Thirty four marketing methods were identified during a preliminary discussion
with sales personnel and physicians and from the literature. These marketing methods
were classified under five promotional strategies namely - i) Advertisements, ii) Sales
promotion, iii) Public relations, iv) Personal selling and v) Direct marketing. The
definitions, of these strategies, used in this article follow the descriptions by Kotler9
.
Advertisements refer to non-personal promotion of drugs through magazines or
banners in conferences. Catch cover of samples and catchy advertising strap lines also
were included under advertisements. Sales promotion is the use of short term incentives
to encourage prescriptions. These include brand reminders like letter pads, pens,
paperweights etc. High value gifts and bulk sampling for trial purposes are also included
under sale promotion. Public relations involve a variety of programmes designed to
promote or protect a company’s image or its individual products. These involve product
launch meetings, conducting a discussion by a specialist doctor related to the product,
organizing seminars and sponsoring physicians for conferences. Personal selling is the
detailing by the representative of the company and the way the sales personnel handle
objections and use visual aids. Drug sampling comes under the domain of personal
selling. Direct Marketing involves sending information, products or advertisements 6
through post, telephone, email or internet to communicate directly with specific
customers. There were many items under each domain.