Marketing Plan for Patch Strips: MRKT20052, Term 2, 2019, Australia

This marketing plan examines Patch Strips, a prominent Australian pharmaceutical company specializing in organic wound care products. The plan begins with an executive summary and a detailed introduction, followed by a comprehensive situational analysis, including PESTEL and competitor analyses, as well as a SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Customer analysis involves segmentation based on geographic, demographic, behavioral, and psychographic factors, leading to the identification of a target market and brand positioning. The plan outlines three specific, measurable, attainable, reliable, and time-bound objectives, and then develops a marketing mix strategy encompassing product, price, promotion, and place. Finally, the plan includes campaign evaluation, control measures, a contingency plan, and a budget allocation, with a conclusion summarizing the key findings and recommendations. The plan utilizes APA referencing style.

Running Head: MARKETING PLAN
MRKT20052: Marketing Management and Digital Communications
Term 2, 2019
Assessment 2: Marketing Plan
<<Insert Product/Business Name Here>>
<<Insert your name and student number>>
Submission date: <<Insert assessmentsubmission date here>>
Word count: <<Insert your word count here>>
Campus (tick one): MEL  SYD  BNE  DST  Other (write): ____________

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Executive summary
Patch is considered to be one of the leading and renowned pharmaceutical companies in
Australia which is associated with the organic wound products. However, the organisation is
facing severe challenges due to the lack of product differentiation. Therefore, a marketing plan is
planned in order to revive the market capitalisation within the market. The marketing plan is
going to illustrate three objectives that will help Patch Strips to bring more effectiveness into the
organisation. A budget is also set in order to bring a clarity into the marketing plan. It can be
concluded that the marketing plan will help the meet the objectives of the Patch Strips.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................5
Situational analysis..........................................................................................................................5
PESTEL analysis.........................................................................................................................5
Competitor analysis.....................................................................................................................7
Rivalry among existing competitors........................................................................................7
Threats of new entrants............................................................................................................7
Bargaining power of the buyers...............................................................................................7
Bargaining power of the suppliers...........................................................................................8
Threat of substitutes.................................................................................................................8
SWOT analysis............................................................................................................................8
Customer analysis..........................................................................................................................10
Customer segmentation.............................................................................................................10
Geographic.............................................................................................................................10
Demographic..........................................................................................................................10
Behavioural............................................................................................................................10
Psychographic........................................................................................................................11
Target market.............................................................................................................................11
Brand positioning.......................................................................................................................11
Problem statement.........................................................................................................................12
Objectives......................................................................................................................................12
Objective 1.................................................................................................................................12
Objective 2.................................................................................................................................13
Objective 3.................................................................................................................................13
Marketing mix strategy..................................................................................................................13
Product.......................................................................................................................................13
Price...........................................................................................................................................14
Promotion..................................................................................................................................14
Place...........................................................................................................................................14
Campaign evaluation.....................................................................................................................15

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Effectiveness of the campaign...................................................................................................15
Control measures.......................................................................................................................15
Contingency plan.......................................................................................................................15
Budget allocation...........................................................................................................................16
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................16
Reference.......................................................................................................................................18

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Introduction
Patch is considered to be one of the popular pharmaceutical companies operated in
Australia. It was founded by James Dutton, the founder of Nutricare with the purpose to create
wound care products that prevent any kind of skin reactions and heal the wounds. Therefore,
Patch offers Patch Strips that is a natural alternative of common plasters. It helps Patch to expand
its business further and has been global since 2016 (patchstrips.eu, 2019). The major focus of the
Patch Strips is to provide the patients better wound covering solutions with anti-allergic
experience and better healing practice. The use of natural alternative makes the product eco-
friendly and free from any side effects. Therefore, the purpose of this marketing plan report is to
evaluate the situational analysis and highlight the facts from the customer analysis so that it will
be helpful to make a better marketing plan.
Situational analysis
PESTEL analysis
Elements Explanations
Political  Political stability in Australia has been vulnerable since 2017. However,
an average stability rate of .95 makes it attractive to the business
companies (theglobaleconomy.com, 2019).
 In fact, Australia has good judicial effectiveness with 86.5% that proves
the safeguard of the business interests of the private enterprises. Hence, it
will be effective for Patch to continue its business successfully.
Economic  The free economic foundation in Australia is very helpful and aspiring for

