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This Week's ORM Topics 2010-01-15

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Marketing Management Tasks

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What tone does your brand send out? Are you even consciously doing this in your marketing? Just like every company has a brand whether they want one or not, brands are also exhibiting a personality/tone whether they are aware or not. The tone many companies sent out is a that of a selfish person where the message is all about them. A big picture of their location and flashy offices, how successful they are, that you should be dealing with someone so influential. NOTHING about how they will address your company’s pain points and deliver on a solutions based promise.

This is how many advertising messages go down – and let’s not forget the flashy graphic to round out the creativity by rubbing the ego of the person who signs the cheque.

Your tone should epitomize your brand promise and compliment your customer’s brand experience. Like Apple, I know I will not have to deal with viruses and it’s going to be very easy to use AND look pretty darn cool as well!

Think about your brand’s tone. It will make your marketing resonate more powerfully with your target customers.

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Hi. Belonging to the marketing horizon of a traditional retail store I am obviously a novice to the Internet. As a part of my skills building I am asked to look into Online Marketing and learn more about Internet. Forgive me for asking a basic question but it would be great if you could let me know about what Online Marketing is after all.

We reverted,

Online Marketing is also known as,
•    Internet Marketing
•    Web Marketing
•    E-Marketing
•    Internet Advertising
•    Electronic Marketing

What is Online Marketing?

Online Marketing is a business activity, carried out on the Internet, executed to attract an audience for the purpose of selling products, services and information (DirectTraffic.org, 2007). It is considered as another type of marketing which typically involves reaching the consumers via Internet. Premier usage of Internet as a target of this activity ensures an access to a larger yet targeted set of audience for any entrepreneurial firm with an eye on International markets. Online Marketing engages in basic marketing activities like advertising and selling, specifically on the Internet. Typical Online Marketing activities may include,

Search Engine Marketing (Paid-for listings): Search Engine Marketing widely addressed as ‘SEM’ within this global industry, involves advertising on Search Engine Listings in an attempt to reach every consumer who is looking for information, irrespective of his/her geographical location, related to a particular product or service. These listings usually appear on Search engine listings as short textual advertisements that are displayed either on the Top or Right-side of the Search results (Congentis, n.d.) [See Figure above]. This type of marketing is generally carried out on the Internet, on what is popularly known as, PPC (Pay per Click) basis. Advertisers are required to bid the price they would be willing to pay per each click of their advertisements, which also enables advertisers to select which geographical area would they want their ads to be displayed. The higher the bid, the higher is the advertisement placed in the Search engine Listing (Congentis, n.d.) SEM accounted for 57.6% on total Online Advertising in the year of 2007 (Internet Advertising Bureau, 2007).

Search Engine Optimisation: Search Engine Optimisation widely addressed as ‘SEO’ within the Industry, shares more or less similar effectiveness to that of SEM. It involves an optimized building of Web Pages of any particular website in a manner which enables the website to rank high in the ‘algorithmically’ determined search rankings. SEO results are regarded as more advantageous than Search Engine Marketing (SEM) results for two core reasons, a) Free of cost and b) Longer time standing listings. The core difference lies in the areas of Search Listings occupied. Figure 1, above gives an idea of the difference spots occupied by websites employing SEO and SEM.

Please Check the Figure above to get an idea of the difference between SEO and SEM. (Note: The areas marked in ‘Red’ colour are the results of Search Engine Marketing (SEM). While the one marked in ‘Green’ colour is the actual listing which may be the result of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)).

Display Advertising: Display advertising involves directly advertising graphical oriented logos, banners or animations on third party web sites, across the internet, to attract attention of visitors who could be potential consumers. They are regarded for being extremely effective to grasp direct responses of the target consumers. The IAB recommends Display Advertisements to be the key component of any Internet Marketing Strategy (Internet Advertising Bureau, 2008). This type of advertising accounted for 21% of the total online advertising during the year 2007 (Internet Advertising Bureau, 2007).

Email Marketing: Email Marketing is the advertising of a product, service or brand sent to a list of electronic mails [emails] (Wise Geek, n.d.). In order to execute this activity an entrepreneur must have an access to the email addresses of potential customers. There are a few ways to access email addresses, namely, purchasing the email database from an email broker, using an email subscription service on the company’s own website or rely on referrals gained from existing customers (Wise Geek, n.d.).

