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Test - Management at Paperpedia

CVS Pharmacy is considering expanding into the UK market but must adapt its marketing mix to be successful. To do so, it needs to understand UK culture and customer expectations which differ from the US. CVS should launch retail stores and partner with a local pharmaceutical firm for distribution to gain customer trust. It should also introduce HealthHUB services in stores, providing personalized healthcare screenings and monitoring, which has not been adopted by UK competitors and could help CVS stand out. Proper market analysis and cultural understanding are keys to a successful international expansion.

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sayan mandal
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153 views

Test - Management at Paperpedia

CVS Pharmacy is considering expanding into the UK market but must adapt its marketing mix to be successful. To do so, it needs to understand UK culture and customer expectations which differ from the US. CVS should launch retail stores and partner with a local pharmaceutical firm for distribution to gain customer trust. It should also introduce HealthHUB services in stores, providing personalized healthcare screenings and monitoring, which has not been adopted by UK competitors and could help CVS stand out. Proper market analysis and cultural understanding are keys to a successful international expansion.

Uploaded by

sayan mandal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What should be CVS Pharmacy’s marketing mix adaptation to enter the UK?

Introduction
In the era of globalisation, companies like CVS Pharmacy have a plethora of opportunities to
boost their revenues by expanding their business in international markets. However, the brands
need to evaluate their existing marketing strategies and make necessary amendments to suit the
target market. So, this study discusses CVS Pharmacy’s marketing mix adaptation to enter the
UK market.
Background and marketing strategy of CVS Pharmacy
An America-based retail brand and CVS Health’s subsidiary, CVS Pharmacy is one of the
largest pharmacy chains in the country. Headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts, the firm has
been operational since 1963 and primarily sells prescription drugs to its customers
(Cvshealth.com, 2021). Along with that, its other products include beauty products, over-the-
counter drugs, cosmetics, beauty products, greeting cards, and many more.
Owing to its unique marketing and product distribution strategies, CVS Pharmacy has generated
an accelerated growth over the years and projects over $304 billion in revenues by the end of
2022 (Healthcarefinancenews.com, 2021). One of the primary marketing strategies of the brand
is “to bring the brand much closer to its customer.” With more than 4.5 million people residing
closer to CVS stores, the brand can make its products more accessible to customers and thereby
increase its sales (Cnbc.com, 2021). Besides that, the brand focuses on continuously expanding
its product portfolio based on changing needs and expectations of customers. For example, in
2019, the brand announced the establishment of nearly 1500 HealthHub that offers monitoring,
screenings, counselling, and options for treatment to the care users (Usatoday.com, 2019).
Strategies like these and others have fuelled brand growth in the last few years.
Marketing Mix Adaptation
Now the question arises: what changes does the company need to make in its marketing
strategies to be successful in UK pharmaceutical market? With existence of multinational giants
like Glaxo Smith Kline, AstraZeneca, and many others, it's important for CVS pharmacy to
establish a stand-out marketing mix to become successful.
Firstly, the brand needs to understand what a UK customer expects from a brand, so
understanding the culture is important. Ewah and Osang (2018) stated that marketers or firms
should not assume that the target market's culture is similar to theirs. Prior to expanding its
business in the UK, it is important for the brand to understand the culture and varying
perceptions of the people there and change its marketing strategies accordingly. One way would
be to survey potential consumers and get to know their preferences or quantify their cultural
orientations using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. As per the views of Beugelsdijk and Welzel
(2018), this framework is utilised to understand the cultural differences between the two
countries. Using the framework, it can be deduced that people in the UK welcome highly
innovative industries and products but tend to maintain certain links with the past while dealing
with present and future challenges. Hence, it’s important for CVS Pharmacy to continually
analyse the needs and demands of the target customers and fulfil them by offering relevant
products.
Nevertheless, the brand has already followed this approach since its inception into the market
and must continue to do so in the future. They also need to integrate new and advanced
technologies to be successful in their strategy (Holmström, 2018). Apart from developing
customer-centric products, the brand should analyse the marketing mix of its competitors and
make necessary amendments to its strategies to stand out in the market. So, here’s the altered
marketing mix of CVS pharmacy:
CVS Pharmacy should start by launching its retail stores in the UK and deliver the products to
the homes of care users. For that, the brand needs to establish an extensive supply chain network
by partnering with a local pharmaceutical firm. Partnering with a local firm also has many other
advantages. Customers who know the local company will trust the products and purchase them,
and CVS pharmacy can gain customers without spending much on marketing. Turkina (2018),
however, stated that factors important in a successful partnership are: trust and sharing similar
values. The US-based brand needs to ensure the local company shares the same vision and values
as theirs.
Along with selling pharmaceutical products, the company should also launch HealthHUB in their
retail stores. According to Wurcel et al. (2019), personalised healthcare services are valued by
people as it enables them to receive a tailored diagnosis and stay healthy. The HealthHUB of
CVS aims to deliver personalised healthcare by screening and to monitor their condition.
Besides, it is a unique approach not yet adopted by the pharmaceutical industries of UK, so there
are high chances of the brand succeeding.
Conclusion
The study concludes that market analysis needs to be a premier step in CVS Pharmacy’s
internationalisation strategy. According to the results, the company should change their existing
strategy. Apart from that, partnering with local agencies and recruiting local employees is also
important to reach the customers in a much better fashion.

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