1. Marketing Plan
GlaxoSmithKline
The company’s mission statement: ‘’We have a challenging and inspiring mission: to
improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live
longer. This mission gives us the purpose to develop innovative medicines and
products that help millions of people around the world.’’
GSK is considered as one of the largest research based pharmaceutical and health care
companies ever. Its main headquarters are in the UK (united Kingdom) and is also a
global organization with offices in over 100 countries and major research centers in the
UK, US and China.
But with great power comes great responsibility (yes, a Spiderman movie cliché). In this
case being a big leader brings big responsibility. It means that the company cares about
the impact that it has on the people and to improve and make its mission into a working
plan by making the world into a better place for the people. It is also one of the few
pharmaceutical countries that researches not only medicines, but also vaccines to cure
world diseases like HIV and such. The company has taken an oath and a commitment to
produce its medicine wherever its needed even in poor countries but with prices suitable
for people living there. The company is really proud to have developed some of the
leading global medicines on the field to treat diseases like the after mentioned HIV and
also Malaria, tuberculosis and much more.

2. The company also produces medicine which is responsible for the treatment of asthma,
anti-viral, infections, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and digestive conditions. In
addition to the above diseases, it is also considered as a leader in important areas of
vaccines and the company is constantly developing new treatments for cancer. And over
all magnificent company. ‘’We also market other consumer products, many of which
are among the market leaders’’ says the company.
Some examples of the company’s products are
-Panadol
-Aqua fresh
-Niquitin
-Horlicks
and much more
The Brand
The brand chosen is Panadol Extra. It is a well known and famous pain relief drug. The
main active ingredient is paracetamol and it has many usages. Paracetamol is an active
ingredient in panadol which is responsible for relieving pain only. It has no effect what so
ever on underlying inflammations, redness, and swelling of any part of the body. It is an
effective no steroidal anti inflammatory drug. It also has the ingredient Ibuprofen which
is responsible for pain relieving too (osteoarthritis in this case).
A randomized trial of acute musculoskeletal pain in children proved that the standard
over the counter and excess dose of Ibuprofen gives much greater pain relief than the

3. standard paracetamol drug.
Paracetamol is known to have little inflammatory activity unlike asprin, Ibuprofen and
such drugs that are known to cause pain relief.
Despite the comparative efficiency, studies have shown conflicting results when panadol
was compared to NSAIDS (a trial of chronic pain in adults).
now then, paracetamols efficiency when combined with opioids (such as Codeine) has
been questioned by recent Data studies. But because there is little to no data the final
conclusion has been hard. Combination of drugs of paracetamol with strong opioids like
morphine has been shown to improve analgesic effect.
these studies have lead to the development of Panadol Extra, the no. 1 medication for
treating pains ranging from mild migrations to severe headaches. It is a well known
product with many uses due to its analgesic effects. Panadol is a viable choice for patients
with pain of any kind.
B) Current marketing situation
a) Target Market analysis: GlaxoSmithKline is the company responsible for production
of panadol extra. Panadol extra targets a huge part of the market; this is due to the fact
that people need it in almost their everyday lives. The active ingredient Paracetamol is
responsible for the relief of pain.
*The Demographic Profile: The target market for Panadol is anyone with pain
(because it relieves pain) yet there are some segments that the drug can’t target. Those
being:
1- people who are allergic to the active ingredient (paracetamol)

4. 2- Not for children who are under 12. So it is mainly for adults and teenagers. Yet some
products of paracetamol do exist for this age group.
3- It isn’t preferable for pregnant women because it has been reported that some traces of
the drug may be found in the milk used for breast feeding.
Some of the places that are strongly targeted by the company are Hospitals, institutions,
pharmacies, clinics and the list goes on.
Hospitals: intended mainly to deliver the patients the required drug. Panadol is used as a
pain killer used in hospitals.
Clinics: doctors can prescribe Panadol for patients who complain constantly from pain.
*medical uses for panadol:
Fever: Paracetamol is approved for reducing fever in people of all ages. The World
Health Organization (WHO) recommends that paracetamol only be used to treat fever in
children if their temperature is greater than 38.5 °C (101.3 °F). The efficacy of
paracetamol by itself in children with fevers has been questioned [] and a meta-analysis
showed it to be less effective than ibuprofen. Paracetamol has a well-established role in
pediatric medicine as an effective analgesic and antipyretic.
Pain: Paracetamol is used for the relief of pains associated with many parts of the body.
It has analgesic properties comparable to those of aspirin, while its anti-inflammatory
effects are weaker. It is better tolerated than aspirin in patients in whom excessive gastric
acid secretion or prolongation of bleeding time may be a concern. Available without a
prescription, it has in recent years increasingly become a common household drug.

