Women's Health and the Healthcare Pharmaceutical Industry

Women are Increasingly Attractive to Pharma

Certainly Wyeth should consider retaining its female focus, despite the recent bad press with Premarin and Prempro. Women come into contact with the medical services far more than men -- even without being ill. They foster a relationship with their doctor, and analysts suggest that pharmaceutical companies have a perfect opportunity to target women as a distinct customer group with plenty of brand loyalty potential.

Jenny Coe, an independent pharmaceutical industry analyst, highlights Johnson & Johnson as an example. “J&J has a lot of brands targeted at women -- mainly their babycare range. Since women would be the major purchaser of these products they will have loyalty through trust in the product for their children. As J&J also offer oral contraception, there must be some brand awareness to leverage here. When women see DTC (direct to consumer) advertising or are searching the web for information and find a contraceptive product belongs to J&J, they’ll trust it and know it is safe.”

“You’ve got a population that actively seeks information on health needs,” says Williams. “Women are more likely to go to a physician and look up information, especially on the web. It is sources of information that are key to targeting women. There is great potential for subtle female-specific marketing through disease awareness and patient information.”
Coe agrees that more companies should consider a concerted female focus. “Women are the providers of healthcare in families and they are more aware of their own health because their natural cycles will cause them to visit the physician more than men. Companies can build a lifelong relationship with women.”

It could begin when a young woman starts on the pill or chooses another form of contraception. If it works, with minimal side effects, then why not take a product from the same range for PMS? Loss of libido? The company could offer a female sexual dysfunction drug. And so it goes, through the whole lifecycle, perhaps even touching on childhood vaccines and children’s treatments.

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