The September 2016 Issue of MedicinMan features articles by Vivek Hattangadi, K. Hariram, Preeti Mohile, Mrudul Kansara and Chandan Kumar on topics such as The Entrepreneurial Mindset for Pharma Sales Professionals, Rural Marketing Challenges and Opportunities, the #Finding60InIndia Campaign to identify Progeria sufferers and more.
The Indian Pharmaceutical Market (IPM) was valued at Rs. 10,278 crs in the month of September 2016 clocking a strong 10% growth over same period last year (SPLY). On a MAT September basis, the industry was valued at Rs. 111,022 crores and reflected a 13% growth with volumes contributing around 40% of this growth and New Introductions playing an important role with around 38% contribution to the overall growth.
There was a phase when the industry feared that digital would eventually replace the medical sales representative but it appears that digital engagements work best when facilitated by an affable and knowledgeable person, who can personalize the information, and the conversation, to the doctor. In pharma, there’s no substituting face-to-face dialogue it seems. And why should it?
“Rather than digital replacing a person in pharma, the need of the hour is digitalizing the approach of person. The person and the technology are HERE TO STAY”, says Archis Joshi, Commercial Head at Dr. Reddy’s.
The sales role is getting tougher. Medical information, at one point pharma’s greatest value, is today much more freely available than it used to be. In the Indian market which is dominated by generic medicines lacking differentiation, simply informing doctors about the product, isn’t a viable prospect any more when it comes to piquing their interest.
“Why are brands that have been around for some time still unable to cross the marketing funnel and are still stuck at either the ‘awareness’ or the ‘interest’ stages, and unable to move towards the ‘purchase’ or ‘recommendation’ stages?” wonders Mehul Shukla, Director, Marketing Excellence at Cipla.