I.

Executive Summary

II. Situational Analysis
A. Internal Environment

Review of Marketing Goals and Objective
To promote the health and well-being of the busy community population by
providing accessible, high-quality medical care for the people. MediCall is committed
to providing services that will exceed the expectations of the patients, which can be
done by providing high-quality and fast health care service resulting in a successful
and profitable business. It also aims to form a health care practice that is able to
survive off its own cash flow in the first months of information. As for the short term,
the goal is to develop a comprehensive website that includes online booking, as well
as additional information about the practice, hours, demographic information, health
information and much more. For the succeeding years, the business has a goal to
increase the number of patients by 20% per year through superior performance,
promotional and word-of-mouth referrals.


Review of Current and Anticipated Cultural and Structural Issues

At the present, people and things are revolving with the use of technology. On this
generation, one could barely live without phone and other gadgets. Thus, the culture
of the market which the firm is willing to serve is science and technology oriented.
There is really no drastic change to be anticipated considering that the medium in
delivering the service offerings of MediCall is through the use of technology, and
that, people are used to it. Only that, the MediCall will use these technological
advances to serve its clients. Therefore, markets culture will definitely embrace these
changes.


B. Customer Environment

The firm has the busy-group-of-people as its potential customers, those who
belong in the workforce which includes full-time employees and other professionals
who find routinely check-up and consultation as a time-consuming activity. Middle-
upper class retirees can also be the potential customers who consist of senior citizen
age group that considers consulting a doctor or physician, is already a tiring
commotion for them, considering the travel from one way and beyond to get access to
the doctor.

A registered client can also include his or her dependents, which is limited only to
his or her nuclear family members and/or his parents who are already on the Senior
Citizens bracket. But the thing is, he or she will be the one to make the call for his or
her dependents. For example, Employee A is a father, and his son needs a first-aid
treatment or prescription right away, Employee A will be the one to ask for
prescriptions and advices and not the son.

People cannot able to anticipate illnesses that will arise during busy official hours
and/or during wee hours of the night. More often, people do not want to rely on first-
aid medications without recommendations and prescriptions. These problems can
only be solved through running to the clinic or driving to the hospital and ask for an
appointment for the immediate consultation. But, the target markets, who are the busy
professionals, may not want to run off their work and reschedule the things that must
be done for the day just to consult for a doctor. Therefore, Medicall will meet and
solve these problems in just one call and that, they do not need to rush to the
infirmary or hospital anymore to make sure that the medicines they are going to take
is prescribed by a physician.

In regards with the services offered by the firm which is just to lift up the phone,
dial and seek consultation to the attendant, the client would then be provided with the
necessary advices and prescriptions he or she needs.

MediCall offers service which will be given to clients who are busy and are in
need of medical service that are reliable when it comes to consultation about their
current medical situation. Medicall also provides its customer the best and most
accurate medical consultation 24/7. They can also choose the period of subscription
according to the most convenient time they want, either monthly, quarterly, or
annually and will have a corresponding benefits of insurance benefit, free of charge
gateway number for a maximum of 3 times consultation for monthly, maximum of 5
times consultation for quarterly, and 12 free consultations will be given to clients for
one year subscription, above it will be charge through regular phone call basis prior to
the period they availed. VIP can also be offered to clients who are willing to avail the
service for three years. Special benefits can also be given to them which are:
exclusive products, higher insurance benefit, free gateway number for a maximum of
50 times consultation will be applied.

The customers can inquire about the services offered by the firm and all related
aspects about it through its official website. On the said site, online registration could
take place (if not, there would be a stall at the mall (?) where anyone could register).
To be done, there would be an application form to be filled up by the interested
prospect requiring relevant information about him or her as well as instructions
including the modes of payment, the way the service is to be delivered, and the like.
Customers near the main office can also inquire via walk-in.

As soon as the prospect had able to register, understand and agree to the terms and
conditions set by the firm, the customer then can able to purchase the service any time
the client wanted to.

Regular membership fee would be PhP 1,700 quarterly which includes PhP 200
for insurance and PhP 1,500 for the consultation.

