Brand management of pharmaceutical enterprises under a large-scale crisis

Abstract

With the beginning of hostilities, all pharmaceutical companies were forced to suspend their marketing activities. But from April-May 2022, promotional activities began to resume. The presented analysis of the phar­maceutical market of Ukraine for 2022 using the example of two groups of drugs – prescription and over-the-counter (according to the analy­tical system of market research PharmXplorer"/"Pharm­standard") shows that significant oppor­tunities have opened up for those pharma­ceutical companies that have timely resumed marketing activities with brand promotion. Under these conditions, timely response to new challenges, promptness and flexibility in making marketing decisions become the main tasks of the functioning of the brand management system. It is those brands whose managers realize that promotion in wartime is both a risk and an opportunity at the same time, will become trendy, will be able to optimize efforts and find non-standard solutions for positioning and promotion. The aim of the research was to analyze whether the military situation affected the development of the pharmaceutical market of Ukraine and to determine the main strategic decisions in the brand management system to increase the efficiency of the functioning of pharmaceutical business enterprises. Using such methods as generalization, analysis and synthesis, comparison, tabular and graphic representation, it was found that despite the negative impact of the war, the demand for medicines remains high. However, the efficiency of enterprises is determined by the chosen marketing strategy. Therefore, correction, adap­tation and rapid response to market needs are important for pharmaceutical business enter­prises in wartime. For this, it is important for pharmaceutical companies to take a clear social position and adjust their promotional efforts according to changes in consumer priorities. At the same time, it is advisable to constantly plan and implement marketing activities for the promotion of brands. This also applies to drugs – almost every brand can be replaced by another generic drug. Timely restoration and continuation of promotional activity of brands in the conditions of martial law is, on the one hand, a marketing challenge, but, as the results of last year show, it is also a great opportunity to gain a leadership position and strengthen the brand’s consumer loyalty.