With the increasing diagnoses of diabetics worldwide, there is need to expand markets for the products that can be applied in managing the problem as well as create a stable market for the products. Singapore features as a potential market for the sale of insulin among other cosmetic products generated by Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries. Due to the public consumption of high calories, stable economy, high level of business, geographical positioning, as well as high competitiveness, Singapore is a potential market for the company’s products other than being a central region for expansion of the market for insulin in other regions in Asia. Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries main objective of seeking for market in Singapore is to reduce the costs of acquiring insulin for the diabetics and guarantee constant supply for the growing cases.
Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries is a company in Diqdaqah United Arab Emirates that was established in 1998 by Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammad al-Qassimi and is presently focused on producing and distributing pharmaceutical products worldwide (Julphar, 2012). Julphar is the only company in the Middle East and in North Africa, which locally produces raw material for the manufacture of insulin, a product necessary for the management of diabetes (Karlstad, Starup-Linde & Vestergaard, 2013). Before its commercialization of the product, the company will have to obtain approval from European Medicines Agency (EMA) before acquiring the approval from the Singapore’s authority that is concerned with the product (HSA, 2016).
Market Entry Mode Selection and Evaluation
The major objective of Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries is to reduce the costs of insulin and constantly supply Singapore markets with this product. This objective is based on the escalating need for insulin for people between 10-79 years of age. Direct and indirect exporting, contractual agreements, strategic alliances, and ownership were the major market entry codes applied in the market. These entry modes have been selected based on the company’s objective for entering international market, cost of setting up the market, related risks, control levels of the company, and flexibility of the approaches.
Direct export is a popular channel of distribution into varying markets (Wirtz, et al, 2016). The advantage of applying this approach is because it embraces distribution chain, which is highly essential in understanding the market situations and defining the potential of the product in Singapore (Min, 2015). Direct exporting is advantageous in navigating challenging import and registrations processes with HSA. The disadvantage of applying direct export is that the company will face legislative challenges such as political and trade agreements that allow market access for retail services from fixed position. Language besides posses a major disadvantage due to bilingualism of the market. Given the strict requirements, Julphar ought to determine carefully the necessity of adopting direct exporting approach. According to HSA, all foreign manufacturers must complete the quality and safety test, acquire hygiene permit, before they can distribute their products to the consumers (Wirtz, et al, 2016).
Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries will collaborate with both local and international firms to derive positive effects all through the health sector in Singapore. The advantage of applying strategic alliances is that it enables risks to be shared among parties in collaboration. Moreover, the company has the opportunity to offer annual profits through corporate social responsibility towards the funding of scholarships for educational institutions and in health campaigns in Singapore. The applied contractual in form of licensing is applied for established business environment in Singapore. This strategy is useful as it enhances purchasing power of the people in Singapore.
Target Segment and Positioning
Singapore has the highest proportion of diabetics after the United States (Lai, 2015). It is estimated that citizens aged 20-79 in Singapore constitute approximately 10% are affected by the disease. Therefore, people of all ages are expected to use this product due to lifestyle orientation, which has affected the cost of living, making people spend more on medicine. This result is worrying since it implies that the populace is abandoning their culture by becoming less active and consuming more high-calories foods, which are major causes of diabetes. A report by Lai (2015) affirms that presently, one in ten people are diabetics. The fact that Singapore is in Asia is of a geographical advantage since because the company can establish numerous centers to cover the comprehensive region. moreover, Singapore presently lacks research and development infrastructure to come up with innovative drugs, a fact that attracts and stabilizes international companies such as Julphar. Approximately 100 million people worldwide depend on insulin, including the type 1 and type 2 diabetes (Perlitz, 2009). At least half of the said population cannot access it, resulting in ultimate and premature death.
Product
Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries has been in operation for more than 30 years, making it a highly technical company that offers quality products through application of the advanced technology, great investments, as well as innovative medical team (Julphar, 2012). The major export product from the company is insulin, which is a component of the cosmetic products the company produces. Cosmetic products are arguably any form substance that is intended to be applied in the contact with the external human body parts for cleaning, modifying the appearance, or correcting for enhanced conditions (Cornips, Rago, Azatyan & Laing, 2010).