5. *Psychographic Profile: Panadol and Panadol Extra are legally available in
Egypt at the prices of 7.0 L.E & 14.0 L.E they are manufactured by GSK Ireland and
packed here by Alexandria Company. So it basically targets the Upper class, the Middle
class, and working class and maybe some of the lower class.
The reason for such a moderate price is due to it being well known and well trusted.
Everyone (almost everyone) knows about panadol extra as a safe medication for pain
killers. It targets people whose social lives are stable and who trust the product. It also
targets people who prefer medication (tablets capsules and such) over herbal ones. Its
price is advantageous to many people indeed
*Behavioral Profile: Consumers usually buy the product when it is prescribed to
them by the Dr. or by a hospital. So basically the people prefer buying the product when
they are in some sensation of some pain or if they need it (if the doctor prescribed it)
the company doesn’t really care for peoples behaviors as much as it cares for its needs in
this scenario. They concentrate on their pain (the people), not attitudes.
*Positioning: Panadol is positioned as one of the safest pain killers in existence.
Statistics show that most people when they hear the word panadol, safety and pain relief
are the words that come to mind. Panadol’s key value is the trust consumers extend to the
brand. This has evolved over its 40 years in the pain relief market. In 1994 Panadol was
rated as the third most trustworthy brand in Australia in the Young & Rubicam Brand
Asset Valuator study.

6. Panadol IS one of the safest choices there is and is prescribed by most physicians here in
Egypt.
b) Competition Review: panadol has many competitors like
1) Novandol (sanofi Aventis)
2) Abimol (Manufactured by: Unipharma company)
3) Paramol (masr lel mosta7darat el tebeya)
4) Paracetamol (el Nasr)
5) Piral (el qahera)
Example: Abimol
INDICATIONS
- Relief of pain and fever associated with influenza, common cold and other febrile
conditions.
- Headache, toothache and neuralgia.
- Dysmenorrhea, arthralgia, myalgia and similar disorders.
All of which have the active ingredient paracetamol in them.
Competition might seem tough, but it actually isn’t for panadol
statistics show that almost 80% of the world population know what panadol is and also
acknowledge it as the no 1 pain killer. This is why competitors are trying to turn the other
segments, mainly for children as panadol isn’t advised for children (although some
products are) but mainly not. Panadol extra is intended for adults and teenagers only and

7. that is why competitors try to get a bigger share in the market by luring people in by their
products that are intended for children.
The competitors offer different products but with different names and possibly other
properties. But they all have paracetamol as an active ingredient inside of them and thus
all of them are treated as pain killers and considered as competitors for panadol extra
with a market share and competing with it.
C) SWOT analysis:
the company’sstrengths
- researching and developing new drugs constantly. Vaccines and diseases are of the
company’s biggest strengths as the company does a lot and it also spends a lot on
researching and developing new products. Especially when it comes to diseases where it
is a main priority by the world health organization where the company keeps on
researching for treatments and such stuff.
-the company’s strong generation of cash and profits means that the company will have a
good return to shareholders and also it will be able to generate a value, a profit, and a
goodwill for their stock for their stockholders. This will definitely strengthen the
company greatly.
-the products of GSK are sold in over 150 countries worldwide, which clearly shows a
really big market share of the company globally (1 of which is located in Egypt).
GSK has been stated as one of the best 100 companies in ‘’working mother magazine’’
which also contributed to boosting its name and making it well known worldwide.
-The provision of finances and health facilities to non-profit organizations and giving for
charitable purposes also increases the credibility of the company in general.

8. WEAKNESSES:
-the relatively high price (7-14) isn’t acceptable by a lot of consumers in Egypt, where
almost half the population falls in the working class category and cannot/do not prefer
buying such an expensive product (in their point if view) so they revert to competitors for
cheaper prices.
- The sudden decline in sales due to present financial constraints which are still having
their affects globally also resulted in firing of large number of employees.
Opportunities:
- the company’s vast experience in terms of health and pharmaceutical industry will
definitely be giving them a competitive edge that they can use to beat down their
opponents (not literally of course).
-the company generates a lot of profit yearly, which means that the company can
produce and develop new products. This also means that its investment in the market
will rapidly increase. This might come out as a competitive advantage to move forward.
- The goodwill of the company in the eyes of the customer may increase due to the fact
that the company posts large charitable grants for poor countries
Threats
-The pharmaceutical companies now days are facing difficulties to find new drugs as
much has already been discovered, so compared to old times it is difficult getting new
inventions and innovations. So a large budget on research and development may be a
threat