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the business organisations to invest in the country. An interesting score of
80.9 in economic freedom makes Australia one of the healthy business
environments across the world (Heritage.org, 2019).
 Apart from that steady economic growth with 2.83% in 2018 suggests the
good business initiate within the country.
Social  Adaptability of the Australian people is identified as one of the most
important aspect for the business organisations creates an amicable
situation for both the foreign and domestic companies to do business
properly.
 The diversity in culture and high educational rate of the Australian people
makes them aware about both the positive and negative impact of the
business companies in the market.
Technological  Technologically the business companies in Australia are highly advanced
and due to immense competitiveness in the market, it becomes important
for the companies to use technology as a strategic tool.
 The government endorsement and encouragement towards using high
technology is also considered to be an important facet for the Australian
companies to nourish their innovation and creativity.
Environmental  Putting stern focus on green business by the Australian government
encourages the companies to take adequate measure for making an eco-
friendly business initiative.
 Regulations like the Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act 1999 makes it mandatory for the business enterprises to

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take responsibility in protection of the environment (Ramanathan et al.,
2017). As a result of that for Patch, it is one of the crucial aspects to
consider.
Legal  There are certain regulatory practices that the corporate enterprises have to
follow while doing business in Australia. First of all, abiding the
regulatory standards of Fair Work Act is very important for the business
organisations.
 Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) compels the
business organisations to focus on healthy and fair business practices
across Australia (Bateman and Tomas, 2018).
Competitor analysis
Rivalry among existing competitors
Competition in the pharmaceutical industry is highly intense as most of the big
pharmaceutical companies are accumulating maximum percentage of the market. High rivalry is
generally emerged due to the fixed costs of the company. This enables the companies to push to
full capacity. Therefore, for Patch it is important to generate better marketing strategy to survive
in the high competitiveness.
Threats of new entrants
A weak threat of new entrants can be seen in the Australian pharmaceutical industry.
According to Grundy et al. (2016) the market is already saturated and for any of the new entrants
it is not possible to cope with the economies of scale of the industry. As a result of that high cost

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of the products is considered to be great problem for the new entrants while penetrating into the
Australian pharmaceutical market.
Bargaining power of the buyers
Product differentiation and lower cost of the products are identified as the most important
features that the Australian pharmaceutical industry comprises. As a result of that the buyers get
different products with low price range. Moreover, quality of the product is also crucial to meet
the standards prescribed by the government and it makes a frequent purchase of the products
(Qureshi & Evans, 2015). Therefore, the buyers enjoy high power in the Australian
pharmaceutical industry.
Bargaining power of the suppliers
As far as the power of the suppliers is concerned, the report of Grundy et al., (2016)
suggested that there are several number of both domestic and international suppliers who are
operated in Australia. Therefore, it will not be a problem for the pharmaceutical companies to get
their supplies properly. However, Hartung et al. (2015) advocated that there is a balance of
supply and demand in the Australian pharmaceutical industry that makes a moderate power of
the suppliers.
Threat of substitutes
From the research of Karas et al. (2019) it can be stated that substitution in the
pharmaceutical industry is a very rare case due to the costs and expenses in the R&D facilities.
This same aspect is also relevant in case of the Australian pharmaceutical industry where lack of
substitution can be seen. Moreover, the sense of profitability is lesser important for the
pharmaceutical industry as a whole and it results to create limited substitutes of the existing

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products. From both the argument, it can be stated that low threat of substitution is existed in the
Australian pharmaceutical industry.
SWOT analysis
Strengths Opportunities
 Putting great deal of emphasis on the
uniqueness of the products.
 Eco-friendly product manufacturing is also
an important aspect.
 High sense of customer needs creates an
advantage position for Patch.
 The pricing strategy is focused on cost
leadership that suits the market trend of
low pricing strategy for Patch strips.
 High quality of the product makes the
Patch Strips a unique position in the
Australian pharmaceutical industry.
 Better product design with the help of
natural components.
 Expanding in the international market with
great exposure.
 Product diversification in the process
maximising customers.
 Increasing brand awareness and brand
image in the international market.
Weaknesses Threats
 Lack of diversification obstructs Patch to
gain more market capitalisation.
 Limited access to the suppliers creates
problem for Patch to maximise its
customers.
 Not so effective promotional strategies also
 Instability in the political context in
Australia is a serious concern for Patch.
 Intervention of the government in
autonomous power of organisational
decision making disrupts the steady
development of Patch.