The government in the past has spent at least 12% of the total health care expenditure in the combating of diabetes and its associated risks. Through introduction of the products from the generic company, the government of Singapore looks forward to reducing the total expenditure incurred in the management of the disease, since the presence of Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries will compel its competitors to reduce the price. Adoption of this product will besides boost the growth rate of Singapore by 20% (Yousef, 2015).
Price
Factors affecting the price of the commodity include the availability, preferential of the market, market price of the product, and cost of production and transportation (Lai, 2015). The aim of Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries is to reduce costs by supplying constantly insulin to the patients in Singapore and its environs. Since the product should be applied in the regulation of blood sugar, it cannot be delayed in shipment. This calls for frequent shipment of the product to Singapore, a fact that will increase the cost of the product. Nevertheless, the presence of the constant supply of insulin from Julphar Industries is likely to reduce the present market price of the products from the competitors. Due to shipping costs and production expenses, the cost of the product will be relatively higher than the market price for the product distributed by locally available companies. The absence of diverse companies within the region is likely to increase the cost of the drugs in Singapore. The price of the Julphar products will, therefore, vary from the price set in UAE. This is due to the increased cost of shipping, demand of the product, market competitiveness, and cost of production. Arguably, in such situations where the target market, Singapore, is far from the location of the production, the cost of the products tends to go higher than in situations where the target market is within the locality of the company. The company will clearly have to incur additional costs while entering the market.
Place
Singapore is presently the market on focus due to its competitive economy and consistent performance in business. So far, the country prides itself as the most competitive economy behind Switzerland, irrespective of its high business costs, tighter labor policies, and stagnating growth. This is according to a report given by Min (2015), which is the most comprehensive evaluation of the 140 economies conducted in the recent past. The consistency of the country is defined by enhanced infrastructure, technological advancements, health, and education (Rotenstein, Ran, Shivers, Yarchoan & Close, 2012). There is an available, flexible, and attractive labor market in the country, which is enhanced further by international research institutions. The trend of business sophistication in addition to the ability of the nation to nurture and attract great talents makes it a suitable market to sell pharmaceutical products from UAE. Moreover, there is still a wide opportunity for the market within this region to expand in form of innovation and sophistication.
Singapore offers suitable market for Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical products due to increased awareness from government and media campaigns and from heightened penetration of health insurance to the public. Government campaigns have increased especially within the last year in the nation, a move that widens the market for the industry. The campaign has been highlighting common skin diseases and suitable solution, which has a spillover effect that resulted in the widespread of the Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical insulin products internationally.
Besides the campaign, Singapore is a competitive market for insulin products from the industry due to the leading brand quality of the Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical. This fact contradicts the common premise that generic products generated by local players are progressively being purchased by users. This variation is due to consumer awareness that the role of an active product is more significant in quality products, making exported products more visible in the market, especially in relation to the prices of the goods. Even though government initiatives are towards promotion of the generic goods, the move will barely affect the strong position of the international importers over the forecast period (Min, 2015).
Number of Diabetes Patients Worldwide expected to rise
(Perlitz, 2009)
Promotion
The business will focus on television and social media such as web page as promotion tools to reach the wide customer base in Singapore. This is because the supplying industry in internationally based with its establishment in UAE. Use of social media approach to be applied in marketing of the products can explode the market by encouraging customers to apply and access the products after online registration. This viable medium of distribution has numerous platforms of purchasing the products at lower costs. The customers will be required, however, to verify the products before proceeding with online purchases. The company is encouraged to apply this strategy to gather the young users after establishing an electronic commerce website.
Besides these tools, the business will apply standardized logo to market itself in Singapore. Logos are unique and identify the product with the producer at an instance especially since the company is based in different region and lacks a base in the country. The significance of brand image is that it identifies uniquely the product with the producer due to the exceptionality of the brands. Due to nonexistent barriers to entry, Singapore obtains an average of five brands annually, which fails to grow in terms of consumer base. To translate significant growth in the consumer base and guarantee market share of the imported brands, brands have to get on aggressive brand building and advertising promotions campaigns (Wirtz et al, 2016).
