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Product cover image for GlaxoSmithKline: Prepping for Battle

GlaxoSmithKline: Prepping for Battle

OIivier Kanicki, Kelly Goldsmith

Product #:W45009
Supplier:Ivey
Discipline:Marketing, Strategy
Setting:United States, 2022
Details:Case (PDF) • 15 pages • 2025-06-17

Subjects:

LGBT rightsSales and marketingMarketingStrategy

Industries:

Healthcare sector

Geography:

United StatesNorth America
Your Price:$9.71

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In 2021, the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline plc was considering going beyond its existing line of treatment drugs for HIV and AIDS and enter the pre-exposure prophylaxis segment of the market. The company would be competing against market leading brands by Gilead Science Inc. To position its products against competitors, GlaxoSmithKline plc had to determine how to segment the pre-exposure prophylaxis market and identify its target consumers. Critical decisions were also necessary regarding the product itself (e.g., standard pill form versus innovative injectable form). A thoughtful and careful business decision on the delicate issue of HIV and AIDS treatment was needed, amid a changing and often divided political landscape. How could the company balance a sensitive business strategy with its financial performance objectives.

Learning Objectives

This case is appropriate for undergraduate or graduate-level introductory marketing courses, more advanced courses on marketing new products, and courses on health care marketing. In a first-year core marketing course, the case allows students to conduct a comprehensive analysis of customers, competitors and company competencies. It is particularly suited to illustrating the concepts of segmenting, targeting, and positioning, and can serve as a vehicle to analyze the needs of a second mover entering a new market. The case asks students to consider the three main components of the traditional marketing decision-making process—analysis, formulation, and implementation. They can use the 5Cs analysis to evaluate the market, the STP framework to develop a marketing strategy, and the 4Ps of the marketing mix to implement the marketing strategy. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:
  • Understand the different criteria that can be employed when segmenting a market for an innovative new product or service, with each criteria item producing different opportunities or barriers to adoption of a new product.
  • Show how a market with an existing leader introduces a new layer of segmentation for familiarity and use of the first mover’s brand.
  • Examine the role of possible decision influencers and their impact on new product adoption.
  • Consider the conventional thinking of consumers who are dissatisfied with a current option, making it easier to switch to a competing product.
  • Explore an emerging class of preventative medical treatments and the importance of marketing in this context.
  • Develop the ability for a respectful discussion of business issues with complicated sociopolitical connotations (e.g., stigma related to HIV or AIDS, political polarization of issues rooted in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community).
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Case Study: GlaxoSmithKline: Prepping for Battle (English version) | Ivey Publishing