Query:
I started my company in 2010, apart from general ups and downs my company is doing well. I am regular reader of your blog and I really want to appreciate that your blog is very informative and useful. I have a question to ask, as it’s been almost 6 six years I am running my business successfully (with my own registered brands, only prescription based ethical sale in west and north Delhi.
My question is “How a brand is set in the market”? How much time it takes to settle a brand in a particular area if the sale is good?
Response:
Selling and Branding is two different terms used in marketing and sales. Selling is to sell any product to opposite person while branding is to make presence in minds of customers so when they require these type of product, they always ask about your product from retailer.
For making a brand, you have to invest time and money to tell people about yours products trade name, its use, what is the benefits of it, how it can change their life, how can they feel special with it or it is superior in all aspects from its competitor brands. ‘How does a brand settle in market?’ we will discuss below.
First discuss about time period. There isn’t any time limit when we can
say any brand can settle into market. A brand requires continue effort to stand it in market. Once you leave to work, your brand will start to decline in market. Its competitive market and at any level, we can’t say our brand has been set into market. So keep continues effort to take it next level.
Branding takes time, money and involvement. Giving advertisement at electronic media, paper media or internet is not just Branding, it’s beyond all these. We call a trade name as Brand when people start to discuss about it, they remember its name when they need this type of product.
For building brands, we have to create involvement of our customers in product development, uses, advertisement etc. Brand doesn’t sell itself but people purchase it. Brand becomes habits.
Customers feel half-filled without their favorite brands. Brand provides education, teaching, knowledge and benefits of particular thing. Brand doesn’t tell anyone to purchase itself, but provide value to customer’s life.
In respect of this value customer purchase it. Most recent Brand icon is
Patanjali. Patanjali creates a mind set of natural products, side effect free products etc and become brand.
Many big brands create their presence by providing freebies or solving people suffering. When cola drinks entered into Indian market, they used to distribute free at railway, bus stands to create habit of its taste. After some time when people started to use it and become habitual they started to make profit from it.
They created a mind set in their customers that cola drinks can provide permanent relief in summer heat or they attach it with courage, risk, frankness etc. They create it as status symbol and replace all traditional products from market. Likewise when a famous Shoe brand entered into market, they elaborated health benefits of running.
In pharmaceutical sector, there is different way to set a trade name as Brand.
Pharmaceutical products are used for prevention, cure of treatment of
any disease and condition. They are not related to luxury or status. They
become brand by creating trust in mindset of user only. Doctor is most
trustworthy person in healthcare system. People believe them like God. When they prescribe or recommend any thing, people start to follow it.
In pharmaceutical and healthcare sector Brands is created with combinations of advertisement, knowledge, free distribution health camps, education, and doctors.
(We are not disclosing brand name for preventing any misconduct, only initial letter is indicating) Look at example of Vo—(Very Famous pain relief gel). Vo— doesn’t become brand only through Advertisement. Doctor’s involvement also play important role in establishing it as brand. It was the combination of above methods. Company promoted it as Doctor’s trusted and self used brand. From one side company promoted it through all media & advertisement channels and
from other side company concentrate at doctor’s prescription. It makes presence in all Doctors, healthcare professionals and customers’ mind-set.
Co—–(Famous Toothpaste name) does the same. Along with heavy budget at advertisement, Co—– provides the sample to dentist. Sponsors dental check-up camps and inspire them to prescribe Co—– to users. Advertisement creates presence in customer mind where as prescription build trust in customer. Along with time people started to consider it superior as compare to its competitors.
How to build a brand:
Branding is most difficult thing for any business. Branding is prime motive for every business, company or product. But question arises how can a trade name become brand? Is there any method or way to build a brand? What are the steps to establish a Trade name as Brand?
Every expert will have his own opinion and number of article has been written at this topic. Branding requires either time or money or both. It’s not an overnight process. Process of branding is one way process. You have to invest your time and money without knowing you will become brand or not. It’s like a sale campaign, you do it to increase sale but you
don’t know how much it becomes successful. There is not guaranteed success but practice makes a person perfect and company strategy too.
