What "big Pharma" Can Teach You About Niche Marketing
By Jeremy Hoover, Sat Dec 10th
A recent newspaper review of a new book, Selling Sickness, gotme thinking about niche marketing (The Globe and Mail, Saturday,August 6, 2005, D8-D9). The book in question considers casestudies that purport to show how “Big Pharma” (the entirepharmaceutical industry, from manufacturers to drug salespeople)manipulates data to “create” a disease that they have the “cure”for.
Regardless of how one feels about the pharmaceutical industry,the book does demonstrate one thing—the ability of this industryto correctly identify small-but-profitable niches and exploitthem for huge profits. The book, as indicated by the reviewer,identified a “familiar pattern” for the “selling of sickness”:
A pharmaceutical company identifies a wedge condition, set ofsymptoms, or “risk factors”; hires a PR firm to come up with a“disease” name, ideally something catchy with a pronounceableacronym (e.g., SAD); develops a drug, or adapts an existing one,to tout as a “fix” for this new medical problem; and beginsmassive marketing to physicians and the public. The media pickup the story, suggesting that the “new” disease is greatlyundiagnosed/undertreated; the market expands; drugs sales rise.And voila! Another blockbuster is born. (Direct quote from thereview)
Do you see the building blocks for a niche business in thisdescription? Following Big Pharma’s lead can help you begin asmall niche business and grow it into a financial success.Simply follow these steps:
1. Within your industry, identify a “wedge” that you can target.2. Create a fancy way of describing the number one problem yourproduct or service solves; make it stand out from any other sitethat offers the same thing. 3. Demonstrate, by way of strongbenefits, how your product or service will solve the problem. 4.Tailor your marketing efforts to your “wedge” by these means. 5.As your marketing catches on, you will grow from marketing tojust a “wedge” to marketing on a larger scale. 6. Voila! Youhave your own niche blockbuster business!
Such a process certainly takes time, but these 6 steps provide asolid foundation for any niche business to gain a foothold andgrow into a success.
About the author:Jeremy M. Hoover is an online article and contentwriter. If you need articles for promotion or for yourwebsite, contact Jeremy at his website, www.jhooverwebcopy.com .Read more marketing articles by Jeremy at his blog,www.jhooverwebcopy.blogspot.com .
