Multi-channel marketing strategies on performance of Pharmaceutical Companies in Kenya: a case of Nairobi County

Abstract

Pharmaceutical industry in Kenya is growing extremely fast and contributing significantly to the growth of the national economy. It is the aim of each organization to make sustainable profits so as to continue with its operation in the market. Pharmaceutical marketing employ medical representatives who are entrusted with product information which is to be delivered to the healthcare provider (HCP) who has the responsibility to prescribe or dispense these medicines to the patient. The challenge these companies face revolve around reaching these HCPs with quality information about a medicine considering their tight schedule and at the same time minimizing the cost of marketing. The purpose of this research project was to establish the effect of multichannel marketing strategies on how pharmaceutical companies perform in Nairobi County. Descriptive design was employed in this research and questionnaires aided in primary data collection. The target population was 306 pharmaceutical companies registered and operating within Nairobi County with a sample size of 62. Purposive sampling was used in order to get targeted groups who were medical representatives, marketing managers and sales leaders from the organizations. Data was analyzed quantitatively using SPSS where the results were presented in tables. The mean, correlation and standard deviation was analyzed. The study found out that the multichannel marketing strategies where adopted they significantly influence income generation, reduce marketing costs and are convenient and timely in information delivery to the customers. The key conclusion of the study was that multichannel marketing strategies are working and have a greater influence on the performance of pharmaceutical companies in Nairobi County. The key recommendation from this study is that any company that wants to engage any of the channels must carry out thorough research to establish what suits their customers so as to effectively communicate and reap the benefits of multichannel marketing