The service offerings and benefits of MediCall are suitable for the frantic time
schedule of the market that it will be going to serve, which are the busy professionals.
They are not going to drive meters or kilometers anymore just to acquire a reliable
advice because MediCall will serve this market in just a few minutes. Although,
considering that Filipinos remain loyal to face-to-face interaction with the concerned
physicians, office men, workers and the rest of the work force are more time-
conscious than health-conscious (Thomson, 2003).

As what has been said, Filipinos remain attached to the traditional ways of
medications especially on the Philippine rural areas and that, those on urban areas
also prefer to consult a physician by themselves, personally. Its been a tradition in
the Philippine settings to consult a physician personally or in face-to-face aspect
whether the illness is severe or not, to ensure the quality of the service. Because of the
nature of the Medicall, which is mainly a transaction online or on-phone, it is hard to
gain the trust of the prospects taking into consideration that online transactions are
prone of scams and frauds. Additionally, customers may not want to risk their money
paying for the service that is not yet been tested, taking in consideration that
MediCall is first in the market to offer the kind of service. Also, there is this I-dont-
want-to-be-their-trial-and-error-thing mentality of Filipinos.






C. External Environment

Competition

Since the MediCall is first in the market to offer such kinds of services, there is no
yet existing company to be considered as a direct competitor. Though, there are these
indirect competitors. As a general knowledge, Filipino people in the rural areas are
more knowledgeable regarding home remedies, traditional healing techniques, and
supernatural ailments, whereas those from urban areas rely more on modern medical
intervention and over-the-counter drugs. The healer often does not give advice to the
ill to go to the doctor or to the hospital. Thus, traditional healing techniques can be
considered as one of the indirect competitor of MediCall. Another indirect competitor
to be considered is public and private hospitals. One of the edge of this indirect
competitor over the Medicall is its range of target market which is broad. Filipinos,
generally, are more reliant in personal consultation with the health officer and
considering that the form of service that the MediCall has which is virtual, people
may tend to switch or remain loyal to hospitals.

Economic Growth and Stability

The Philippines has been among the emerging markets in the region given its
sound economic fundamentals and highly-skilled workforce. The countrys robust
economic growth as well as the governments sound fiscal management also saw the
Philippines attain investment grade status from the other countries, following similar
upgrades from major credit raters in 2013.

Further, based on the most recent Labor Force Survey, the employment rate
ranges from 80 to 85 % and thus this array of market is being considered by the firm
as its potential market. In line with this, the portion rate of professionals contributing
to the Philippine GDP is 62%.

Still, we cannot deny the fact that Philippines belong to slow economy which
means that the countrys economy is rising, only that, the progress is slow. The
question now is, how can it affect the business operations? During an economic
slowdown, many small businesses face a number of challenges. Consumers become
concerned about their job stability and, in turn, are more likely to be cautious with
expenditures, which leads to decreased revenue for business owners. A slow profit
stream can make it difficult for the business to repay creditors, which can negatively
impact its long-term viability. A business facing financial struggles is far less likely to
qualify for loans for capital expenditures and operations, which limits growth
opportunities. Many small businesses also are forced to downsize their workforce
during a slow economy. This limits their ability to serve customers and contributes to
the unemployment rate, which furthers slows the economy.

Political trends

At the present, the political regime of the country is in chaos. Rulers, politicians
and even senators are being imprisoned because of unethical statutes. Currently,
violent acts are rampant and assaults occur sporadically. Businesses, whether small or
big, are also being affected by these present political issues. Political risks are moving
higher as a result of negative impact that rising rice and other food prices are likely to
have on society. Although corruption is a major problem in a number of Asian
countries, it is more politicized in the Philippines than in most.
Legal and Regulatory Issues
Nowadays, rapid developments in the medical field have revolutionized the field
of medical practiced. It is now possible to diagnose diseases faster and more accurately
using advanced techniques. Medical management has become more effective with refined
medications having more specific actions and fewer side effects. Among all these
developments, the medical profession is at crossroads facing many ethical and legal
challenges in the practice of the profession. The medical institutions are becoming more
and more dependent on technology and market forces tend to influence decision making
by the doctors. The fundamental values of medicine insist that the doctor's obligation is to
keep the patients interest above everything else.
Doctors have a legal duty to comply with the applicable ethical and legal
regulations in their daily practice. Ignorance of law and its implications will be
detrimental to the doctor even though he treats the patient in good faith for the alleviation
of the patient's suffering. All actions that are done in good faith may not stand legal
testing. With the increasing number of cases filed by aggrieved patients seeking legal
remedy from doctors and medical establishments, it is no longer a matter of choice, but a
context-driven legal mandate and necessity for the doctors to be conversant with basic
legal issues involved in medical practice.
The ethical issues in medical practice including changing doctor-patient
relationships, the need for introducing ethical training in the undergraduate and
postgraduate medical training, the modern challenges in urological practice, and the
ethical and legal issues in kidney transplantation covered from an Indian perspective.
The legal issues covered include the basics of medical negligence, changing
concepts of informed consent, and the practical issues of medical negligence cases with
representative case decisions.