No one can predict how much time any product’s name will take to become Brand. It may take less than six month or more than six years or much more. It depends at usefulness, uniqueness, application, uses, availability and many other factors. Marketing Guru’s always talk about
5P’s strategy to become successful in marketing. 5P’s means Product, Price, Promotion, Place and People. Company or person must concentrate at these 5P’s for Branding.
Before entering into brand building, you must ensure about 5P’s before taking further step.
Few methods for Building Brand in Pharmaceuticals
Sector:
Doctor’s Prescription:
Doctor’s prescription is account of nearly 90% of sale in Pharmaceutical sector. That’s why we account it as first position in brand building. Whether a product is prescription, OTC or herbal/ayurvedic, personnel care or nutrition, doctor’s recommendation make it compulsory for consumer to purchase it. And secondly Schedule H drugs can’t be sell-out
without prescription. Many healthcare products’ advertisement is based at doctor’s recommendation.
For becoming Brand you have to capture attention and make presence in their mind set. Along with sale, prescriptions also create a trust about product in consumer’s mind. Way to generation prescription in detail read here
Free Sampling and Health Check-UP camps:
Free sampling and Health check-up camps play important role in brand building. Healthcare/medical check-up camps provide two benefits: One, your product will reach to consumer’s home and second, it will become
trusty in eyes of customer as it is recommended by Doctor’s. Once it has been used by customers, it will be asked to retail counters by many customers. It is starting of any brand formation. At this step, you have to ensure that product should be available at counter where these customers can go to purchase it. Availability of your product at that level create a difference in further processing.
Promotion and Advertisements (Electronic/Print media etc):
There is many ways of advertisement in pharmaceutical market. OTC products can be advertised through any form of media. Concentrate at best suitable form of advertisement. Promotion in pharmaceutical sector can be done by way of generating awareness about any particular disease or condition or by advertisement at medical books/news papers/electronic advertisement etc. As we discussed above about few well known brand, advertisement specially visualization create an impact at mind-set of healthcare professionals as well as customers. If a person sees an advertisement and same time a healthcare professional recommend it to him. It build double trust and differentiate it from competitors.
Sponsor’s Seminars and Activities:
Sponsoring seminars create attention about any product or company. It becomes matter of discussion in professional world. Once all professionals become aware about any product or company, they start to
spread word about product or company. It also makes presence in news and social media. Sponsorship is quick way to make presence in professional world.
Easy Availability and easy customer reach:
Availability is most important part in branding. You invest time and money at above activities and when consumer goes to retail counter and he doesn’t find your product there, yours all efforts result into zero. Once he will return empty handed, there is minimum chances he will ask next time about your brand. Before all above activities, work at ground level for adequate and sustain availability. Proper distribution and supply chain is must for ensuring availability of product. Read in detail about building strong distribution channel.
Best results and Uses:
You can sell a product once or twice to any person but it doesn’t provide him benefits, he will not purchase it regular basis. Until it provides any benefits to end use, it can’t become Brand. It can’t build trust in user’s mind.
Customer Support and services:
When a product will be entered into market, many issue/queries will be raised. You should have strong back hand to solve problems arise time to time.
Throughout discussion, we discussed about many well known brands and rise of their branding journey. Branding doesn’t always require money. Many times product or service requires only such quality that can solve any problem and make life easy. Due to this quality it becomes habit of its customers and replaces old product or service. It solves its customer’s difficulty and problem. Most famous example of this type of brands is Whats App. It replaces old massaging and way to chat. These types of products neither require time nor money to become brand.
In pharmaceutical market, innovation and creating new & unique products is basis of Branding. Unique and innovative products are of well accepted and prescribed by doctors. Doctors and healthcare professionals are keen of innovative products. Stockiest and retailer are also like new products. Negligible competition and demand take you at next level.
Before launching any product, consider 5Ps Factors:
Product: Trade Name Packaging Quality
Promotion: Sampling/Literature/Detailing Medical/Healthcare/Drug Books Seminars/Sponsors Advertisement
Price: Competitive Prices Adequate Margin of company and supply chain
People: Medical Representative and Marketing Staff Representative should understand Market strength and prescription habit of patients Team Work
Place: Regular Availability and Adequate stocking Easy Availability to customer
Hope above information is useful to you. For any query & suggestion, mail us at pharmafranchiseehelp@gmail.com