Samplesplus, an Australia based sampling and marketing service provider for the healthcare sector, is planning to expand its operations to various major metros in India.
The company, which claims to offer cost effective marketing service combining traditional and online channels for promoting healthcare products and services to medical practitioners on behalf of healthcare companies, had opened an office in New Delhi during early 2005.
The company plans to cover around 30,000 GP's in the rest of the country. As part of this, it will soon start operations first at Chennai and then at Mumbai. The company currently provides its services to six Indian Pharma companies, Articon Labs, BioPlasma, Indian Medicines Pharmaceutical Corporation Ltd., John's Lab, Lap Farmacia Ltd., Weller's Lifesciences and Vega Laboratories, with a list of over 30 products in total.
The company is engaged in sampling service for prescription products, non-prescription products, natural medicines, nutritional products, devices and services for medical practitioners. Samplesplus has compiled a General Practitioner's (GP) database with around 8,000 entries from New Delhi, to promote products of its pharma clients through four channels, the traditional channels of direct mail and trade inserts and the online channels of email and web service, revealed company sources.
The company claims that the technique of providing product information and supplying samples through post and online channels will ensure consistent practitioner response through sustained exposure of the brand, unlike in the indirect marketing strategies. It will enable ongoing monitoring and management of programme effectively with regular feedback through detailed reports.
According to Anand Chabra, Regional Franchisee of Samplesplus for the four South Indian states, the company has been established for sampling in Australia with 58 companies in its client list within two years including Eli Lilly, Abbot MediSense, Abbot, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Wyeth, Pfizer, Mayo Healthcare, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Organon, Hamilton etc.
Samplesplus, backed by two Australian healthcare companies eClinic and ePharmacy, had a turnover of Rs. 3 lakh for its first year of operation in India. In its first campaign for 11 products from four pharma companies at New Delhi, the company received 34 per cent response from a total 8500 mailers sent to GPs. The company is planning to launch its second campaign at Delhi, by June 2006, with 15 products in the mailer broacher.
The eClinic is engaged in developing and implementing new ebusiness solutions enabling growing number of medical practitioners and hospitals in Australia and has programmes to provide sampling and information services for healthcare companies. The ePharmacy is Australia's one of the largest online pharmacies providing over 8,000 prescription and OTC healthcare products to patients, said sources.