Medtronic, Inc. Marketing Plan

Background and Goals Medtronic Inc is the leading medical technology company in the world, controlling more than half of the world’s annual revenue on the heart-pacing market (Anonymous, 2010). Its headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minnesota and it operates in over 120 countries.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Medtronic, Inc. Marketing Plan specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In addition, around sixty-six percent of its revenue is generated locally, twenty percent in Europe, ten percent in the pacific Asia and the remaining percentage in the rest of the world. As it expanded, the firm employed Picker International Corporation of White Plains, New York to assist in running the business internationally. The founder of Medtronic Inc was an electrical engineer a profession that boosted his knowledge on specializing in medical devices. He established the company by specializing in pace making which has taken Medtr onic to very high heights (Anonymous, 2010). Medtronic is a manufacturer of diversified and exclusive medical equipment, which are capable of handling any medical complication. It continues to develop better and advanced equipment in order to maintain its top position. Moreover, the firm has recently developed Combo Insulin Pump and Glucose Monitor for Diabetes, which is the best device for managing diabetes in the world. Since Medtronic is a world-class company, it aims at coming up with a marketing plan that will enable it do extensive sales in the whole world. The first step is to identify a country whereby its sales can pick significantly. Medtronic objective To ensure that every person on this earth has an opportunity to live as healthy, innovative, creative, and successful lives as they can. Combo Insulin Pump and Glucose Monitor for Diabetes For a long time, patients with diabetes have been facing acute challenges in treating and managing their insulin levels due to lack of p roper devices. The devices Medtronic made would help the patients but were not as effective.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Diabetic patients would have their live revolve around treating the disease which involved boiling of the syringes, sharpening needles, injecting animal-based insulin formulations, checking on the diet and doing exercise. Maintaining unpredictable glucose levels has been challenging and no single and portable device was available in the market. Patients had to carry a combination of devices for checking glucose levels and injecting insulin (Fowler, 2009). Minneapolis-based medical technology company Medtronic, Inc. has however developed an Insulin Pump and Continuous Glucose Monitoring System which, integrates a glucose meter and an insulin pump with a dose calculator into one device. The device combines an insulin pump with a glucose monitor, facilita tes data interchange between the two and FDA has cleared and approved the product. The device operates day and night and in case glucose levels gets dangerously low or high, it sounds or vibrates an alarm thus giving the patients confidence of leading a healthy life (Dave, 2010). The device is meant to enable people to manage their diabetes more conveniently and give them confidence of day to day healthy living. This is because the patient is aware of what is exactly happening in his body instead of doing guesswork with only a couple of finger sticks. The new device is around as three times as effective as standard therapy (David, 2010). The integrated device can be used in hospitals, clinical and medical research laboratories, blood and plasma collection centers, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, doctors’ offices and by patients at home under physician supervision. Medtronic, Inc. Marketing Plan Having come up with a diabetic device that will ease the daily lives of the patients, Medtronic, Inc has a full opportunity in the USA and outside the country. Apart from the local market, which assures Medtronic more than sixty percent of its annual revenue, the best foreign country for Medtronic to establish extensive market for its new device would be the United Kingdom.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Medtronic, Inc. Marketing Plan specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More United Kingdom is located in Europe and Statistics show that the second best market for Medtronic, Inc devices lies in Europe. This is because sixty-six percent of Medtronic’s annual revenue is generated locally and the next twenty percent is generated from Europe. Coupled with the fact that UK is ranked position three in the list of obese population, then it will be a potential market for Combo Insulin Pump and Glucose Monitor (Anonymous, 2010). Let us compare the UK and the US market with some potential markets i n the world.    