Socio-cultural trends

To develop and implement community based interventions that address sociocultural
barriers to, MediCall. These interventions will: (1) identify language and cultural barriers
imposed by health care organizations and providers, and provide them with information
and training about health care beliefs, (2) educate families about the MediCall system, its
provider and how to access them and (3) develop peer education programs for pre-
adolescents to enable them to promote the value of primary and preventive MediCall
within their communities. This project will ultimately increase the responsiveness of the
medicall system in the target communities for providing care and assist individuals,
particularly youth in becoming more effective health care customers.

III. SWOT Analysis

A. Strength
1. Medicall serving its clients through the use of advanced technology makes the
services more accessible and readily-available for them.
2. Operates 24/7.
3. The service serves the clients virtually, and thus, a time-saver.
4. First in the market to offer such kind of service.
5. Attending physicians are expert professionals.
6. Partnership with well-known firms (Pfizer, Globe Telecom and Mercury
Drugstore)

B. Weakness
1. The services offered are limited, addressing only to mild illnesses and not to
severe ones.
2. Clients can only acquire the benefits offered by the business through the use of
technology.
3. The brand name MediCall is not yet established in the market.
4. Narrow target market.

C. Opportunities
1. The number of office workers and other white-collared job-workers are rapidly
increasing
2. People are becoming more time- mindful.
3. Medical care is limited in rural and remote areas.

D. Threat
1. Most of the clients are more reliant to the traditional ways of consultation.
2. Growth of indirect competitors
3. Slow economic growth and the rise of corruption rate index of the country.

E. SWOT matrix

Strength:
Medicall serving its clients
through the use of advanced
technology makes the services
more accessible and readily-
available for them.
Operates 24/7.
The service serves the clients
virtually, and thus, a time-saver.
First in the market to offer such
kind of service.
Attending physicians are expert
professionals.
Partnership with well-known
firms (Pfizer, Globe Telecom and
Mercury Drugstore)
Opportunities:
The number of office workers
and other white-collared job-
workers are rapidly increasing
People are becoming more time-
mindful.
Medical care is limited in rural
and remote areas.


Weaknesses:
The services offered are limited,
addressing only to mild illnesses
and not to severe ones.
Clients can only acquire the
benefits offered by the business
through the use of technology.
The brand name MediCall is not
yet established in the market.
Narrow target market.

Threats:
Most of the clients are more
reliant to the traditional ways of
consultation.
Growth of indirect competitors
Slow economic growth and the
rise of corruption rate index of
the country.



F. Developing competitive advantages

The health care industry is competitive. Doctors compete for patients and
hospitals compete for funding. The ultimate goal is to attract customers and make a
profit. With all the industry competition, health care professionals are looking for
ways to enhance their competition and give themselves a leading edge.

One of the competitive advantage of MediCall is its lower pricing compared to
the indirect competitors with the inclusion of insurance and other set of benefits
offered by Medicall, patients can save money and still receive the same level of care,
then they will be more inclined to do business with the organization that is giving
them a financial break. Also, considering the virtual-type of service the firm has, it
can save time and effort especially for the market whom he company wishes to appeal
which are professionals and busy office workers who find face-to-face consultation
as a waste of time and to those who do not want to rely on the first-aid medicines with
no prescriptions. In spite of these advances the MediCall have, expert renowned
professionals are the ones who will provide advices and who will give right
prescriptions.

