, and unemployment. This all elements are not in controlled of the GSK company. So it can
affect the marketing planning decision so organization need to make all it decision by taking this all
factor in consideration.
Carry out Organizational audit and analysis off external affect marketing planning is as follow
SWOT analysis it best way for carry out the organizational auditing and for analysis of external
factor. Mainly SWOT analysis
Strength: It have a large number of skilled and experienced employee. Company have gain a
competitive advantage and have a good reputation in market
Weakness; GSK competitor are its weakness. It nit use much method of advertising due to this less
people came to know about its products.
Opportunity; GSK have a opportunity to expand it business in a new geographical areas. Further it
can also increase a customer base by selling a unique products.
Threat; it competitors sell same products which is a biggest threat of the GSK company.
TASK 2
A
The main barriers to marketing planning
GSK need to use a strong marketing strategy and planning beause there are many barriers in
marketing that are as follow
Economical barrier: there are many local and international economic factor which affects the
business off GSK. The purchasing power of a consumer lead down at the time of recession which
affect the profit and sale of company.
Demographical barrier: Demographical barrier are those barrier which can affect the GSK
company. It make vaccine for a harmful disease. It sold all vaccine at high price. People who have
low income cannot afford it easily. Further, it is not necessary that product it made is suitable for all
type off people. Some medicines me be harm the child health. With the changes trend people living
way, thinking also change. In this situation if poor marketing planning done then affect the sale of
the GSK company a lot
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Political barrier : there are many set of rule and regulation made by government which is
necessary for the organization to follow it strictly (Pulendran, Speed and Widing 2015). Marketing
planning can be affected by the strict rule of government. After certain period of time there may be
changes take in laws and regulation which affect the marketing policy.
Technological barrier: new technology has taken place people are mostly using a social
media sites instead of reading a newspaper. So it can become a barrier for GSK company need to
make a marketing plan by keeping in mind this technological factor. Marketing planning can be
affected by the technological factor.
GSK can overcome this barriers by the following way
To overcome the barrier in the marketing plan is necessary to analyze the market situation
and the demand of the customer (Brooksbank 2013). Firstly. It is required that product is selling is
like by the customer or not. Company need to use a new technology for marketing its products.
Further it required to plan a marketing by following all rule and regulation which government made.
GSK need that first it need to identify the purchasing power of consumer then set a price.
TASK 3
A
Marketing plan for launching a new product For GSK
Marketing is necessary for the success of the business , GSK is launching a new Vaccine for the Flu
treatment.
Objectives
To Increase sell of product at 12% within a 8 month
To increase the profit off GSK company 15% in one year
To gain market share 10% within a 12 month.
Launch a product by marketing mix strategy
Product: The product which is launching unique because it less affect the health and cure the
disease fastly. Product is made so that people can easily get treatment for the disease.
Place: GSK Company launched it product in a city where vaccines for disease are rarely available
and of medicine is more needed. It help in increasing the sale of product and also increase profit.
Promotion: GSK company need to advertise it products on social media sites, so that many of
people came to aware about its product further it van also advertise it in newspaper so that people
who are not connected with social sites can get knowledge of new product.
Price: Price of product is reasonable so that people whos living of standard is low can also afford it.’
People who are of old age provide on discount price (Donnelly, Armstrong and Fearne, 2012.)This
strategy is adopted by GSK company for marketing it products.
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Segmentations of product: On the basis of demography product segmentation is done. People are
targeted on the basis income and age. The product is of reasonable price that people whos income is’
low can easily afford it.
Targeting: Undifferentiated targeting strategy is used for targeting the customer. Company se this
method in which it target a market where it want to sell it products. It is a very effective for
increasing the sale of the products.
Positioning: GKS company can position it brand because it launch a flu vaccine for old age people.
Which is yet not launched by any of its competitor. Further it sell them in a reasonable price which
help in increasing the sale of the product.
B
Marketing planning is essential in a strategic planning process for GSK company.
