Week 6- Pharmasim Special Incidents

This week's  blog will be dedicated to the incidents in Periods 0,1 and 2 in Pharmasim.  Overall, our team performance has not been very good. We've had two periods of declining Revenue, Sales and Stock Price- at least we're consistent!

INCIDENTS:

PERIOD 0- SOCIAL MEDIA

The President of the Consumer Products Division of Allstar Brands has made it a priority for the coming year to add a more interactive Dimension to their marketing plans, including the incorporation of social media and internet marketing. 

1. Website with interactive blog.
2. Facebook and Twitter.
3. Website with interactive blog
4. Facebook and Twitter 

CHOICE:

We chose option 4- "Facebook and Twitter, and use up to 5% of the advertising budget toward Google Adwords to generate additional awareness and direct people to the Facebook page." 

RATIONALE:

The team consensus was that we felt that neither of these options would yield a significant impact as it is very hard to translate his information into real sales data.  That being said, we felt that the Facebook and Twitter forums tend to get a lot of traffic and would be more likely a place where people "Share" experience which could improve awareness.

OUTCOME:

This decision yielded positive feedback and improved awareness in both periods 1 and 2.  Below is a summary of the results:

Week 1: Social Media Comments for Allround:

I'm satisified. Just tried Extra. Okay deal.Somewhat satisfied. Great for fever! Just tried your product. Good for nasal congestion. Works well for runny nose. Good value! Very easy to find! No trouble finding it. Great for cough! Allround is the best! Just all right for chest congestion. Very good value! Just tried Besthelp

Week 2- Social Media Comments for Allround:

Really good value! Easy to find! Great for fever! Just tried Dryup. Good for nasal congestion. Allround is the best! Okay for chest congestion. I'm satisified.Good value! Okay deal. No trouble finding it.Just tried Besthelp. Fairly satisfied. Great for cough!Works well for runny nose. 

PERIOD 1- QUALITY ASSURANCE

A batch of Allround is within six months of expiration, and we needed to decide what to do with it. We had the following options:

1. Ship the product and hope that distributors do not return it.
2. Dispose of the whole batch up front and avoid the appearance of trying to dump old product on distributors.
3. Sell the inventory to a jobber 

CHOICE:

We chose to dispose of the whole batch up front.

RATIONALE:

Our feeling was that this was the best option as it had a defined risk.  Customer perception is critical in medicines and it appeared that competition was increasing.  We felt that option 1 wasn't worth the risk and option 3 still carried a risk because the jobbers would only point back to us if there was a quality issue.  Thus disposal was the best option

OUTCOME:

This option cost us $100,000 but there was no negative fall-out in the market with consumers.

PERIOD 2- CANNIBALIZATION:

Allstar needs to consider a line extension of the Allround brand to counter market erosion from increased competition.  It's options are as follows:

1. 12-Hour Multi Capsule
2. Children's Liquid Cold Medicine
3. Cough Formula

DISCUSSION:

Our team hasn't discussed this incident yet so we have not chose an option.  I feel that the best option would be option 1- 12-hour Multi-Capsule.  This is justified by the fact that there is very little competition in this segment and the only competitor (Extra) is performing poorly because it's formulation focuses exclusively on the decongestant formulation.  We should be able to differentiate ourselves in this market because we cover multiple symptoms and have a much stronger brand awareness.  Barrier to entry is low and competition is low making this segment attractive