Source

Congentis. (n.d.). Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization Explained. Retrieved August 17, 2008, from http://www.cogentis.com.au/search-engine-marketing-explained.html

DirectTraffic.org. (2007, June 18). Internet Marketing. Retrieved August 16, 2008, from http://www.directtraffic.org/OnlineNews/Internet_marketing_20075115473.html

Internet Advertising Bureau. (2007). Fact Sheet: Online Adspend 2007. Retrieved August 17, 2008, from http://www.iabuk.net/media/images/iabonlineadspendfactsheeth220072_2720.pdf

Internet Advertising Bureau. (2008, August 10). Display Advertising. Retrieved August 17, 2008, from http://209.85.141.104/search?q=cache:KFrZJC1_FeUJ:www.iabuk.net/en/1/display.html+what+is+Display+Advertising&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=au

Wise Geek. (n.d.). What is Email Marketing? Retrieved August 17, 2008, from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-email-marketing.htm

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-    Consumers
Consumers are at the focal point of Pfizer’s business. Consumer awareness is increasing at an alarming rate in the recent years. Consumers nowadays are interested to know more about the products they are using (Rehne & Moldrup, 2008). When consumer awareness increases about the off-labelling issues, it can trigger a change in consumer preferences swerving loyal customers to deviate away from using Pfizer products. This could give rise to human rights violation issues in the media and public, raised by political pressure groups, where Pfizer could be accused of denying its consumers the basic rights of standardized health solutions. As result of which, Governments and Unions could impose sanctions on Pfizer, summing up to huge loss of revenue and market share.

-    Shareholders
The decision making of Pfizer determines the consequence of its shareholders attitude. Off-labeling accounts for estimated 60% of prescriptions in the U.S (The Doctor Will See You Now, n.d.). Separating itself from off-labelling will contribute to a further decrease in Pfizer profitability chaining the shareholders actions. On the flip side, continuing off-label activities could also affect shareholder reactions in a positive direction.

Note: For the purpose of speed and accuracy in decision-making, we must limit our stakeholders’ horizon to the above mentioned three entities. The limiting of the stakeholders is performed on the basis of entities that are directly and not indirectly affected by the company’s activities. This in no way means that, entities like Employees, Government, NGO’s, Anti-Human rights violation groups, Labour unions, etc are not considered as the stakeholders of the company.

Now that the ethical challenges as well as stakeholders involved in the ethical challenge are identified, Pfizer’s next stop on the itinerary should be to recognise the possible alternatives it has in order to react to the issue.

Alternative solutions
Evaluating the Off-labelling issue and considering the stakeholders involved in the situation, it seems convenient to narrow down the available alternatives into two distinct but obvious choices, namely,

o    Continue off-labelling
o    Discontinue off-labelling

Continuing off-label marketing is the approach, Pfizer and many of its top level competitors have adopted in order to leverage sales. It is interesting to note how these companies have been practicing off-label marketing strategically. Pfizer and its competitors are trying to swerve the generally non-acceptable off-label marketing view in the opposite direction, by trying to constantly appeal in favour of off-labelling (Edwards, J, 2007). But, there could be other alternatives available for Pfizer which could allow the company to have a convincing counter-argument approach in case of a negative outbreak against its activities.

Pfizer could start promoting lifestyle benefits indirectly while advertising its drugs for treatment of disorders. Let us take the example of Viagra. This drug was originally invented by Pfizer to treat Erectile Dysfunction in males (Viagra Official Site, n.d.) but the company has being promoting the sexual benefits indirectly via advertising without mentioning the side-effects and medical purpose of the medicine (ConsumerAffairs.com, 2004).  Instead Pfizer could try to promote Viagra’s lifestyle benefits indirectly while focussing on the primary topic being ‘Treatment for Erectile Dysfunction’. For example, a message like, “If you are Impotent (facing erectile dysfucntion) take Viagra and satisfy your partner’s expectations”, could prove helpful.

Meanwhile, the company could involve itself in more social activities to defend itself in the consumers psyche in the event of a negative outbreak against its unlawful activities.

Conversely, discontinuing its off-labelling activities could mean a complete turn back from the unlawful activity and reverting to other activities which could provide the company with some equally positive numbers. For example, instead of marketing immorally (if that’s how off-labelling is perceived) the company could spend that expenditure on marketing campaigns which are not perceived to be morally wrong. Such strategic marketing would mean increasing the reach of its products to needful consumers. In case of its Viagra drug, the company should try to make the drug easily available to potential and impotent consumers. This could mean, launching a helpline for privacy-centred or scared-to-admit impotent men or increasing promotions in rehabilitation centres taking into account that a large number of cases of Erectile Dysfunction are a result of addictions related to smoking, alcohol and drug abuse (Brochert, A, 2006). People wanting get rid of their addictions and who visit such rehab centres could be targeted as potential new consumers.

Basically, discontinuing off-label marketing would mean switching to traditional marketing tactics of opening new avenues in terms of market development.

