Meryl Squires founded Merix Pharmaceutical Corp. in 1998 after developing Releev, a cold sore treatment.
Despite being a small player in a market dominated by huge, multinational corporations, Squires has succeeded by focusing on two strategies.
* Product and company integrity. Squires has gone to great lengths to protect the integrity of her product and her company. She has maintained the integrity of her product by using only the highest-quality vendors and packaging despite pressure to make changes in order to generate higher profits.
Squires only conducts business with corporate customers that share her ideas of fair and ethical business practices. She holds a strong belief that by keeping her word and negotiating fair deals, profits will follow. By maintaining a high level of integrity, Squires has been able to build strong relationships and loyalty with her vendors and her customers.
* Effective advertising. When putting her product on the market, Squires placed herself in the position of consumer. The most effective strategy she used was to advertise her product on the radio just before the weather and traffic report.
As a seasoned commuter, Squires knew she could reach a significant number of consumers during that time slot, and the sales resulting from the radio advertising well surpassed the costs of the advertisement. She has used strategic advertising methods to generate significant returns from relatively low costs.