Marketing planning help in providing a information to customers and stakeholder about the
product which they are launching in the organization ( Huang, Hooley and Yau 2013.) . it enable the
stakeholder for measuring the progress and help in highlighting a best marketing strategies. It
marketing is done in a effective way then it help in increasing the sale of the organization. further it
also increase profit of company. by marketing plan it enable to focus on a target market, consumer
need can be identified easily and company can make changes in a product.
By advertising a product on that place where need is high then it directly enhance the sale.
Marketing planning is essential because through it many of new people came to know about its and
by regular advertisement company can set a brand in a mind off its customer (Jacobs and Chase
2013.). Mouth to mouth marketing is so much effective because through it customer doubt related
to product can be solved out easily. Further marketing mix element help in launching a product at
right place with a right pricing strategy.
c.)
Techniques for new product development
Company can develop new product by using a high advance technology. Company can
easily use various promotional strategy through which many of new people in a new geographical
area came to know about its products and services (Shani and Chalasani 2013). Further it can also
use a skimming pricing strategy which help in increasing a sale of the product.
Recommendation for pricing policy, distribution and communication mix for new product
For implementing a market plan GSK company use a penetration pricing strategy. It a best
strategy in which it cans e a lowest price of products so that sale can be increase and it can gain a
high market share. After gaining a market share company can easily increase the price of products.
Other recommendation is that company can also use various distribution channel such as
home delivery services, online services, physical stores etc. further it can also hire a employee whco
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deliver services at home. It can also organize a program in a different hospital so that people can
easily take it. On the other hand , for communication mix company can use a online channel, so that
people all over the world get detailed information of products and came to know about its
effectiveness (Sargeant and Jay 2014.). It can also use a traditional communication method for
advertising. Personal selling it very effective because many of people came to know about its
products and their query related to product can be solved.
D.)
Factors that affect a effective implementation of marketing plan of GSK company are as follow:
Demographic: in a demographic factor it include age, income culture, income etc. This all factor
affect the marketing planning. If company set a high price then many of people cannot afford it,
further it need to analysis the demand of the product so that implantation can be very effective.GSK
can only target to old people so it need to keep in mind how it can use plan for grabbing a attention
of people. It is not necessary that customer choice remain same forever it can be changed with time.
So company need to launch a product by keeping in mind the taste and preference of customer.
Market share: further company need to see its market share and then make a plan so that it came to
know that planning is effective or not.
Moreover company also need to make sure that it deliver all flu vaccine in a hospital and advice that
it not sold or given to a people without knowing a actual disease. Further it need to deliver its
product in a medical store so that people can easily get it.
TASK 4
A
There are many ethical issues which influence marketing planning of GSK company this
ethical problem take palace in each and every department such as finance, production, marketing or
operations, if any situation need to choose then ethical problem is on one of them. There are ethical
issues which each and every department is facing know and before are as follow
Market research; with the help of marketing research it help in identifying a responses from the
market. In this research it can be a studied demographic factor which includes a size, income level
and gender. It help in analyzing a sale and knowing a demand of the product. Further through this
it also came to know that what a competitor is selling at what price. For example there is unethical
practvies such as use of social networking sites. It make easir for the GSK company to get
information of a person and detailed information. This all come under the unethical practices.
Market audience: it is a unethical issues because in this grouping is done into a various segments,
which discourage the demand of the product. For example in a unethical market in mainly include a
vulnerable audiences, gay attitude toward, ethic minority.
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Advertising and promotion; advertising of product is done so that GSK company can increase the
sale and earn profit. In this company give detailed information of product to a people thorugh
advertisement and tell them about its benefits and hide its side effects. If a company done a negative
advertising policy then it consider as a unethical practices. For example in advertisement some time
company show benefits its own product and show negativity of other brand products it all come
under the unethical issues.