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seem detrimental for the market expansion
of Patch.
 Limited costs in marketing and operation is
also created great issues in the process of
sales expansion of Patch.
 Intense market competitiveness both in the
domestic and international market also
creates problem for Patch in near future.
Customer analysis
Customer segmentation
Geographic
 Despite of having strong market capitalisation in Australia, the Patch Strips will focus on
the Australian market at first and the degree of success help the organisation to venture in
international market.
 Both the urban and rural density will be the targeted geographic segmentation of the
Patch Strips.
Demographic
 The average age of the targeted customers is 10 to 70 ages.
 There is no discrimination in targeting the customers. Therefore, both male and female
customers are considered to be the targeted customers of Patch Strips.
 Most of the targeted customers are segregated in the form of Full Nest II and Empty Nest
II. Nevertheless, the Full Nest 3 is also included in the targeted customers.

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 Occupation of the targeted customers is identified as the students, professionals and
retired people.
Behavioural
 People who are allergic to medicine and anti-septic or anti-bacterial creams are highly
recommended to use the Patch Strips. Moreover, healthy and determined people are also
defined as the right customers of Patch.
 Degree of loyalty of the people is restricted to switchers.
Psychographic
 As far as the social class of the customers is concerned, from poor to upper middle class
people are rightly the potential target customers of Patch Strips.
 The lifestyle of the potential customers are natural and adventurous.
Target market
The primary target market of Patch Strips is the people with the age group of 10-20.
Moreover, the retired persons are also considered to be the target customers because it is
important for them to use natural products that have more healing power without any side
effects. However, the secondary market is also comprised of the people from 21 to 59. Those
people are generally professionals or freelancers with a high ambition and prone towards healthy
and active lifestyles.

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High price
High Quality
Low price
Low quality
Brand positioning
As far as the brand position is concerned, that there are two leading wound management
companies are existed in Australia in the name of the Vacutex and Hartmann. Both of these two
companies are put emphasis on the quality of Omni strips. In fact, Patch is also highly focused
on the quality. Nevertheless, there is a sharp difference among companies about the price of the
wound strips. The Hrtmann strips are highest in price charging AU$47 approximately. Apart
from that the Vacutex strips are also very high with AU$ 43 per strip box. Significantly the price
of Patch is pretty low with approximately AU$7 only for 25 strips. This is very significant and
highly advantageous for Patch to get more customers into the organisational fold.

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Problem statement
The problem for Patch is its diversification of products. The company is only known for
organic Patch Strips which are identified as natural wound care. There is no other products that
the company manufactures. It is really a big problem for the organisation in the highly
competitive pharmaceutical market of Australia.
Objectives
Objective 1
Elements Objectives
Specific To increase the sales volume up to 3% within the next 1 year.
Measurable To maximise customer rate up to 5% within the next financial year.
Attainable To deliver 2 new products for boosting the customer rate.
Reliable To invest more on the R&D department.
Time-bound The entire process will take 1 year.
Objective 2
Elements Objectives
Specific To maximise customer percentage up to 5% within the next 1 year.
Measurable To increase number of products up to 2.
Attainable To launch attractive promotional measures.
Reliable To invest more on the promotional activities.
Time-bound To complete the objective within next 1 year.
Objective 3
Elements Objectives