9. -A large number of health and pharmaceutical companies may also be a threat to
GlaxoSmithKline
Competitors play an important role in this.
-A big settlement of complains and charges resulting in huge fines to GlaxoSmithKline
may also be a big threat to the company in future because it may be giving a lot of
finances in settling the charges against it as it has been doing in future
- The present global crisis and financial decline in overall economy has also greatly
affected the company’s financial conditions.
D) The marketing strategy:
Promotion:Panadol has done a great deal in the promotion field, not only in Egypt, but
world widely. Panadol has virtually used every means of promotion available ranging
from promoting to TV advertisements to promoting to doctors in private clinics. Its
coverage keeps on increasing day by day.
The concept of its advertisements on TV talks about how people use it (panadol) in heir
personal lives. In one advertisement, a Surgeon talks about how he uses panadol in his
everyday life. He goes to the hospital, does his job and feels at the end of the day some
mild pain. He then talks about the product, which is panadol, and how it affects him.
People in these advertisements usually are convinced by the product and they try to lure
the people into believing them. A well developed plan. Owing to the visual similarities of
competing products, a clear differentiation of the pack was also needed. Panadol believed
that the lookalikes were deceiving consumers as being their trusted Panadol.The

10. Company’s mission was to ensure that the customer is given Panadol when he or she asks
for it. This strategy was a tremendous success – it was, in fact, evidenced by sales data
which reflected rapidly rising demand. To achieve this, GSK launched a 360-degree
Campaign. This was achieved by establishing what is now known as the ripples of relief,
which are a part of the new design and use characters from varying social levels and
skills. They provide messages of product usage in the form of testimonials.
Place:GSK has placed itself in many places, recently campaigns have started to
introduce it to newer markets and to target even more segments than it used to.
It tries to sell for lower prices in the lower segments to eliminate competition. It has a lot
of distributers. It also has some kind of general coverage where nearly every hospital or
clinical institution in Egypt has Panadol as a pain killer. Also doctors and physicians
describe it to patients more often than anyone thinks. It is really effective as a medication.
Also local pharmacies are considered as one of its places where the company is obliged
to accept the demands. Panadol extra has a huge control over the market (in terms of pain
killers) and has earned this reputation fairly. A well earned title for a deserving company
with has a large magnitude and a large impact on the market.
To sum it up, it distributes to Doctors, physicians, clinical facilities, institutions,
hospitals, local pharmacies and much more. The list goes on.
Price:‘’At last Panadol & Panadol Extra are Legally available in Egypt at the prices
of 7.0 L.E & 14.0 L.E they are manufactured by GSK Ireland and packed here by
Alexandria company’’ is a statement on the official drug purchasing site for Egypt
http://www.arabrxlist.com/. It states that there the prices are 7 LE and 14 LE. 7 for being
Panadol and 14 for being Panadol Extra. The difference lays in that the Paracetamol

11. concentration in which in panadol extra concentrations of the active ingredient are much
more than that in the normal drug (panadol).
Product:Panadol has led innovation in pain relief. After its introduction in tablet form
in 1956, a constant flow of new presentations and forms have been introduced to offer the
consumer a variety of choices. In 1971, the round tablet in the cellophane pack made
history in the progression of Panadol. This was followed by the blister pack in 1992.
Later, in 1998, the caplet in the blister pack replaced the familiar round tablet. Panadol
has believed in continuous improvement and setting standards by way of launching
extensions and variants to strengthen its brand franchise. As a result, several line
extensions have been added to a growing market. These included PFC – relaunched in
1985 with no sugar and no alcohol, quite unlike other variants available at the time. In
2004, recognizing the need for Paracetamol that acted twice as fast to keep up with the
fast-paced lives of consumers, Panadol Actifast was introduced to the market. All
Panadol’s adult products are manufactured in Dungarvan, Ireland – the manufacturing
hub for many markets. Stringent quality controls are in place during its production
process. Process ensures that customers receive a Panadol’s market leadership in the
pediatric range.
Panadol Actifast tablets are manufactured with a film coating that makes swallowing
easier and to circumvent any bitter taste. Actifast also includes Sodium Bicarbonate,
which accelerates absorption into the body. As a result, it is absorbed into the body twice
as fast as the standard product.

