Viagra’s success was due to: * Viagra was the first orally taken drug that addressed ED. Other alternatives that had already existed in the market were: penile implants, vacuum pumps , ED injection and urethra suppository, none of them were really user friendly. * Viagra was the first affordable solution for ED, its retail price was $10/dose, whereas Caverject injection cost $25/dose, vacuum pumps $300 to $500, and the most expensive, penile implants ranged from $12,000 to $18,000. * Pfizer employed advertising which reached out to all men. They featured celebrities in their ads, such as Bob Dole, Raphael Palmiero, Mark Martin. Seeing these celebrities publically confess to having ED, made men feel more comfortable in acknowledging their own ED issues and communicating it to their physicians. * Unlike injections, Viagra could be taken everyday. * Some people saw recreational usage to Viagra. * Viagra was approved by Medicaid in 11 states. * There was a huge market for ED drugs. In 1996 the number of ED prompted doctor visits was at the all time high of 1.3 million visits.
2. Draw a perceptual map that summarizes the positioning strategies adopted by Viagra, Levitra and Cialis and evaluate those strategies.
Viagra’s positioning strategy:
Pfizer first started out by featuring older celebrities, like Bob Dole, trying to capture attention of their target market. Statistics showed that over 50% of Viagra’s customers were men over 50. Later, Pfizer changed its strategy and started featuring young celebrities, such as a baseball player, NASCAR driver. They wanted to show that even “manly mans” could have a problem and they also wanted to put out a message that Viagra is not only for older men but for men of all ages, who might even only have a slight problem. Basically, their message to men was “you’re not too young for Viagra”. I think this was the right move on Pfizer’s side since it