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Targeted Marketing to Sufferers of Chronic Health Conditions Offers Growth Potential for Manufacturers and Retailers According to IRI Study

Posted on: Tuesday, 12 July 2005, 15:00 CDT

Presence of Chronic Ailments is a Key Driver of Channel Selection and Shopping Behavior

Diet and lifestyle are critical components of consumers' efforts to manage chronic health conditions. From channel selection to product selection, chronic sufferers are strongly influenced by their ailment. This phenomenon provides unique opportunities for manufacturers and retailers throughout the CPG industry to develop relationships with these highly valuable consumer segments while simultaneously driving product sales across categories.

The latest Times & Trends report, "Chronic Disease: Capitalizing on Growth Potential through Patient Marketing," from Information Resources, Inc., the leading global provider of enterprise market information solutions for the CPG, Retail, and Healthcare industries, provides an in-depth assessment of channel and shopping behavior among sufferers of obesity, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Each condition affects a significant percentage of consumers (obesity: 30 percent of adults; high cholesterol: 17 percent of the population; diabetes: 6 percent of the population), enabling segment and sub-segment level analysis of channel selection and purchase behavior. Leveraging high cholesterol as a case study, the assessment reveals critical differences among patient segments within ailment groups as determined by insurance coverage, demographics, and presence of additional ailments.

"The three ailments that we studied for our report--obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes--represent sizeable segments of our population, so the marketing potential is enormous," said Stephen C. Johnson, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Healthcare Solutions Group, IRI. "Our study highlights the ability to develop highly targeted, relevant marketing programs to these consumers by identifying purchasing habits of patient segments within each ailment group, bringing ailment marketing to a whole new level."

Managing Chronic Health Conditions

Diet is a fundamental component of consumers' efforts to manage chronic health conditions. In fact, consumers suffering from obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes are two-to-three times more likely than non-sufferers to follow low-fat, low-sugar and low-carbohydrate diets. These consumers are prime targets for manufacturers and retailers marketing products with specific dietary benefits.

Since three-quarters of consumers with high cholesterol and diabetes manage their conditions with ongoing prescription medications, pharmacies provide a solid cornerstone for marketing programs targeting these groups. In contrast, a relatively small number of obesity sufferers use prescription medicine to control their condition, so programs targeting this segment should be based in the front end of the store. All patient marketing programs should go beyond product marketing to include relationship-building educational information and reference materials.

Category Opportunity

A large number of chronic ailment sufferers purchase categories with disease management benefits, such as low-calorie soft drinks, vitamins and minerals. However, because these consumers also make room for more indulgent foods and beverages, marketing efforts should reflect the whole shopping basket and not be limited to products with disease management characteristics.

IRI's analysis revealed that category opportunity varies across patient segments within each ailment group. For example, male sufferers of high cholesterol are much more likely than their female counterparts to purchase heart healthy products, such as fresh-cut salads and snack nuts. But, they will also purchase more indulgences, such as cookies and frozen novelties. In addition, uninsured high-cholesterol sufferers are significantly less likely than those who are insured to purchase heart healthy products. Programs addressing these differences will have broader and deeper reach versus traditional "one-size-fits-all" marketing programs.

Channel Trends

Because a large proportion of high cholesterol and diabetes sufferers treat their conditions with frequently-filled prescription medications, retailers who fill these prescriptions have a potentially huge advantage in capturing sales throughout their stores. Drug stores currently hold the largest number of transactions among these consumers, and while the channel has secured a higher share of CPG spending among sufferers versus non-sufferers, the upside potential through cross-marketing efforts is substantial. Other channels should heavily market their pharmacy services to attract high cholesterol and diabetes sufferers.

Mail order represents a large and growing threat to traditional pharmacies among chronic ailment sufferers. Capturing 14 percent of cholesterol prescription transactions and 15 percent of diabetes transactions, the mail order channel has made significant inroads in prescriptions for chronic conditions, particularly among senior consumers. Traditional pharmacies have opportunities to protect and grow share through targeted marketing programs that offer one-stop shopping for all disease management needs.

About the Report

Findings presented in Times & Trends: "Chronic Disease: Capitalizing on Growth Potential through Patient Marketing," are based upon an extensive analysis of consumer data from multiple IRI sources including the Consumer Network(TM) Household Panel, the MedProfiler(TM) Health & Wellness Survey and the IRI RxPulse(R) Patient Panel. For an in-depth view of the report, click on http://www.infores.com/public/us/newsEvents/thoughtleadership/tt_issue _june_05.pdf (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)

About Information Resources, Inc.

Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) is the leading global provider of enterprise market information solutions for the CPG, Retail and Healthcare industries. IRI is the first company to leverage the power of real-time market information, advanced analytic insights, and enterprise performance management technology to improve the profitability and operational effectiveness of the world's leading CPG, retail and healthcare companies. The Company uniquely provides a total view of the market, enabling maximum business performance throughout the enterprise. IRI's solutions make the consumer-driven, real-time enterprise possible. More information is available at www.infores.com.

Source: Business Wire

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