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Specific To get at least 50 sponsorship within next 1 year
Measurable To increase the sales growth up to 3%.
Attainable To procure better promotional strategy for gaining more sponsors.
Reliable To invest more on the promotional techniques and strategies.
Time-bound The entire objective will be completed within the next financial year.
Marketing mix strategy
Product
There are certainly two new products have to be manufactured by Patch in order to
maximise customers and heightens the sales growth. Therefore, Wet proof pads and organic
wound cleaners can be developed by Patch so that the customers can get more products with
different ranges. It will help the customers to choose their products as per requirements.
According to Rahmani, Emamisaleh and Yadegari (2015) product differentiation is considered to
be an important aspect for the business organisations so that they can easily maximise the
number of customers and create a strong brand awareness. For Patch those aspects are highly
required in order to encapsulate the market more efficiently.
Price
As far as price of the product is concerned, Patch successfully maintains a good
organisational practice to reduce the price of the products. It can be seen that the company
believes in cost leadership practice for making the products more acceptable to greater number of
people. As a result of that for the new products also a cost leadership approach is required. Sam

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(2017) pointed out that it is a trend in the Australian pharmaceutical industry to follow low
pricing strategy to reach maximum number of patients. As a result of that for a benevolent
organisational practice it is important for Patch to reduce the pricing of the new products to a
strategic manner in compare to other pharmaceutical companies.
Promotion
The promotional strategy should be associated with local campaigns and sponsoring
sports events so that it will be best for Patch to attract more number of customers. According to
Matic et al. (2019) campaigns for new product launch is very effective in a competitive market
where the company is able to communicate with the customers directly. It will help the
organisation to understand the demands and requirements of the customers. Therefore, for Patch
it will bring a strategic advantage.
Place
Apart from the local shops, it is also important for Patch to organise its campaigns into
most populated and famous places so that it can attract maximum number of people (Wu & Li,
2018). A sports match or club sponsorship will be relevant in this context. Moreover,
philanthropic campaigns for the poor people will also create a good organisational practice.
Campaign evaluation
Effectiveness of the campaign
 To ensure the return of total investment for not only new product launch but also for
promotion and distribution process within the next year.

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 To prepare the two products within the next year so that the promotional activities will be
prepared properly.
 To create an increment of 3% in the customer maximisation so that it will help to increase
the sales growth up to 5%.
Control measures
 Monitoring the customers’ feedbacks through using a feedback form for the patients and
the event participants.
 Analysing the market demands through the behaviour and demands of the customers or
the participants.
 To keep pace with the organisational objectives specifically so that it will provide
adequate success to the market expansion of the organisation.
Contingency plan
 Focus on the risk register and budgeting so that it will assist to make the event a success.
 Installing a micro operation management so that the objectives will be met thoroughly.
 Heightens the adaptability of the employees through training and development practice so
that it will foster a better performance with the change in market.
Budget allocation
Marketing Budget AU$
Particulars
Salaries 35275
Training 30370
Accommodation 25750
Travel 15750
Social media 8800

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Advertisement 7500
Public relation 17840
Event organization 50000
Equipment 28000
Scholarship 29000
Voluntary
payments
32000
Sponsorship 54000
Total 334285
Conclusion
The above discussion is trying to create an effective marketing plan for Patch Strips in
order to get adequate measure in the process of achieving a strong market position in the
competitive pharmaceutical market in Australia. As a result of that the marketing plan is going to
deal with the process of developing and focusing on the customer segmentation and the
situational analysis of the existing market so that it will help to analyse and evaluate the market
effectively. Henceforth, it can be argued that the marketing plan is helping to create a better
strategic position for Patch Strips to increase the number of customers and embolden the market
capitalisation in the competitive market of Australia.

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Reference
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for disclosure by Australian corporates. Governance Directions, 70(3), 109.
Grundy, Q., Fabbri, A., Mintzes, B., Swandari, S., & Bero, L. (2016). The inclusion of nurses in
pharmaceutical industry–sponsored events: guess who is also coming to dinner?. JAMA
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Grundy, Q., Fabbri, A., Mintzes, B., Swandari, S., & Bero, L. (2016). The inclusion of nurses in
pharmaceutical industry–sponsored events: guess who is also coming to dinner?. JAMA
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Education, 3(3), 3-10.

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patchstrips.eu. (2019). About Patch. Retrieved 20 September 2019, from
https://patchstrips.eu/en/about-patch/
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