Abstract

In 2006, Pfizer, Inc., the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, was facing a big challenge in sustaining the sales of its cash cow Lipitor. Though the marketing of Lipitor had attracted criticism and many lawsuits, Pfizer’s marketing muscle had ensured that Lipitor was the highest selling drug in history with sales of US$12.19 in 2005. However, the problem for Lipitor in 2006 was sustaining the high sales of the brand and fuel further growth as it faced intensified generic competition as two of its main competitor drugs went off patent. Among other initiatives, Pfizer banked heavily on its strategic move of getting Robert Jarvik (a medical scientist who is better known as the inventor of the artificial heart) as its brand ambassador.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the issues and challenges in sustaining the sales of a cash cow
• Under-stand the pros and cons of using celebrities to endorse a brand in general, and specifically with regard to prescription drug
• Understand the challenges in ethical marketing and promotional practices for pharmaceutical companies, and explore ways in which pharmaceutical companies could achieve a balance between commercial interests and ethical considerations
• Understand the rea-sons behind the controversy over the Lipitor ad campaign involving Jarvik and the reasons that prompted Pfizer to pull back the campaign
• and This case is meant for MBA/MS students as a part of the Product Management/ Marketing Management curriculum.

Keywords

Marketing, Advertising, DTC advertising, Ethical selling, Ethical marketing, Celebrity endorsement, Off-label promotion, Generic competition, Cash cow, Pharmaceutical, Robert Jarvik, Pfizer, Lipitor