A Critical Study of Branding Strategies in Pharmaceutical Industry

Abstract

The competitive pressure in the Indian Pharmaceutical market has been rising steadily for some time now (Ghosh et al., 2012)1. The Indian Pharmaceutical market is having approximately 20,000 registered manufacturers and over 70,000 brands; reflecting brand clutter (Chiplunkar, 2009)2. However, competitive pressures in the Indian market are likely to sustain as MNCs become aggressive and domestic companies leverage on their expanded field force. This is the reason why despite of increasing consolidation, the market continues to remain highly fragmented with top ten pharmaceutical companies accounting for only 35-40% of the market (Ghosh et al., 2012)3. newlineFurther, pharmaceutical market is typical in the sense that the doctors are the one who decides therapy and drugs for the consumers (patients). So, marketers promote their products directly to doctors to influence favorable prescription generation by them. newlinePrescription behaviour of doctors further increases peculiarity as doctors choice is more logical for choosing a therapy and drug molecule but when it comes to selecting a particular brand their decision may be more inclined towards emotional and less rational (Blackett, 2001)4. newlineDue to this fierce competition and peculiar nature of the Indian Pharmaceutical market, promotional expenditure averages 20-35% of sales turnover of the industry mainly targeted at influencing the prescription behaviour of Doctors (Pharmaceutical Biz, 2007). Here, personal selling is the most widely employed method in pharmaceutical marketing in India. Although very costly in nature, it touches the essence of pharmaceutical marketing i.e. prescription generation. Indian Pharmaceutical companies are spending a huge and ever-increasing budget on doctors visits (sales calls by pharmaceutical representatives) for this purpose. newline newline