The way through which GSK respond to ethical issues area s follow
Every company try to gain market share while it can be only done if GSK win a trust of its
customer, it can be done through selling them a right products and services timely. It can clear some
rule and regulation for reponding any ethical issues (Donnelly, Simmons Armstrong and Fearne,
2012). Company is selling a flu vaccine for old people so it is necessary that it not use any unethical
issues for gaining a competitive advantage. Here are some if its characteristics which are described
below:
Safety; Company need to put a detail of the product in which it need to include about the hazardless
of the products such as if any warning is need to provide, then it should be provide clearly. So that
people came to aware about it.
Honesty; a product which company is launching should be satisfy the need of the customer and
further it should be of benefit for the health of people. If any side effect of product then GSK need
to improve it. For example if company is launching a flu vaccine for old age people then it need to
make clear how much dose a old can take at the time of illness and in what time.
Transparency: company no need to hide any issues related to product it need to transparent in front
of its customer, GSK need to share all its information related to products with its shareholder.
Pricing; company need to fix a price of products on the basis of its target market. Also by keeping
in mind a demand and supply of a products. There should ne not unethical practice take palace such
a bad mouthing a competitor or a fake shortage.
Respecting a customer privacy; if any customer is sharing a detailed information then company
need to keep it confidentially. It should not try to obtain any customer information without its
permission and not break it trust.
B
A ethical practices which help ASK company in creating a long term relation with its
customer and for increasing its customer base. For this purpose it nee to gain a trust of its customer
and satisfy their need and wants.
Fair trading; it is best way of gaining a market share and stop face selling. Company need
to adopt a fair trading policy. It helps in increasing a reputation of brand and further legal practice
grab attention of all people. It should not sell its product to a customer with a high price.
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Fair advertising; In this company do not need to misuse the advertisement for increasing its
sale. If a company use wrong way of advertisement for its product then its harmed reputation can be
affected.
Sustainable practice; Finding a label behind the product is a sustainable practice and GSKK
company need to follow it so that people not think that it is a fake or not useful. Company also need
to provide some useful indigredints detail on the back of the products.
Respecting customenr privacy; if any customer share information related to its health, then
GSK company need to keep it safe and not misused it it may break the trust of customer and also
affect the goodwill off organization.
CONCLUSION
Form the above report it can be concluded that, marketing planning is nescscsry for the
organization so that company can increase it sale and also gain profit. Company can conduct SWOT
and pestle analysis so that it can understand the market situation. By doing this company can easily
promote its product in a market. Further it can be concluded that company can use marketing mix
elements so that it can easily place it product and set a pricing strategy. Company can also gain a
competitive advantage by selling its product at lower price. There is some ethical issue which
company need to avoid it so that it can gain the trust of the people and increase it market share.
Company also should not use a unethical practice of advertising
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1. REFERENCES
Books and journals
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Pulendran, S., Speed, R. and Widing, R., 2015. From Rational to Interpretive Planning: Empirically
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for the 21st Century (pp. 487-487). Springer International Publishing.
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Journal of Wine Marketing.
Fahy, J. and Jobber, D., 2012. Foundations of marketing. McGraw-Hill Education.
Brooksbank, R.W., 2013. Successful marketing practice: a literature review and checklist for
marketing practitioners. International Journal of Wine Marketing.
Donnelly, C., Simmons, G., Armstrong, G. and Fearne, A., 2012. Marketing planning and digital
customer loyalty data in small business. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 30(5), pp.515-
534.
Lai, W.B., Huang, J.Y., Hooley, G., Lynch, J. and Yau, O., 2013. Effective marketing in Taiwan:
profiles of the top performers. Asia Pacific International Journal of Marketing.
Vincze, J.W., 2015. Introducing Marketing Planning to a Professional Services Organization. In
Proceedings of the 1984 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 403-
407). Springer International Publishing.
Shani, D. and Chalasani, S., 2013. Exploiting niches using relationship marketing. Journal of
Services Marketing.
Jacobs, R. and Chase, R., 2013. Operations and supply chain management. McGraw-Hill Higher
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Sargeant, A. and Jay, E., 2014. Fundraising management: analysis, planning and practice.
Routledge.
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