Introduction

Population Services International concluded an agreement with the government of Bangladesh to carry
out a Social Marketing Project (SMP) to help control the population explosion which was an ongoing
problem in LDCs (Less developed countries). Philip Harvey, board member of PSI, was involved in
strategic decisions. Robert Ciszewski, executive director of PSI, handled the day to day affairs. William
Schellstede was the current project advisor at Bangladesh. The SMP marketed two products: Raja brand
condoms and Maya brand oral contraceptives with similar marketing strategies.

While Raja condoms saw a sales boom, Maya pills were not well received by the people of Bangladesh.

Problem Statement

IN WHAT WAYS CAN Robert Ciszewski, William Schellstede AND Philip Harvey PRESENT A VIABLE MARKETING
STRATEGY IN FRONT OF THE BOARD TO INCREASE THE DECLINING SALES OF MAYA

The failure of Maya can be explained using the marketing mix

Product Lack of product awareness among Rural Medical Practioners and target consumers (women)

Contraceptives pills are perceived as a powerful drug to be consumed only under medical supervision,
which was lacking in this case.

Maya was perceived as an inferior drug and many doctors advised their patients to discontinue Maya, as
they thought it was the reason for their illness.

Price The subsidized price of Maya contributed to its cheap image. The doctors thought Maya pills to
be of lower quality. Competitors like Ovastat, which were prices 10 times higher than Maya were
preferred owing to their high quality image.

Place- Maya was extensively sold in Pan stores, but women preferred to make and consume pan in
private which made the product less available to women.

Promotion- Majority of promotion was through newspapers (25%), although the literacy rate among
women was 12%.

80% of the products for women were bought by men, but the promotion strategy did not target men as
the consumers of Maya.

The marketing strategy completely avoided doctors and RMPs, so there was reluctance in prescribing
Maya by them.

Evaluation of alternatives

Robert Ciszewski suggested that Maya should be discontinued altogether and start from scratch with a
new brand name, a new consumer segment and a communications program.

However, William Schellstede suggested that they should devise an action plan for improving the sales
on Maya.
 Alternatives Initial cost People reach Brand value Advertising and
involved Marketing cost

Rebranding High High High High

Increased Price Low High High Constant

Target RMPs High High High Constant

Status Quo + High High High High

Advertising

Increase the price of Maya so that it acts as an incentive to the retailers. Other brands offer a margin as
high as 16 times than that of Maya.

Target RMPs and local doctors. Since they fear losing out their businesses to Maya, they discourage
people from using it. Instead, if PSI collaborates with RMPs, they might be of great help.

Change in Advertising strategy

Alternative 1: Rebranding

Dismantling Maya altogether and recreating a new product can be PSIs method to revive itself from
the debacle it initially faced while promoting Maya.
By creating a new product, PSI would like to target a different market segment, improve its brand image
by adopting a different marketing strategy.
Market Segment- 80% of the household products were purchased by men. The rural areas had no
pharmacies or medicine stores, so PSI targeted local pan shops for retailing their contraceptive products.
Now since women couldnt go to a pan shop (which was usually flooded by men) to buy pills, PSI must
look to target men.

Brand Name- Mayas image was hampered when RMPs started discouraging women from using it as
they claimed it had several side effects. So by launching the product with a new name would ensure that
the negative impact of Maya gets nullified by this new product.

Marketing Strategy- PSI advertises its products through various channels, the highest share being
through newspaper advertising (25%). On the other hand, Bangladesh had only 12% literate population
of females. Hence it was an ineffective way of marketing Maya among the females.
Alternative 2: Increased Price

PSI used the following supply chain to distribute the products-

Wholesalers to large stores, pharmacies and semi wholesalers

Semi wholesalers to an shops and small general stores (retailers)

The retailers would sell those products which fetches them a higher margin on sales. Maya was priced
lower than most of its competitors. Infact the retailers earned a margin as high as 16 times on other
products than that on Maya. So increasing its selling price would act as an incentive to the retailers
and encourage them to sell more.

Alternative 3: Target RMPs

Rural medical Practitioners (RMP) constituted 80% of the total population of doctors. They served 91%
of the Bangladeshi Population, so clearly, they were an important source of contact to the target
customers. But to PSIs disadvantage, these RMPs and other local medical practitioners discouraged
women from using the pills as they claimed that the pills had several side effects. Hence, PSI should turn
their rivals into partners by retaling Maya trough them.

Alternative 4: Status Quo + Advertising Strategy

PSI should continue its business operations for Maya in the manner it has been doing until now and
keep focusing on promoting Raja, as it proved a huge success in the country.
To boost Mayas sales, by not incurring much additional overheads, PSI can change its marketing
strategy. PSI advertises its products through various channels, the highest share being through
newspaper advertising (25%). On the other hand, Bangladesh had only 12% literate population of
females. Hence it was an ineffective way of marketing Maya among the females.

On evaluating the above mentioned alternatives on the basis of the mentioned criteria, we deduce that
increasing the selling price of Maya and targeting the RMPs are the most viable options.

On further evaluating these two alternatives, it is observed that since Increased Price involves no cost
or investment, it seems the most viable option. But in no way will it help to revive the image of Maya
which was hampered by RMPs and local medical practioners.

On the other hand, though Targeting RMPs involves some initial cost but since they are the only
source of contact with the target consumers of Maya, PSI must collaborate with them so that they
dont further decrease Mayas image.