Vivek Hattangadi

Announcing WPBMD-2026 Brand Plan Contest: A Launchpad for Future Pharma Leaders! Are you ready to step confidently into the world of pharmaceutical brand management? B  Black Belt Brand Builders, the organizers of WPBMD-2026 is here to support and inspire the next generation of pharma professionals in India. This exciting contest is designed to help B-school […]

The AI Prescription: Rewriting Medico-Marketing for a New Era – Brand Management Preamble: The AI Prescription The field of medico-marketing is undergoing a profound transformation. As we step into a new era, the traditional playbook is being rewritten by the power of artificial intelligence. This essay explores how Gen AI models are serving as a

The Tale of Vivek Hattangadi and the GLP-1 Wars In the bustling corridors of global pharma, a war was raging. Not with swords or bullets, but with data sets, clinical trials, and billion-dollar molecules. Ozempic, Wegovy, Trulicity, Mounjaro, Zepbound, Rybelsus, Orforglipron—each a synthetic mimic of the GLP-1 hormone, each promising to suppress appetite, melt fat,

Words Everyone Understands: The Magic of Simple Writing – Brand Management 78 Divya Thakre is a graduate of IPHMR, Kolkata and a gold medallist. Having started as management trainee, Divya was three years into her role as a pharmaceutical brand manager, but she had already learned one thing: in pharma, it’s not enough to know

A Heartfelt Farewell to the pharma legend – Harish Raut Harish was more than a friend; he a member of my family. Both his daughters Radhika and Janhavi are like my own daughters. He was the third member in the pioneering team of Tarun Gupta, Ramesh Kulkarni which gave Pharma India the first visual aid.

The Empty Chair: That’s Happens When a Brand Manager Doesn’t Think – Brand Management 77 Preamble Why is this Chair Empty? In pharma marketing, the most dangerous threat isn’t competition—it’s the absence of thought. The title may say “Brand Manager,” but without developing the skills and leveraging the power of analytical and critical thinking, this

Brand Architecture: Choosing the Right Brand Model for Indian Pharma: The Mitra–Gupta Framework – Brand Management 76 Sixteen years. Four readings! One timeless journey! As I once again turned the pages of Jean Noel Kapferer’s Strategic Brand Management, Chapter 7—Brand Architecture—rose from the paper like a portal. It was page 187, and suddenly, I was

Prospect Theory: Every Brand Manager who wants to be recognized as a Black Belt Must Master!  Band Management 75 Twelve years ago, I read Thinking, Fast and Slow by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman—a book that left a lasting impression on me. Recently, I had the pleasure of discussing it with my student, Shiksha Vidyasagar. Despite her excellent

The Power of Touch in Medico-Marketing! – Brand Management 74 It began in 1974, when I first proudly held the shiny-black leather bag of a medical representative. A question that piqued me then – how can I make Diovol the ‘Darling Brand’ of doctors?  I tried all the tricks in my bag, but it was

What Every Winning Brand Knows: The 3 Unspoken Rules of Value Proposition – Brand Management 73 This is a true story from not so long ago. It began in July 2022, as the post-Covid era quietly unfolded like a sunrise that had taken its time. A subtle yet powerful shift was underway—the ‘old normal’ of