-    The effect on the stake holders
Once the Stakeholders are recognised and the available alternatives are clearly, it is now important to evaluate how the above mentioned solutions would affect the stakeholders involved in this ethical challenge Pfizer is facing. The effects of continued off-labelling (Figure 3.1) and discontinued off-labelling (Figure 3.2) have been compiled in the respective tables below to provide a better understanding of the ethical dilemma Pfizer is facing.

-    Pfizer’s responsibilities and duties
Pfizer’s Responsibility towards its stakeholders could be clearly acknowledged by the following acts (Kaptein, M; Wempe, J, 1998),

Clarity and Transparency: Pfizer has a responsibility of maintaining utmost clarity and transparency when it comes to sharing of information with its stake holders. In our situation of off-labelling, the company may have a greater responsibility of practicing right to information towards its consumers. While Pfizer does recognise this in its ethical code of conduct (Pfizer.com Responsibility, n.d.); it is clearly evident that it is breaching the ethics code (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2007, US Department of Justice, 2004).

Equality and Respect: the company also has to comply with a duty of treating its stakeholders with a highest regards of equality and respect. The company should make sure that all its operations are in the best interests of its directly related stakeholders; i.e. without prioritizing shareholders over consumers or vice versa. The company must respect the freedom-of-choice its consumers (product selection) and shareholders (holding or selling off shares) enjoy.

Recognition: Arguably one of the most important responsibilities of the company is to recognise what is expected from it by the stakeholders. In the current situation, the consumers expect full and substantiated information about the side effects and the safety profile of the medicines they use while the shareholders expect at least adequate amount of ROI (Return on Investments).

The responsibility Pfizer towards its stakeholders is a thoughtful task for the company. But this responsibility game is not a one-way affair; the stakeholders of the company also have a few responsibilities towards Pfizer. They are responsible to act consistently and constantly communicate with the company. Also, Pfizer has a right to expect not only a sense of respect  but also constructive participation from its stakeholders for making the ultimate decisions even if the choices made are awkward in nature (Kaptein, M; Wempe, J, 1998).

-    Personal bias
Considering I am a consultant, hired by Pfizer to make the decision in this ethical dilemma the company is facing, it is essential to take into account, my personal bias towards sensitive issues like off-labelling. We must also feed ourselves with a fact that our decision-making should not be dictated by our consumer and shareholders. Our personal interests need to be equally considered.

“In one incident, I came across a news article in India, where a 16 yr old boy died due to a wrong (off-labelled) medicine prescribed by his family GP to treat a minor Stomach-ache. Apparently, the salts present in the prescribed medicine triggered certain allergic reaction within the boy’s body causing a nervous breakdown, and eventually claiming his life. Such incidents can happen to anyone and at anytime. Incidents like this, have forced my conscience to stop or at least try to stop using drugs without getting a proper prescription from an authorized doctor. “

Previous experiences and knowledge affect a lot of our decision making process in the daily activities. I would like to stress on saying that issue like off-labelling affect me and my loved ones which forces me to think beyond profit-making about the existence of myself, my family & friends against the existence of a virtual entity, the company. My conscience, thus, may have a disproportionate influence towards discontinuing off-labelling activities implied by Pfizer INC.

Making Decisions
Finally after identifying the stakeholders, narrowing down on the available solutions and how they affect the stakeholders, recognizing our responsibilities towards our consumers and shareholders and taking into account the personal bias of the decision making consultant, we now need to take the final action to hedge against the ethical challenge. This is when company finally narrows down to a single action to be taken to tackle against the dilemma by conducting a detailed ethical analysis of choosing the right kind of ethical approach.

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• If our product is great, no one could hinder in its success
  Too bad if you believe that. A product’s awareness is as much important in its success as is its utility. Many a times, good products fail to comparatively worse products because of a non-existent Brand Strategy.
• A brand would rather succeed than fail
  Is this you? If yes, then you have 1 in 10 chances to prove me wrong. According to US dept of Commerce, ‘90% of products would die in the first five years of inception’.
• Brands can only be built on through Advertising
  Wrong, Advertising only help in building awareness and branding goes beyond awareness. A million people or more around the world are aware of ‘computer viruses’, but how many would want a virus on their Personal Computer? Branding is also about creating emotional feelings in consumers mind and advertising is not the only way this can be done.
• All that is new, must sell
  Think again, a combination of different research papers conclude that approximately 80% of new products fail. The papers include Business Week, Rosen, Dodd, Ross Federal Research Corp.
• We have designed our Logo well, and yet branding has not worked for us
  Branding is one of the most misunderstood marketing practice. It goes way beyond designing attractive logos. Without a Brand Strategy there is no LOGO that is well designed. You must design a Logo that compliments your Brand Strategy.

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