Eli Lilly and Company\'s Antidepressant

¶ … Eli Lilly and Company's antidepressant medication Prozac would become the best-selling mental health drug in the history of the pharmaceutical industry when it was released to the public in 1988. In spite of serious doubts of the pharmaceutical's efficacy, the drug became tremendously lucrative, not just for Lilly but for the pharmaceutical industry in general. In fact, Prozac's success became one of its main problems: it spawned a near-revolution in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders that resulted in the development and successful marketing of competitor medications like Paxil and Zoloft. The problems and issues Lilly faced include the following:

First, Prozac's competitors pose a threat to the future success of the drug and necessitate a shift in branding, product placement, and marketing strategy. Second, the patent on fluoxetine hydrochloride was set to expire, leading Lilly to examine ways it could increase brand awareness and brand loyalty when after 2001 consumers had the opportunity to avail themselves of a much cheaper generic product. Lilly could opt to divert its marketing attention elsewhere such as on emerging medications or the company could invest in an aggressive branding campaign. Lilly opted for a combination of these marketing strategies: the company developed new antidepressants while making Prozac seem fresh by changing its method of administration. Moreover, the company relied on strategic product placement, taking advantage of trends in mental health treatment that entailed persuading psychiatrists to prescribe Prozac for their patients. Prozac was marketed as a catchall feel good pill. Moreover, Lilly took advantage of direct-to-consumer marketing to raise brand awareness and brand loyalty.

Alternatives

1. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing is a key means of developing and maintaining brand awareness and brand loyalty.

2. Aggressive product placement via health care practitioners remains a major means of keeping Lilly's market share of antidepressants at an optimal level. Promoting Prozac and other Lilly products at psychiatric conventions, seminars, hospitals, and private practices ensures that the drug will be highly visible, its name virtually synonymous with the treatment of depression and other mood disorders. By keeping the name Prozac on top consumers are more likely to ask for Lilly products, and psychiatrists are more likely to prescribe it.

3. Divert attention away from Prozac and toward emerging antidepressant and antianxiety medications. This alternative entails devoting more resources to research and development and less to marketing and would involve decisions at upper levels of management.

Recommendations