Brand, Identity and Reputation: Exploring, Creating New Realities ...

In India, because of the highly fragmented nature of the pharma market and presence of a huge number of items in a
particular drug category, necessity of a sustained branding process is evident. It is true that there are signs of presence
of high value pharmaceutical product brands in the Indian market but if we look at the top five Indian brands, we will
find that no brand has even crossed the Rs.500 crore (US$ 112 million) figure when it comes to annual sales revenue.
But the pharmaceutical industry has grown at the rate of 5.5% over 2008.
c) Corporate Branding in Pharmaceuticals
According to Schroff (2003), since pharmaceutical industry is currently maintaining a bad image, pharmaceutical
corporate branding is likely to be non-beneficial. He has also clarified that a patient will rarely ask the physician about
the drug manufacturer and its record of providing safety and efficacy. But, the value of corporate brand is expected to
increase by ethical performance, value maintenance and high credibility along with product quality and R & D
(Bednarik, 2005). A strong product brand can be leveraged when launching new product brands globally by projecting
heritage and relevant therapeutic efficacy (Moss, 2007).
To the best of the knowledge of the authors, no scholarly article has yet been published which explains the concept and
necessity of any comprehensive branding strategy in Indian pharmaceutical industry. The present study is expected to
narrow this gap.
Research Methodology
The study was conducted using qualitative interviews with two sets of respondents in Kolkata city, India- first, senior
managers of five renowned pharmaceutical companies of India and second, physicians of different categories. We
interviewed 20 managers and 20 physicians of different categories. This research work will be based on branded generic
drugs, since Indian pharma companies have been marketing generics or off-patent drugs as branded generics.
In their scholarly article of establishing clinical trial in pharmaceuticals as a branding opportunity, Lim et al. (2010) has
used qualitative research design emphasising on five different areas. Along the similar line, in this particular study,
researchers have prepared the questionnaire consisting of three areas out of five discussed by Lim et al. (2010). These
are (a) importance of product branding, (b) importance of corporate branding and (c) importance of opinion leaders as
communicators of brand. The present researchers have included two other under researched area in pharma branding,
i.e. (d) importance of customers‘ perceptions and need achievement and (e) importance of pharma brand age in brand
awareness.
During this research work, no objective of quantification of data was made, but observational technique was used to
gather opinions of the respondents to fulfil research objectives.
Major Findings
a) Importance of product branding
When the statements in favour of product branding strategy in pharmaceuticals along with relevant examples were put
before the respondents, all members of the two groups agreed with the statements. It is noteworthy that physicians took
a special interest in this regard.
b) Importance of corporate branding
Corporate image and branding strategy may be considered as an effective branding strategy in pharmaceutical market.
Most of the respondents agreed with the fact that corporate branding was important but three physicians. They opined
that product branding was more important than corporate branding, as they considered that giving extra emphasis to
corporate would not make any special difference with their prescription support.
c) Importance of opinion leaders as communicators of brand
It is well established that pharmaceutical companies direct their new drugs promotions at the most influential physicians
first - the 'thought leaders' in the profession; if they are persuaded, their opinions have an impact upon the new product's
acceptance by others in the field. Thus opinion leaders extend the influence of the mass media. Respondents, especially
managers fully agreed with this statement. Five physicians commented that they had trust and faith in their opinion but
they did not depend on opinion leaders‘ assurance in efficacy and/or tolerability of particular drugs.
d) Importance of customers‘ perceptions and need achievement
In this item customer‘s perception about a pharma brand has been explained through brand personality traits. We have
argued that effective market segmentation and communication strategies would be possible if brand personality
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