Though there are some weaknesses the firm possess, and threats that the
environment presents, by developing a good and excellent marketing strategy, the
firm can convert these into strength and opportunities. Like for instance, one of the
environmental threats to the business is customers reliance on traditional ways of
consultation, by building up a good marketing communication mix, we can develop
awareness and eventually affect the behavior of the market. On the other way, one of
the weaknesses of the business is that, customers can only acquire the service
offerings through the use of technology. We currently exist in computer age and
technological advances offer by this computer age are expanding and growing. On the
next generations, it is expected that the world will become more reliant to technology
to acquire products and services and therefore this weakness will then one of the
greatest strength of the business.

G. Developing a strategic focus

Considering that the business is new in the market, the overall strategic focus of
the marketing plan is to create awareness and to penetrate the market as well as to be
acquainted if this type of business offerings is feasible in the Filipino market.

IV. Marketing Goals and Objectives

a. Marketing Goal A: To provide clients a virtual and quick medical practice that is
of high standards, to increase awareness and to penetrate the market.
Objectives
The objectives for the first years of operation include:
To create a medical practice that will exceed patients' expectations
To provide high-quality virtual health care to the market
To form a health care practice that is able to survive off its own cash flow
in 10 months or less
To increase the number of patients by 20% per year through superior
performance and word-of-mouth referrals
To develop a comprehensive website that includes online booking
capability, as well as additional information about the practice, hours,
demographic information, health information and much more

b. Marketing Goal B: To promote the health and well-being of the local population
by providing accessible, high-quality medical care for people. MediCall is
committed to providing services that will exceed the expectations of our patients,
resulting in a successful and profitable business.

V. Marketing Strategy
a. Primary Target Market

Well established professionals that have less or no time for consulting
physicians during office hours.

b. Pricing strategy

Cost-plus pricing will be the pricing strategy to be used by the firm. The
expenses include direct cost, indirect cost and fixed cost.
These expenses (monthly basis) shall consist:
Payment for EGS BPO Php 100,000
Payment for Globe Telecom PhP 50,000
Professional fee for 6 physicians Php 180,000
Well-known physician PHp 25,000
20 Agents PhP 34,000
Operating expenses PhP 286,000
PhP 750,000

The objectives of the cost-plus pricing is to gain profit on the first months
of operations provided that the services are in high standards.






c. Partners and Alliances


Pfizer Philippines employs approximately 1,600 colleagues across 3 different sites 2 in
Makati City and 1 manufacturing plant in Canlubang. Pfizers main activities in the Philippines
involve sales and distribution of prescription medicines, consumer and animal health products
and manufacturing of milk products. Pfizers presence in the Philippines for more than 50 years
has evolve around continuous partnerships with the medical community and with the government
to ensure timely access to our medicines and to provide better quality health care.

Locations
Makati City
Canlubang, Laguna

Now, the role of the Pfizer Philippines in the business firm is to help build the image of
MediCall considering that Pfizer is the leading company in the pharmaceutical industry and
thus serves as another promotional strategy. In return, Medicall also will promote Pfizers
products.


Mercury Drug has evolved from being just a pharmacy to a full-service health and
wellness store offering a full complement of healthcare services to help promote healthy
lifestyles and improve the quality of life of Filipinos.
Mercury Drug takes pride in the introduction of many firsts in the pharmacy retail
business all in an effort to satisfy, please and further serve the people.
It pioneered the motorized customer delivery service in 1948 and longer hours of store
service, with a 17-hour service introduced in 1952 that evolved into the 24-hour service in 1965.
Today, more than 100 Mercury Drug stores are open 24 hours. It introduced the self-service
concept in drug store selling in 1963 at its first Makati store. In 1967, it installed the countrys
first computerized temperature-controlled central warehouse and in 1969, it became the first
pharmacy chain to use biological refrigerators in all its stores to preserve life-saving medicines.
In 2012, it introduced the first drive-thru pharmacy service in the country in its Ortigas, San Juan
store. Many other firsts in pharmacy retail service have been introduced through the years.
For being the pioneering spirit behind health and wellness retail industry and for
spurring an industry that ensures that high quality medicines are always available within reach of
Filipinos regardless of age or economic class, Mr. Mariano Que was honored in January 2012
as the Father of Philippine Health and Wellness Retailing by the Philippine Retailers Association
and Department of Trade & Industry. Indeed this was the spirit that inspired Mr. Que to start
Mercury Drug. And through the years, the spirit of service has never wavered. Year after year,
Mercury Drug continues to serve the people, committed to its name and its corporate philosophy
of total and speedy customer service: to have what you want, where you want it, when you want
it, how you want it. Mercury Drug also, has the most number of outlets in the Philippines thus
makes it more accessible.
Because of these characteristics of Mercury Drug, it is expected that it will be a great
partner of the company. Now, what is the role of Mercury Drug in the business? Because of the
range of outlets Mercury Drugstore has, it serves as an accessible means for the customers to
purchase the needed medications. The MediCall will compensate the drugstore by referring the
customers to purchase with Mercurys products. In doing so, both the companies will gain profits
and reputation as well.





