The Story of B Coconut Cola from ITC: What Pharma can Learn. Brand Management `149
Shailaja Dwivedi Pathak and Vivek Hattangadi
This blog has been adapted for the pharma industry from the blog: “B Natural Coconut Cola: 5 Principles for Launching a Premium Challenger Brand” which appeared in thebrandgym .com by David Taylor.
The Indian Pharma Industry cola market is bubbling with energy.
Even with growing worries about sugar, sales have kept rising fast. The last three years have shown a double-digit growth.
This growth comes from many things: people have more money to spend, the weather is hotter, cities are growing, food delivery and eating out are common, and young people love trying new drinks.
But health concerns are changing what people want.
They still look for refreshment and that happy, fizzy feeling, but now they also want less guilt. They prefer drinks with less sugar, more natural ingredients, and sometimes extra health or premium benefits.
What can Pharma learn from the launch of Coconut Cola?
Shailaja and I have translated the ‘5 Principles for Launching a Brand’ into simple lessons for Pharma India.”
1. Find a strategic opening in the market
This means one basic thing: Find a gap in doctors’ current prescribing habits.
Maybe doctors are unhappy with an existing brand. Maybe patients are not getting fast relief. Maybe a segment is growing but no brand is leading it. Maybe a new guideline has changed the way doctors think.
This “opening” is your entry point.
If you find it early, before launch, your brand can enter the market with clarity, confidence, and purpose.
If you miss it, your brand becomes “just another product” in a crowded prescription basket.
The story of Forxiga, Dapagliflozin – AstraZeneca
When AstraZeneca launched Forxiga (dapagliflozin), they didn’t enter diabetes blindly. They found a clear opening:
Doctors were already using metformin, sulfonylureas, and DPP‑4 inhibitors. But many patients still had:
- High sugar despite treatment
- Weight gain
- Risk of hypoglycemia
- No improvement in heart or kidney health
This was the gap.
So Forxiga entered with a simple promise:
“Control sugar AND protect the heart and kidneys.”
That opening helped the brand grow fast, in India and worldwide, because it solved real problem doctors were facing.
2. Be clear on the job the brand performs
Consumers don’t really buy categories. They buy “jobs to be done”.
The story of Montair LC (Montelukast + Levocetirizine), Cipla
When Montair LC entered the anti‑allergy market, many brands were already available. But Cipla was very clear about the job the brand must perform:
“Give long‑lasting relief from allergic symptoms, especially at night.”
Doctors often saw patients who slept poorly because of sneezing, blocked nose, or cough due to allergies. This was the gap.
Montair LC positioned itself as the brand that helps patients:
- Breathe better at night
- Sleep without disturbance
- Wake up fresher
This clear job made the brand easy to remember and easy to prescribe. Doctors knew exactly when to use it.
The takeaway
When the brand’s job is clear, the brand becomes:
- Easy to explain
- Easy to prescribe
- Easy to grow
3. Make taste the hero
Clarity creates confidence, for the doctor, the patient, the caregiver and the brand.
In many pharma brands, especially for children, taste decides success.
If the medicine tastes bad, the child refuses it. If the child refuses it, the doctor stops prescribing it.
So, taste becomes the real hero of the brand.
The story of Augmentin ES 600
Augmentin was already a trusted antibiotic. But for children, there was one big problem:
The taste.
Parents struggled. Children cried, spat it out, or refused the next dose. Doctors knew compliance was poor.
So, GSK worked on a better‑tasting formulation for kids, Augmentin ES 600.
The brand’s simple job became: “Strong antibiotic + child‑friendly taste.”
Doctors loved it because children accepted it. Parents loved it because dosing became easier. Taste became the hero that improved compliance and helped the brand grow.
The lesson
In paediatrics, taste is not a small detail. Taste is often the difference between compliance and failure. When taste becomes the hero, the brand becomes easy to prescribe and easy to trust.
4. Own a specific occasion before trying to scale
One big mistake in innovation is trying to be for everyone, everywhere, from Day 1.
Strong brands start small. They first own one clear occasion: one moment, one need, one type of patient. And win there. Only then do they grow.
The story of Electral ORS (FDC)
Electral did not try to be a “hydration solution for all.” It owned ORS first:
Dehydration during diarrhoea.
Doctors trusted it for that one job. Parents kept it at home for that one situation. Chemists recommended it for that one need.
Once Electral owned this occasion, it slowly expanded to:
- Dehydration due to heat
- Dehydration in sports
- Dehydration in travel
But the brand became strong because it first owned one clear occasion.
The lesson
Start with one moment. One need. One patient type. Win there. Then scale.
Brands grow faster when they grow from a strong, simple starting point.
5. Scale in stages
Brand-led growth needs careful steps. Not speed. Not noise. Not “big launch energy.”
The smartest brands grow stage by stage:
- Create curiosity Make doctors notice the brand. One strong message. One clear promise.
- Build repeat Make doctors come back to the brand because it works. This is where trust starts.
- Deepen differentiation Show how your brand is different from others. Not bigger — different.
- Extend the platform Only after doctors trust the brand should you expand. New strengths. New uses. New patient types.
The story of Shelcal (India)
Shelcal did not try to be “the calcium for everyone” on Day 1.
Stage 1: Curiosity It started with one simple promise: Strong bones for women after 40. Doctors noticed it.
Stage 2: Repeat Women felt better. Doctors saw results. Repeat prescriptions grew.
Stage 3: Differentiation Shelcal highlighted its elemental calcium + vitamin D3 advantage. Doctors now saw it as a reliable, high‑quality option.
Stage 4: Extension Only after trust was built did the brand expand: Shelcal HD, Shelcal 500, Shelcal XT, and more.
Shelcal scaled step by step, not all at once.
The lesson
Brands grow like children learning in school: first curiosity, then practice, then confidence, then expansion.
Clever staging creates strong, steady, long‑lasting growth.
Take home messages for brand managers.
Strong Pharma brands grow when we follow a few simple basics.
First, find a clear opening in the market, a real gap in doctors’ current practice.
Second, be clear about the job your brand performs. Doctors must know exactly when to use it.
Third, make the hero taste when the patient is a child. Good taste builds compliance.
Fourth, own one occasion before trying to reach everyone. Win one moment, then grow.
Fifth, scale in stages, create curiosity, build repeat, show your difference, then extend.