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 P RE FACE

At the outset, let me narrate an incident I witness most regularly

during coaching and training sessions.
‘Mine is a me-too brand,’ says the exasperated brand manager.
‘Didn’t you say it is a brand? Products can be me-too, brands
can’t,’ I reply.
‘There are over hundred similar brands in the market. There is
no difference between my brand and all those out there. How am
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I supposed to build it? I am in a branded generic market where
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brand building has a minimal scope,’ he/she says.

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‘The minute you refer to them as brands, they cease to be me-too!!

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Every brand has the right to be built into a strong and unique entity,
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even if it is so-called me-too,’ my standard response.

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‘But how?’ he/she asks.

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The answer to this ‘how?’ is the reason behind this book.

Indian health care industry comprises of pharmaceutical, biophar-
maceutical, life science, medical device, diagnostic and health
service companies. It has done an excellent job of improving the
health of patients from India and the world over. It has immensely
contributed to the economy of the country. The industry is valued
at US$33 billion with compound annual growth rate (CAGR)
of 22.4 per cent and is known for its expertise in marketing
generics across the globe. Today, the Indian pharmaceutical indus-
try is known as the ‘pharmacy of the world’ due to its contribution
to the world’s generic market.
Although the industry is present in India as ‘branded generics’, its
focus has been on reverse engineering of blockbuster drugs,

ii The Perfect Pill

 rather than superior branding. Sometimes speed to market takes
such priority that the craft of branding takes a back seat. Although,
technically, branded generics are brands, they are treated more like
generics across the industry.
So undifferentiated are these ‘branded generics’ that one can be
easily replaced by the other. Brand loyalty, a sign of a strong brand,
is mostly missing from the scene. It has been observed that the
minute a medical representative stops reminding the customer
of a brand, the brand sales almost come to a halt. This situation
has enormously increased the pressures on the marketing and
sales teams. Both the top lines and the bottom lines of brands are
getting adversely affected. Although a few brands manage to
stand tall in the market by building a strong connection with the
customers, the rest fight for survival. Companies keep ‘pushing’
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brands to customers, as the brands do not provide any unique value
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to the customers.
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Since these brands have no differentiated benefit for a customer,

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they usually try to increase the overall noise level in doctors’

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chambers to outsmart the competitor. Medical representatives keep

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requesting for prescriptions, and medical practitioners decide to

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oblige. This practice of requests and obligations pushes the brand

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further in the generic zone.

Are doctors happy with such practices? No! These brands create
an unbearable cacophony in their chambers. On average, a doctor
meets 15–20 medical representatives each day. Each medical
representative pesters the doctor for a prescription. Since these
brands have nothing unique to offer, doctors do not see any point
in meeting representatives. More and more doctors are refusing to
meet medical representatives, adding to the woes of the marketing
and sales teams.
What about patients? Are they beneficiaries of these practices?
Not at all. The generic form of marketing does not focus on the
understanding of patients and their needs. The emphasis is more

iii The Perfect Pill

 on pushing brands through doctors’ prescriptions than on creating
patient value.
This is not to say that each and every brand in the country is
promoted as generic. There are quite a few brands in the Indian
health care industry which are built with painstaking efforts. Some
industry veterans and their marketing teams have built some
unique brands in the country, and there is a lot to learn from them.
Although all of them cannot be mentioned, this book draws lessons
from them and compiles them for the industry’s benefit.
Building strong brands has become the need of the hour. The R&D
pipelines are drying up across the Western world. The chances
of a new blockbuster hitting the market each year are reduced
significantly. The Indian health care industry will need to focus
on the same generics and try to get maximum revenues. That can
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happen only if brands are treated as brands, not generics. They
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need to be built on fundamental brand-building principles to stand

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strong in the market.

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The other factor that may force health care companies to change the
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generic mindset is the new emerging patient power. In the new

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digital world, patients want to take health in their own hands. They
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want physicians to give up the one-size-fits-all approach and provide

treatments after understanding the patients’ needs. Physicians, too,
are looking at the industry to offer solutions that will help them cater
to the demands of the patients.
Another factor that will impact the industry’s mindset is the
new 2016 policy of the government that suggests the physicians
to prescribe generics instead of brands, unless the product has
something unique in it. The government, in a way, is telling the
industry to ‘differentiate or die’.
Thus, the health care industry dynamics are forcing marketing
professionals to think of brand and branding more seriously. And
yet, the question is ‘How?’