d. Integrated Marketing Communication Strategy

IMC Objectives and Budget
To develop awareness and to achieve market penetration is the main
objective of the marketing communications to be offered by the firm. Posters and
advertisements are the promotional tools to be used by the company. Posters are
to be posted in or outside the Mercury Drugstore and other selected alliances of
the firm. Media advertisements also will be another one to be used as a
promotional strategy to able to develop brand awareness on the consumers
minds. The consumer promotion elements to be used include26-second TV
advertisement and distribution of posters.



VI. Marketing implementation

Email blasts have been the most effective marketing activity, followed closely by
phone calls and management recommendations. The rank for management
recommendations is surprising, because this isnt normally considered marketing.
However, for effectiveness in marketing of training programs, it clearly has an
impact. Not too surprisingly, print newsletters and inter-office mail are at the bottom
of the list, which seems to be a direct result of the increased reliance on email and
websites. In fact, anything that requires paper or printing is at the bottom half of the
list. These are so because of technological advances. And because of the fact that
MediCall will use advanced technologies, email and phone calls will be the ones to be
use as feedback gatherer and to provide services as well.

VII. Evaluation and Control
a. Formal Controls
Financial resources will be generated from the resources of the company. Since it
is a service business it does not require a lot of expenditure when it comes to the
packaging, financially, more funds are needed for advertising to increase
awareness. The financial resources will come primarily from the current resources
of the company. __% of the capital will be allotted for advertising __% for the
procurement of needed equipment. Customer feedbacks can be monitored through
surveys, using the website in where the customers will answer specific questions,
all the information regarding MediCall will be placed there to test whether there
will be a certain improvement in the strategies used.

b. Informal Controls

To be able to implement and achieved the goal of the service provider,
disciplinary controls must start with the management including
employees. Disciplinary actions among them are necessary. But then, the
management cannot control all the attitudes of his or her employees. Least
the management can do is to create a work environment and supervisory
ineractions that encourage the employees to develop and practice self
discipline. When the employees practice self-discipline, the need for
supervisory intervention or discipline imposed externally, is minimized.
Employees with the inclusion of the agents up to the physicians involved
will be able to develop relationship-building internally and externally.

To achieve this, management should make its expectations clear because
people need to know exactly what is expected of them. If it wants to see
continuous improvement, initiative, and problem solving, let these
employees know. Present the basic job description which is informative,
yet not all encompassing to encourage some flexibility. In addition, it must
spend time with new employees talking about what is important to them
and to the business as well. It is time well-invested. Praising agents can
boost up their confidence to continue or eventually improved their jobs.

Since work is populated by human beings, occasionally staff will
not practice self-discipline. In these instances, address unacceptable
behavior immediately. Almost nothing lowers the morale of your
contributing employees more quickly than seeing inappropriate work
behavior go uncorrected.

c. Marketing Audits

Marketing activities will be monitored based on a broad information
source. Audits can be done achieved through interviews to obtain performance
analysis, internal and external data analysis. Structured interviews will be done
with all managerial positions. The sets of questions for the interview must be
well-planned. Another is the preparation and discussion with the Top
Management. To be able to achieve and gather information for the performance
analysis, data collection and benchmarking shall be made. Assessment of market
research results and integrated marketing system data is done to analyze internal
and external data. The management of pricing, also, issues should be checked.