Assignment 2: Competition, Marketing Mix, and Pricing

For this assignment, use the same health care provider as in Assignment 1.

Write a four to six (4-6) page paper in which you:

1. Determine the key characteristics of the users of the products and/or services of the health care provider you selected.
2. Analyze the competitive environment of the health care provider you selected and recommend a course of action for strategic marketing success.
3. Determine which tools of the marketing mix available to health care providers would be most effective for the health care provider you selected.
4. Determine the best possible pricing strategy for at least one of the products or services offered by the health care provider you selected.
5. Provide at least three (3) qualified sources, e.g., peer-reviewed journals, professional organization Website, or health care provider Websites.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Analyze the competitive environment of a health services organization and identify a course of action that will allow for strategic marketing success.
• Analyze the users of the health care system.
• Describe the various tools of the marketing mix available to health care providers.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in health services marketing.
• Write clearly and concisely about health services marketing using proper writing mechanics.

Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic/organization of the paper, and language and writing skills

THIS IS A COPY OF THE PAPER YOU DID LAST TIME.. SO THAT YOU WILL USE THE SAME HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.. 

CVS Health is the biggest retailer of prescription drugs in the United States. Also, it is the second largest pharmacy benefit manager. The company is now expanding its reach so as to become a fully integrated provider of health services. “The organization is expanding its operations to different areas, where it is sweeping up all of Target's 1,600-plus pharmacies across 47 states, a deal worth about $1.9 billion”. The expansion plans of the organization are evident with its move to purchase to Omnicare for an amount of $12.7 billion. Omnicare is a drug delivery organization, which also assists senior-living centers to properly manage residents’ medications.

Direct impact of marketing

Marketing plays a significant role to the organization. Marketing directly impacts revenue of CVS Health. Marketing has a direct relationship with sales of the organization. Through marketing, the organization tries very hard to beyond the Sales Accepted Lead (SAL). Due to this, it has been possible to help sales increase close ratios while shortening the sales cycle. The organization ensures that marketing affects sales through the following methods; coming up with messaging so as to amplify factors that lead to win, hosting lunch with sales, coming up with an engagement timeline, and creating visual sales enablement tools (Ailawadi, Harlam, César, J., & Trounce, 2007).

Marketing has direct impact on customer experience when it comes to CVS Health. This in turn leads to a dramatic change, especially when it comes to customer loyalty and eventually profitability of the organization. Being a billion dollar company, a slight improvement in customer experience, that is, a $1 improvement can produce an additional $262 million to $272 million when it comes to revenue. This is over the span of three years. Organizations that are providing customers with bad experience should expect to lose 65 percent of their revenue from previous customers.

Strategy for utilizing products and services

            CVS Heath has come up with rebranding strategy as a way of utilizing its products and services. With countrywide scarcity of access to primary health care services, the organization is now in the best position of competing in the basic segment of the health care provider market. The rebranding strategy is meant to show the organization purpose related to helping people on their path to better health. Due to rebranding, the name of the organization has now changed from CVS Caremark Corp. to CVS Health. The rebranding has made it possible for the organization to be in line with an expanding function in providing health care services above the traditional retail pharmacy business model (Ailawadi et al., 2007). Being an organization that is at the forefront of health care landscape, the rebranding has enabled the delivery of breakthrough products and services. Also, it has made it possible for the community and people to manage health in a more effective and affordable way through good programs in medication adherence, delivery of care by walk-in medical clinics, and specialty pharmacy.