iv The Perfect Pill

During my 12-year stint at FCB Ulka, the advertising agency behind
some of the most celebrated consumer brands in the country,
I got informally acquainted with many successful consumer brands.
I saw these brands being built over a period of time using some
fundamental brand-building principles. Since I was responsible for
the health care business at the agency, I could apply those principles to
health care brands and, to our satisfaction, the brands often delivered
on the expectations.
During my 25-year-long career, I have been associated with
several health care companies in various capacities. Having worked
on assignments with over 50 flagship brands of the health care
industry, I have realized that there is a solution to the ‘How’ part
of the question. My interactions with industry experts have hugely
contributed to this solution.
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The purpose of this book is to draw out a clear process to elaborate
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on how to build a strong health care brand. The process of building

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strong brands suggested in the book is based on fundamental prin-

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ciples of brand building, learnings from some exceptional national

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and international pharma brands, and my personal experiences and

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understanding.
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STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK

This book is a practical guide to brand building. It is based on
the brand-building principles advocated by marketing and brand
gurus including Philip Kotler, Peter Drucker, J.-N. Kapferer,
Kevin Lane Keller and Indian brand-building experts like
M. G. Parameswaran.
Since these principles are based on consumer industry dynamics,
the book suggests necessary adaptations for successfully apply-
ing them to the health care industry. The book transcends from
the consumer industry to the health care industry with ample
examples.

v The Perfect Pill

 The 10 brand-building steps are divided into 3 parts:
1. Steps 1–4: Know your brand, market, customer and competition.
2. Steps 5 and 6: Arrive at the brand value proposition and brand
articulation.
3. Steps 7–10: Arrive at a strategy, media, metrics and evaluation.
I am sure the process elaborated in the book will help marketing
professionals in building a strong brand by creating a win-win
situation for patients, physicians and health care companies.
The book has the right combination of theoretical concepts and
practical examples to illustrate this point.
The cases discussed in the book are based on my experience
in the pharmaceutical market. Some cases mentioned in the book
are based on my association with the brands. I have chosen only
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those examples that are at least a decade old and have discussed
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only those parts which are in the public domain of pharma world.
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The other examples are based on the information gathered while

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interacting with doctors and patients. I have used my experience

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and hunch to understand the strategy behind it. My earnest request

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to the readers is to see the bigger picture than getting into minute
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details of these examples.

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THIS BOOK IS FOR EVERYONE

The principles and the process elaborated in the book apply to all
genres of health care brands, including branded generics, patented
brands, medical device, surgical brands, quasi-over-the-counter
(OTC) non-prescription brands and OTC brands.
The book is a handy reference guide for brand management teams
in the Indian health care sector. It will be immensely helpful to
marketing professionals or business development managers while
working on a brand strategy or annual operating plan. Sometimes
the external marketing environment changes, forcing brand managers

vi The Perfect Pill

 to respond adequately to the emerging situation. The book provides
guidelines for creating brands that have differentiated benefits. It
offers a systematic process for the ideation of a new brand.
As one of the industry experts opined, this book can be a permanent
fixture on brand managers’ desks.
The medical department that supports the brand management team
will also benefit from the book. Health care marketing must have
a robust medico-marketing base. It is the job of a medical advisor
to provide a strong foundation for a health care brand. The book
highlights the ways in which medical advisors and brand managers
can collaborate for building a robust health care brand.
The strength of a strategy is in its implementation. Unless the sales
and marketing departments are on the same page, no brand can
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succeed in the market. This book would help the sales teams in
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better understanding marketing strategies and implementing them.
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The responsibility of senior management is to inculcate the culture

of brand building in the team. Each chapter of the book has a
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special note for the top management team to achieve this objective.
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The number of business schools offering specialized pharmaceu-

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tical marketing course is increasing. This book will prove to be a

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welcome addition to their library, as it provides a window into the

world of brand management.
In short, this book is for everyone who intends to deal with health
care goods or services.
While coaching brand teams in different pharmaceutical companies,
I often hear marketing teams expressing their need for a book on
the Indian pharma brand building. Here is my humble attempt to
share my understanding of the subject.

vii The Perfect Pill

 A B O U T T HE AU THOR

Gauri Chaudhari is a brand coach, brand strategist and co-founder

of Brand Innerword, a health care brand consultancy.
In a career spanning 25+ years, she has handled assignments in
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health care brand building, marketing and advertising.
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In the past, Gauri has worked in marketing teams of Boehringer

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Mannheim and Knoll Pharmaceuticals and has handled brands

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from multiple portfolios.

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As the head of FCB Ulka Healthcare, she has worked on varied

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genres of health care brands including ethical prescription brands,

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OTC medications, medical devices, surgicals and hospital brands.

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She actively helped in switching some of the Indian pharma

industry’s most celebrated prescription brands to OTC. She has
worked on mass media campaigns including John Hopkins’ and
USAID’s anti-AIDS campaigns in India.
She enjoys teaching and has taught in business schools for two
decades.

viii The Perfect Pill

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ix The Perfect Pill