Metabical is claimed to be a safe and effective weight loss drug. The case study describe the analysis of marketing strategy used to introduce the drug in the market and also establish a viable positioning for the product.

1. GROUP 10
Ayasha Banka (1627942)
Swati Roy (1627961)
Himanshu Singh (1627912)
Surbhi Joshi (1627960)
Utkarsh (1627934)
Hitesh Rathod (1627913)

2. METABICAL:
 Safe and effective weight loss drug.
 First weight loss drug introduced by Cambridge Science Pharmaceuticals (CSP)
 For moderately overweight individuals.
 CSP is an international health care company that develops, manufactures and market
products which treat metabolic disorders, immune infections and other acute medical
conditions.
 Issue is to develop a viable positioning strategy and business plan.
 It is scheduled to launch in January 2009.

3. HEALTH AND SOCIAL ISSUES
 Overweight is related to number
of serious health complications
 Overweight individuals endure
social stigma and outright
discriminations.
 Professional life is also
negatively affected.
 Laziness and self-indulgence
are common stereotypes.

4. SUPPORT PROGRAMS:
 Comprehensive support plans
were created to complement
Metabical pills.
 Online weight control tools ( weight
loss tracker, food diary, nutrition
and calorie calculator) were used.
 Support programs were developed
to teach lifestyle skills for healthy
maintenance of weight after the
weight loss was achieved also.
 Personal support and meal plans
like menu planner, grocery list,
thousands of healthy recipes was
also provided.
 Exercise plans (weight training and
cardio routines) was also
developed.

5. MARKET RESEARCH

6. SWOT ANALYSIS OF
METABICAL (1/2)STRENGTH:
 FDA approval
 Only a few negative side effect
 Prescribed drug
 Reducing stress on heart and liver
 Fat blocking as well as calorie absorption
agent
 Control release feature
 Less harmful compared to other similar
products
 Strong and comprehensive marketing
strategy
 Experienced marketing R&D team
 Allocate substantial amount of money in
marketing budget
WEAKNESS:
 Gastrointestinal discomfort
 Not effective to be consumed with excess
fat and calories

7. SWOT ANALYSIS OF
METABICAL: (2/2) OPPORTUNITIES:
 Comprehensive support program
 Health care program to include
Metabical in their prescription
program.
 65% of the US population
categorised as obese, overweight
and severe obese.
 Market research showed higher
indication of people wanting to loss
weight.
 Bad experience of Alli and Xenical
effects.
 THREATS:
 FDA imposed stringent regulation
due to negative side-effect cases
of similar drugs.
 Deceptive marketing claims.
 Increasing herbal supplements.
 Bad experience of dietary drugs
 New entry

8. MARKETING
COMMUNICATION
STRATEGY:ADVERTISING
 It is aimed to raise awareness and educate patients.
 Direct-to-consumer(DTC) advertising is trendy in drug industry now.
 Some of the CSP’s DTC concepts are:
a. Loosing weight is tough
b. Look your best
c. Those extra 20 pounds would be killing you.
 It included DTC television, Online, Radio, Print Media Blitz at the time
drug’s launch.

9. PROMOTION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS:
1. Direct mail campaign
2. Viral marketing campaign
3. Social networking sites and blogs

10. FOUR P’S ANALYSIS
Product: Metabical is a weight loss drug
prescribed to be consumed only one pill a day.
Price: $3-$4 per pill
Promotion: ATL and BTL campaign
Place: Pharmacy and drug store

11. USP’S OF METABICAL:
First FDA approved drug
Less severe negative effect
Support program
Printup has 20 years of experience
Forecasting methods are structured and less possibility of
failure
Average course of treatment is only 12 weeks.

12.  Points of Parity:
 With respect
to ALLI, both are
FDA approved
 OTC drugs and
Metabical are all
Weight loss drugs
 Negative effects
are common
among weight
loss drugs
 Points of
Differentiation:
 Not only a weight loss
pill but also helps
customers into have
behaviour
modification and
encourage healthy
eating habits.
 Targeting only
overweight segment
 Less severe negative
effects

13. SEGMENTATION AND
TARGETINGPRIMARY TARGETS
DEMOGRAPHIC:
 25-65 YEARS OF AGE
 INCOME LEVEL ($25,000+PA)
 Education level: less than high school, high school, some college,
college
PSYCHOGRAPHY:
 People who want to look like movie stars
 People who want to be healthier
 People who want to wear skinny jeans
 People who want to lose their weight
 People with BMI score: overweight, obese, and severely obese
BEHAVIOUR:
 Price sensitive
 Likes sport
 Health treatment oriented
 Choose drugs based on advice
 Loyal to brand
 Value oriented
SECONDARY TARGETS
DOCTOR:
Specifically for doctors, physicians,
interlace corporations
Those who already have credibility
To make them one of the brand
endorsers of the product

14. MARKETING COMMUNICATION
STRATEGY PLAN:
 Above the line-
 Goals:
 To introduce the product
 To attract target market
 To communicate proper positioning of the Metabical
 To aware people about benefits of the product
 Strategies:
 Launch the “losing weight is tough” campaign through talk show,
doctors communication, brand endorser, health-related
conference
 TV commercials
 Radio
 Magazines/ newspapers
 Print ads
 Mobile clinic and sport events
 Billboards
 Below the line-
 Goals:
 To communicate the proper positioning of the
product
 Inform customers about the benefits of the
product
 Strategies:
 Email marketing
 E-advertisement (E-solution and health care
articles)
 Buzz marketing
 Personal selling and SPG & Booth event
 Social media marketing

15. CONCLUSION
Consumer research result showed great potential for
Metabical in the market.
There is a great opportunity for the product in a market if it is
positioned correctly.
Average cost $350 for the course is quite affordable for the
customers if the products come to be promising.
The company has spent $400 million in 10 years of R&D and
FDA approval.
The plan of STP and marketing communication is promising.