12. GKL has researched the market clearly and because of that it made an amazing marketing
strategy as mentioned above.
In the product, it made a safe product with a guaranteed effect that would most likely
satisfy the company’s customers.
In the pricing category, the panadol extra costs around 14 pounds which targets a whole
segment. To target even greater segments, they made the normal Panadol medicine for 7
LE only. It has similar effects (though the concentration of paracetamol isn’t the same
where it is intensified more in the Panadol extra)
in the promotion section, the company made sure to make big and clear promotions and
also to sponsor poor countries and aid them with introduction of the designated medicine
with lower price than that they would normally sell it at.
in the place, the company commands many channel distributers and has a strong coverage
over the country where almost every pharmacy has the medicine panadol in it (due to
high demands)
GSK has grown a big way and is worthy of the title that it got of being one of the most
trusted pharmaceutical countries in existence.
Things you didn’t know about panadol:
-Panadol is the most widely available pain reliever in the
world; it is marketed in over 80 countries and is the market leader in
many.
-The ‘dol’ in Panadol is derived from the Latin word ‘dolor’, meaning
pain.

13. -Panadol was first launched in 1956, and was initially only available on
prescription.
-In 1994, Panadol was rated the third most trustworthy brand in Australia
Summary
GSK is one of the world'sleading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.
Headquartered in the UK, it is a global organization with offices in over 100 countries and major
research centersin the UK, USA, Belgiumand China.(Responsible for production of panadol).
B) Current marketing situation
a) Target Market analysis: GlaxoSmithKline is the company responsible forproduction of
panadol extra. Panadol extra targets a huge part of the market; thisis due to the fact that people
need it in almost their everyday lives
*The Demographic Profile: The target market for Panadol is anyone with pain (because it
relieves pain) yet there are some segmentsthat the drug cant target.
*Psychographic Profile: Panadol and Panadol Extra are legally available in Egypt at the prices
of 7.0 L.E & 14.0 L.E they are manufactured by GSK Ireland and packed here by Alexandria
company. So it basically targets the Upper class,the Middle class, and working classand maybe
some of the lower class.
*Behavioral Profile: Consumers usually buy the product when it is prescribed to themby the Dr.
or by a hospital. So basically the people prefer buying the product when they are in some
sensation of some pain or if they need it (if the doctorprescribed it)
*Positioning: Panadol is positioned asone of the safest pain killers in existence.Statistics show
that most people when they hearthe word panadol, safety and pain relief are the words that come
to mind. Panadol’s key value is the trust consumers extend to the brand
b) Competition Review: panadol has many competitorslike
1) Novandol (sanofi Aventis)
2) Abimol (Manufactured by: Unipharma company)
3) Paramol (masr lel mosta7darat el tebeya)
4) Paracetamol (el Nasr)
5) Piral (el qahera)
Example: Abimol

14. C) S.W.O.T. analysis:
Strengths
• Research and development on new drugs,vaccinesand diseases is one of the biggest strength of
GlaxoSmithKline as the company is doing a lot and spending a lot on research and development
projects. Especially a lot is being done by the company regarding the diseases which are set as a
main priority by world health organization
Weaknesses
• the relatively high price (7-14) isn’t acceptable by a lot of consumers in Egypt, where almost
half the population falls in the working class category and cannot/do not prefer buying such an
expensive product (in their point if view) so they revert to competitorsfor cheaper prices.
Opportunities
• A vast experience in health and pharmaceutical industry will definitely be giving thema
competitive edge on others.
Threats
• The pharmaceutical companies now days are facing difficulties to find new drugs as much has
already been discovered, so compared to old times it is difficult getting new inventions and
innovations. So a large budget on research and development may be a threat
The marketing strategy:
Promotion: Panadol has done a great deal in the promotion field, not only in Egypt, but world
widely. Panadol hasvirtually used every means of promotion available ranging frompromoting
to TV advertisements to promoting to doctors in private clinics. Its coverage keeps on increasing
day by day.
Place: GSK has placed itself in many places, recently campaignshave started to introduce it to
newer markets and to target even more segmentsthan it used to.
it tries to sell for lower pricesin the lowersegments to eliminate competition
Price: ‘’At last Panadol & Panadol Extra are Legally available in Egypt at the prices of 7.0 L.E
& 14.0 L.E they are manufactured by GSK Ireland and packed here by Alexandria company’’ is a
statement on the official drug purchasing site forEgypt http://www.arabrxlist.com/. It states that
there the pricesare 7 LE and 14 LE. 7 for being Panadol and 14 for being Panadol Extra.
Product: Panadol has led innovation in pain relief. After its introduction in tablet formin 1956, a
constant flow of new presentations and forms have been introduced to offer the consumera
variety of choices. In 1971, the round tablet in the cellophane pack made history in the
progression of Panadol.