The PCDA Project of Doctors Without Borders-Spain Marketing Strategy Analysis & Solution

Marketing & Sales Case Study Analysis and Solution

At Fern Fort University, we use Harvard Business Review (HBR) marketing principles and framework to analyze The PCDA Project of Doctors Without Borders-Spain case study. The PCDA Project of Doctors Without Borders-Spain is a Harvard Business Review case study written by David DRC Roman Coy, Alvaro Gonzalo AHR Hormazabal Reedfor the students of Sales & Marketing. The case study also include other relevant topics and learning material on – International business, Social enterprise, Social responsibility

Strategic Marketing Analysis of The PCDA Project of Doctors Without Borders-Spain case study written by David DRC Roman Coy, Alvaro Gonzalo AHR Hormazabal Reed will comprise following sections –

  • The PCDA Project of Doctors Without Borders-Spain Case Description
  • Marketing Definition
  • Market Potential Analysis of The PCDA Project of Doctors Without Borders-Spain
  • Market Share Potential Analysis
  • Segmentation and Segment Attractiveness Analysis
  • Competition and Competitiveness Analysis of The PCDA Project of Doctors Without Borders-Spain
  • Customer Value Analysis of The PCDA Project of Doctors Without Borders-Spain case study

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The PCDA Project of Doctors Without Borders-Spain Marketing Case Description

Sales & Marketing Case Study | Authors :: David DRC Roman Coy, Alvaro Gonzalo AHR Hormazabal Reed

This case won NACRA's Curtis E. Tate Award for the best case published in the Case Research Journal in 2013."PCDA" is the Spanish acronym for Pastillas Contra el Dolor Ajeno (Pills for Other People's Pain).The case outlines the methods employed by the Spanish branch of Médecins sans Frontières, hereafter MSF (Doctors Without Borders) to develop a physical product that could be used to raise funds for the organization's social initiatives. The case focus is set in mid-March 2011, a few weeks after Juan Ramón Axta's appointment as the new head of the PCDA project at a time when sales were plummeting. The PCDA was successfully launched in November 2010. This cutting edge idea and the campaign created to publicize it received wide media coverage. The PCDA was initially very successful with consumers. The initiative was seen as a unique innovation in Spain and around the world. During the first 20 days that followed the product launch, 1.5 million packets were sold. After three months, sales reached 3 million packets. Pharmacies complained of constant stock outs. The sales of the PCDAs surpassed all previous forecasts. Based on this initial success, MSF ordered an extra 3 million packets. However, at the end of February sales dropped by 400,000 packets (i.e., a 50% decline from the previous month). At that pace MSF feared sales in March would not exceed 100,000 packets. This sharp drop in sales created significant uncertainty about the campaign's future. Atxa had to decide whether MSF should continue with the project or cancel it. He wondered whether he should put an end to it and learn from the experience. He had only recently been placed in charge of it, so he felt compelled not to choose this option. However, what was the best thing to do?

International business, Social enterprise, Social responsibility

Marketing Definition

According to American Marketing Association – Marketing is a set of activities that a firm undertakes for creating, communicating, delivering, & exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

Kotler explains - Marketing is a process by which organizations can create value for its potential and current customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value in return.

Market Potential Analysis of The PCDA Project of Doctors Without Borders-Spain

Market potential analysis comprises evaluating the overall market size of the related product that the firm is planning to launch. This will involve defining – Why the target market segment needs the product and how it will provide a solution to full its consumers’ needs. Market potential of The PCDA Project of Doctors Without Borders-Spain products various on factors such as –

  • Maturity of the market. In mature markets the profitability is often stable but the market potential is less as most of the players have already taken market share based on the segment they are serving. New players have to go for market share strategies in marketing.
  • Technological competence of the existing players and culture of innovation and development in the industry.
  • Untapped market sizes and barriers to both enter the market and serving the customers. Often companies can easily see the unfulfilled needs in the markets but they are difficult to serve as there are costly barriers.
  • Define the core need that your product is serving and list out all the direct and indirect competitors in the market place. This will help not only in positioning of the product but also in defining or creating a segment better.
  • Uncovering the current and untapped market sizes and barriers to serving the larger market. Analyze the areas that you need to sort out while launching the products to wider market and what are the challenges the firm will face in market place.
  • Estimate the current stage in product life cycle and its implications for marketing decisions for the product.

Market Share Potential Analysis

  • Understanding the buyer behavior model for The PCDA Project of Doctors Without Borders-Spainindustry.
  • Identifying the market share drivers relevant to The PCDA Project of Doctors Without Borders-Spain market.
  • Segment Attractiveness Analysis – Our analysis will work out which are the most attractive segments and which are the one the firm should go ahead and target. We point out in great detail which segments will be most lucrative for the company to enter.
  • Understanding the different needs and relative value of your offering by segment.
  • Developing segment priorities and positioning the product based on the product need fit developed by the firm.

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Competition & Competitive Position Analysis

  • Uncovering customer-based competitive positions for key rivals and firm’s offering. This will not only help in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the competitors but also help in defining and positioning of the product.
  • Developing a positioning and launching strategy. It will require not only distribution channel analysis but also promotion mix for the product.
  • Strategic Marketing Planning — the process of developing and maintaining a strategic fit between the organization’s objectives and capabilities and the ever evolving marketing opportunities for its products.

The PCDA Project of Doctors Without Borders-Spain - Customer Value Analysis

Capturing customer value is essential to marketing efforts as it results in higher return in the form of both current & future sales, greater market share, and higher profits. By creating superior customer value, the organization can create highly satisfied customers who stay loyal and buy more. This, in turn, means greater long-run returns for the firm.

  • The crucial role of customer perceived value in acquiring and retaining profitable customers. Product differentiation is often based on building on a value niche that a firm believes that is very important to the customer. This niche contributes to perceived value. If the perceived value is high then customer stay loyal to the product if not then she can switch to the competitor’s product.
  • Graphically displaying value differences for deeper understanding and better internal communication. This helps is building a narrative that a customer can identify with. The better the insight more are the chances of connecting with the potential customers.
  • Identifying and selecting actionable value creation options. This can help in increasing the customer lifetime value. Customer lifetime value is the value of the entire stream of purchases that the customer would make over a lifetime of patronage.

NOTE: Every marketing case study solution varies based on the details and data provided in the case. We write unique marketing strategy case solution for each HBR case study with no plagiarism. The specific case dictate the exact format for the case study analysis.


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