Phillips International Essay Example for Free

Phillips International Essay Phillips International is exploring the possibility of reorganizing to focus more on its core health care business, Phillips Health. The company has cited two factors in support of this direction. First, the subject of health care has received more and more attention across America in recent years. Second, it has become the main area of growth for Phillips. Because Phillips has made natural supplements a profitable enterprise and Americans are becoming increasingly sceptical of the medical/drugs complex, the company may well be poised to supply a unique increasing demand in America. Positioning  Marketing gurus Jack Trout and Al Reis established the ground-breaking advertising concept of positioning. In their text Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind (McGraw Hill) they outlined what has become pretty much standard practice on Madison Ave. That is, through extensive survey and research establish the image and phrase that fits a creneaux (French for niche) within the mind of consumers. The ideas is to break down identification with a desirable product to a simple image and/or phrase that resonates with the populace. Phillips’ motto Sense and Simplicity could well be the perfect starting point to begin that positioning research. You can walk out on the street and perform your own informal survey. Ask any random working American what they would like to see in a health care system as profit-driven toward cure (as opposed to prevention) and complex as ours and nine times out of ten you will get words attempting to express one that makes sense and is simple to apply. As Phillips has grown by adopting sense and simplicity as its corporate culture and external identifying motto, it makes sense for Phillips to learn and apply the fundamentals of marketing to enhancing that winning hand. The last thing Phillips should want to do is spend vast sums on some big shot advertising firm that tries to make something wholesome and basic into something slick and trendy. It is advised as a first step that those employed within Phillips for marketing, in-house folks, read the basics texts on positioning (including the Trout/Reis) material and engage in their own surveys and research to determine how it might enhance its current marketability without radical changes. If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it. Should Phillips want to engage outside professionals in the future, this initial study and research will put Phillips in a knowledgeable position that will result in maximum results for the least possible cost obtained from those professionals. Proceeding in this fashion will assure Phillips re-inforces, rather than loses, its clear, stable and identifiable position in its customers’ minds, when it embarks on its launching of new companies. Transformation of Health Care  Phillips is interested in continuing to grow to the point it can contribute to, if not lead, a transformation of health care. There are two major hurdles to clear in effectuating such a transformation. The first, Phillips seems quite aware of already. Dr. Julian Whitaker put the problem very succinctly and frankly on Phillips Health’s own web links, Our health press has gotten Dangerously Dumb! Dr. Whitaker perhaps could have generalized more and been as accurate by removing health as adjective before press. Nonetheless, the result is the same. News, health and otherwise, has become so dummied down that any industry that relies on a well educated, relatively well-informed and free-thinking consumer base is fighting an uphill battle. This problem is exacerbated by the second hurdle that placed by the medical establishment and most particularly pharmaceutical manufacturers. No industry has a greater advertising budget. It is so wealthy it also constitutes the most well-heeled lobbying network in Washington and state capitals across the U.  S. The pharmaceutical industry’s plethora of immediate pain relief products (both physical and mental pain) for already existing maladies requires the least understanding on the part of its potential consumers to create want. Therefore their billions in advertising fits hand-in-glove with the short attention span, and dummied down nature, of conventional, modern media. Phillips has experienced some success in clearing those hurdles by way of offering a number of its own more educated health publications. Yet, there is an existing vehicle that Phillips might explore to exponentially increase the reach of it message. That is the alternative media field. There are literally tens of thousands of independent, and in most cases, small local newspapers across America. They have increased in number coincident with the increase of the consolidation of traditional media by corporate take-over. Before Phillips dismisses the idea as an invitation to go counter-culture, it ought to consider four factors. First, alternative is a term that has become increasingly mainstream. Certainly, during the sixties and seventies alternative was easily positioned with counter-culture. But since the eighties and into the new millenium the adjectival alternative has commonly been linked with such mainstream media as country music, comedy, mathematics, education, foods, radio and a host of other American activities and pasttimes. In seeming irony, even ultra conservative talk radio hosts refer to themselves as alternative news. Second, the readership of alternative news publications are predominantly free thinkers; just the population who would be open to purchasing the types of health care products Phillips offers. Third, alternative news outlets are extremely inexpensive to advertise in. Fourth, alternative news publications often consist of contributed material (they cannot afford to retain full time reporters) so they are generally open to news material submitted to them. Particularly, when that news offers insight not available on corporate media. Taking these four factors into consideration, Phillips may want to establish a writing unit that churns out high quality pieces on its wide array of product. The unit would establish a massive mailing list of alternative publications, in addition to straight health publications, that it regularly sends its material out to. You need not limit the work of such a reporting unit to alternative media. There are tens of thousands of local town newspapers that need material, and perhaps surprisingly are open to alternative ideas. Long Term In the long-term, there are other potentially effective avenues of exploration to consider in creating a the transformation of health care. It is recommended Phillips conduct two studies in particular. Only a couple decades ago Chiropractors were widely considered quacks. Four decades ago the AMA and FDA were actively attempting to destroy the practice. Chiropractors, like preventative health supplement suppliers, exchange a service that when practiced responsibly has the capability to preventing serious, debilitating health conditions. Now, Chiropractors are covered on virtually all employee health insurance plans in America. Imagine if the full array of Phillips products, including those taken on a purely preventative basis, were covered in health plans, private and governmental. Ignorance, prejudice, and jealous competition are the only factors in the path of that reality. It is recommended Phillips study the history of Chiropractors to see how this health practice went from outlaw to mainstream in such a short period of time. There may be a number of lessons learned in terms of making a greater number of your products eligible for government support. The second recommended study is of the physical fitness industry. While Phillips Health’s webpage shows an effort to engage the health field generally, it does not show a focus on fitness. Walk into any major gym these days, and you are likely to find an adjoining supplements shop. Natural supplements are discussed regularly among regular gym-goers, and it is a common topic in fitness magazines such as Men’s Health and Men’s Journal. Increasingly, those concerned with their own physical fitness are becoming more holistic in health outlook. They are looking for healthy diets and vitamin and mineral supplements. Many are exercising in the first place because they want to attain the type of health standards many of Phillips’ products are aimed at achieving. From an outsider’s view, the watchword suggested is reinforce your gains. Isolate what you are doing that is right, and redouble that effort. Engage in expansion plans, and achieving visions for transformation, without upsetting your winning strategy.