In a pharmaceutical branded generic market, it is easy for a brand to be “doing a lot” but not making progress.
There may be a brand plan, periodic campaigns, scientific programmes, HCP meetings and a long list of other activities. But sales are erratic, every move by competition hurts your brand, and competitor price is what is talked about most during sales review meetings.
Having worked in branded generic markets in India and other emerging markets, I know this is a recurring challenge for pharma and healthcare business leaders. Yet it is critical to building a successful brand.
So, let me walk you through this - and how I have approached solving it.
Firstly, to dig deeper, ask a simple question:
What does the HCP actually remember the brand for?
In many cases, the answer is not very clear. Which means the product is not differentiated.
If the HCP cannot say what the brand stands for, is it really a brand or just another product?
This is the challenge of building brands in a crowded, competitive branded generic market like India. There are usually several products with the same molecule, similar evidence and similar claims. The product itself may offer very little that is genuinely different.
There is a common misconception that differentiation requires a unique product. In branded generic markets, that is often unrealistic.
The challenge is not whether the product itself is completely different.
The challenge is whether the brand can create a distinct and meaningful association in the HCP's mind.
And, differentiation certainly cannot come simply from having more things to say.
It comes from making clear choices about what the brand can credibly own, what is valuable to the HCP, and where the brand can create a meaningful difference - and then putting the organisation's resources behind those choices.
How does Marketing do this?
A strong brand plan needs a consistent strategic template - incorporating market analysis and clear choices on where to play and how to win.
The good news is that successful differentiation is usually less complicated than teams imagine.
The goal should not be creating dozens of new initiatives. In fact, it is usually just the opposite. The effort should be about making the right strategic choices and then aligning the organisation behind them.
Specific to differentiation, there are three areas that can make all the difference.
1. Find the Space You Can Own
Across industries - whether luxury, FMCG, consumer durables or healthcare - successful brands occupy a space in the customer's mind. It may be built around quality, value, safety, convenience or any other attribute that is meaningful to the customer.
Pharma is no different.
So, what “space” can your brand credibly own in the HCP's mind?
The answer does not come from simply choosing an attractive attribute.
There may be several positive attributes of the brand and several potential USPs. The task is to understand which of these can occupy a meaningful space with the HCP - one that is valuable to the HCP, relevant to the brand and not already strongly owned by competition.
Once this opportunity is identified, the selected USP becomes the basis for building the positioning, strategic communication and programmes that can progressively establish that space in the HCP's mind.
2. Choose Where You Want to Influence Preference
An HCP's decision is not made at one single point in the patient journey. There are different points where a brand can potentially influence the decision.
But trying to influence all of them is unlikely to make the brand stronger.
Make a choice.
For a branded generic, brand choice will naturally be an important strategic lever — communicating why the HCP should choose your brand over competing options. However, we may need to do more to support that. There may be one other point in the journey that is particularly relevant to the brand - perhaps helping the HCP with counselling during discussions with the patient, creating patient awareness even before they reach the clinic and so on.
The point is not to cover every possible lever. It is to understand which part of the journey matters most for the brand - and focus on where it can make the greatest difference to preference.
The strategic lever should therefore help build the space we want the brand to own, rather than take the brand in a different direction. This will also help create the space in the HCP’s mind more effectively.
3. Make the Execution Reflect the Strategy
This is where many good brand strategies lose their impact.
The positioning may be clear. The USP may be strong. But then communication starts saying different things. New programmes are added. Activities multiply - often in different directions.
The brand is doing more. But it is not necessarily becoming more distinctive.
Every communication is an opportunity to reinforce the strategy. Every HCP interaction is an opportunity to strengthen the chosen association.
The same applies to programmes - scientific programmes, HCP meetings, advisory boards, patient awareness initiatives and others.
For every communication piece, every activity, every tactic, the question should be:
“Will this help strengthen the reason we want this HCP to prefer our brand?”
If it does, do it.
If it doesn't, why are we doing it?
In conclusion, the Real Challenge Is Focus
In a branded generic market, differentiation is not about having more claims, more programmes or more activities. It is about making a few important choices - and having the discipline to stick with them.
Find the Space -What can we credibly own?
Choose Where to Influence - Where can we build preference?
Make Execution Reflect the Strategy - How do we consistently build it?
The mission is simple: concentrate the brand's strategy, communication and resources around what will actually create preference.
That is the difference between a brand that is doing more and a brand that is clearly differentiated in the branded generic space.
At Aovantage, we help pharma and healthcare businesses make the strategic choices that build stronger brands - and align their marketing and execution behind them.