Country Comparison      Mexico The level of poverty in Mexico does not allow it to make a good market for Medtronic diabetic devices. The US-Mexico borders mark the highest population with diabetes in Mexico. By 1997, diabetes was the leading cause of death among the Mexican community at the border whereby the mortality rate was 50% higher than the rest of the country. However, the living environment in Mexico makes it hard for the population to obtain medical attention. This is characterized by rapidly growing population, poor infrastructure, high uninformed and armed patrols instilling fear to the people, over concentration by the government on control of drug cartels, which sums up to poverty (Zazworsky Gaubeca, 2005).      Slovakia Slovakia can make a good market for the diabetes devices manufactured by Medtronics, Inc since it is located in one of the companies’ best market. It also has a large population suffering from diabet es thus the demand can be high. However, the population is slightly lower than that of the UK making UK a better market.      Greece Greece is ranked position five in percentage of people suffering from obesity. It has a potential market for obesity devices due to the high population suffering from the disease but the biggest challenge is the public administration system. This problem has been outstanding for a long time and has adverse effects on health care system. There is no tradition of preparing public health reports and this may hinder effective marketing of Combo Insulin Pump and Glucose Monitor in the country (Ritsatakis, WHO Maka, 2009, pg 106). Marketing Plan Budget Proposal We have met with our accounting department and have been the approval of budgeting 2.5 million dollars towards this new plan. Our advertising and research teams have come up with a time limit of one year to implement all of the areas we will communicate this to our distributors and to t he customers. The budget is mainly meant to create awareness of the new product in the market through advertisement. Due to the availability of technology and the benefits of globalization, advertisement will be done through Billboards, Online, Newspaper, website, Brochures, CD’s, Trade Shows, and Conventions Events Money Budget Newspaper costs ($1,200,000) Trade Shows/Conventions/Events ($250,000) Direct e-mail costs ($250,000) Brochures/CD’s ($300,000) Billboards ($450,000) Hidden Costs ($100,000) Time budget January through April- Begin sending literature and doing extensive advertisement in the United Kingdom along with a calendar of events for upcoming trade shows, events and conventions. May- Largest trade show will be set up for both presentations and workshops in the US. All distributors and any team leaders that can will be available.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More June- The trade fair will now take place in UK July through September- Extensive marketing in the UK October through December- Constant monitoring by departments will also be done. Final Evaluation At the end of six months, we will evaluate how well our plan is doing by looking at sales and expenditures. At this time, we will also look at how smoothly the shipping is being done and how effective the shows are. We will also have our team leaders meet with the distributors at a gathered meeting evaluate how sales are moving. SWOT analysis Strength- The new device has combined all the important aspects in to one unit making it portable and suitable to the patients. Weakness- It can be hard to convince people to drop their old ways of managing diabetes and apply the new device Opportunity- The rates of diabetes population in the world is very high thus there is a ready market for the new device Threats – New culture, shipping to a new country, makes product known and used. Maki ng sure, we communicate the product to a new country in a way that will make it desirable. Conclusion After doing enough evaluation and reconnaissance, we have decided to begin our marketing in the UK since due to the bigger market and few marketing challenges. UK has been a good market for the rest of our products and it will probably be for the new diabetic product. By the end of the year, we will have established the product at home, in the UK and we will be ready to venture the rest of the world. However, the local market remains the leading consumer since the local people have more confidence with Medtronic and competition is not as high as in foreign countries. References Anonymous. (2010). Medtronic, Inc. – Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Medtronic, Inc. Web. Dave, G. (2010). FDA Approves World’s First Combo Insulin Pump And Glucose Monitor For Diabetes; Device Alerts Users When Glucose Gets Too High Or Low. Web. David, O. (2010). Medtronic Device Beats Finger Stick in Diabetes Study. Web. Fowler, M. (2009). Diabetes Devices. Web. Ritsatakis, A., WHO Maka, P. (2009). Gaining Health. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office Europe. Web. Zazworsky, D. Gaubeca, V. (2005). Handbook of diabetes management. Moscow: Birkhà ¤user. Web. This essay on Medtronic, Inc. Marketing Plan was written and submitted by user Asia Lott to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.