There are minimum advertising laws in Singapore, the major reason that makes the market highly competitive. In Singapore, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) regulates the docket of cosmetic productions and distribution, as well as issues related to the safety issues of the cosmetic products (HSA, 2016). Since the products from the company have been perceived as less risky, less approval will be required before they are distributed in the market. This will be advantageous to the company since minimal requirements will be needed for approval by the HSA. The company will nevertheless be required to inform the regulatory body of the presence of the products before distribution, to facilitate prompt approval of the products for use, ensure that the products have no prohibited substances that are risky to human health, label the products clearly with major information in English (Higgins & Green, 2011). There are therefore, no legal country limitation related to the distribution of the products to consumers. The major limitation the industry will face is the variation in culture and thus language.
After considering factors such as regional limitation and promotion tools, the promotional mix in Singapore would therefore be personal selling, public relations, and direct selling. In addition to competitiveness of the Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical industries, the industry is among the major chain distributors within the pharmaceutical field will account for majority of the retail sales in UAE. The company will rely on the specialty stores that will be raised specifically for the products within the major cities in Singapore. The stores will sell the products at retail prices and in different sizes to local companies. These specialty stores will be in direct contact with the manufacturers and will bypass wholesalers to avoid time wastage that occurs when the entire distribution chain is followed. Besides this, the drugstores are especially becoming popular especially among foreign companies. Another approach for promoting the products will be by encouraging specific consumers to register with the companies within stipulated stores before they receive the services. Through this approach, the company will hold a specific customer population who will guide the production and distribution of the product. This approach is useful since the company can easily gather the effectiveness and customer satisfaction of the products, for enhancing of the products in future.
Conclusion
The cosmetics industry is estimated to be US$40 million in Singapore. The industry is resilient to economic turbulence and constantly thrives in affluent Singapore. The market in this region is generally competitive in nature due to almost non-existent barriers to entry (Lai, 2015). To guarantee market share of the imported brands, brands have to get on aggressive brand building and advertising promotions campaigns. The study discusses marketing competitiveness of the Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries within Singapore markets. The major purpose of Julphar is to reduce the costs of insulin and constantly supply Singapore markets with this product. This objective is based on the escalating need for insulin for people between 10-79 years of age. The preferred market entry modes for the products are primarily direct and indirect exporting, contractual agreement, strategic alliance, and ownership.
Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries is a public shareholding company in Diqdaqah United Arab Emirates. The pharmaceutical company was established in 1998 by Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammad al-Qassimi and is presently focused on producing and distributing pharmaceutical products worldwide. The major product the company is using to control the market is Moist Exposure Burn Ointment (MEBO) for burns. This therapeutic product is used to treat old and new scars, restore the wellbeing of a traumatized skin, and aids patients with functional and cosmetic complications that resulted from scarring. Julphar is the only company in the Middle East and in North Africa, which locally produces raw material for the manufacture of insulin, a product necessary for the management of diabetes. Due to the increasing rates of diabetes diagnosis, the company has a potential of widening its markets to reach wider diabetic populace. Because of this demand, Julphar has a network of eleven production plants within UAE and focuses on opening more facilities in countries such as Algeria. By 2011, Julphar had attained AED one billion in sales and delighted of producing more than 20 million bottles, 51 million tablets, and 175 million capsules annually (Julphar, 2012). Therefore, it is necessary that the company establish more markets internationally for its development. Other factors that the study has considered in choosing Singapore as a potential market is the capability of the market to deliver value that justifies higher costs of operation. Nevertheless, it is still uncertain on the levels of competitiveness in the various regions within Singapore.
The main retail departmental stores in Singapore include personal care stores, retail chains and stores. Online shopping is a presently emerging strong competitor as the public can purchase the products online and worldwide. Singapore enjoys up to five brands annually due to absence of nonexistent barriers to entry. It is necessary for the company to become aggressive in brand building and advertising promotions campaigns for significant translations of growth in the consumer base and guarantee market share of the imported brands. The chosen market entry codes are direct and indirect exporting, contractual agreements, strategic alliances and ownership, which face legislative challenges such as political and trade agreements that allow market access for retail services from fixed position, and language challenge due to bilingualism of the market.
Besides related challenges in settling for ideal market entry and promotional strategies, Singapore remains a competitive economy and consistent performance in business behind Switzerland. The consistency of the country is defined by enhanced infrastructure, technological advancements, health, and education. Besides the campaign, Singapore is a competitive market for insulin products from the industry irrespective of the common premise that users are progressively purchasing generic products generated by local players. This disparity is a result of consumer awareness that the role of an active product is more significant in quality products, making exported products more visible in the market.
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