Vivek Hattangadi

My Neurons Will Atrophy if I Stay in the Pharmaceutical Industry – Brand Management 131 When Veekas Sabnis, a bright B-school graduate in Pharmaceutical Management and my mentee, decided to leave the pharmaceutical industry after three and a half years as a brand manager, many were surprised. He had a promising career ahead. But Veekas […]

Why Isn’t Pharma Getting Impatient for Results? Brand Management 130 Can Pharma Grow Exponentially, Not Just Incrementally? At the height of Covid, in June 2020, I was chatting on WhatsApp with my close friend Nandan.He lives in Bangalore and works in the IT industry at Accenture. I proudly told him how pharma in India is

Have You Ever Taken a Journey Inside a Doctor’s Mind? BRAND MANAGEMENT 129 My wife Veena loves Kesar mangoes. For her, the Kesar from Saurashtra beats even the famous Hapus in taste.Earlier, she would happily buy a full carton — nine or ten kilos — from our next‑door Capricorn Bazaar. It was cheaper, convenient, and

What’s in a Name? A Rose by Any Name Would Smell as Sweet – Brand Management 128 What’s in a Name? Case Study It was 18th August 1992, when we at Intas decided to launch cisapride, a gastric prokinetic. We were not the first. Unipride (Torrent), Esorid (Sun),  Santiza (Cadila), Cisade (Unichem) – all formidable

Patient-centricity and People-centricity – The Two Sides of the Same Coin! – Brand Management 127 Sanjeev Navangul with over 30 years of experience in the pharma industry has successfully implemented quite a few patient centric programs. He commenced his address with the most famous words of George Merck: “For the medical and pharmaceutical community to be

Patients Are Not Widgets: They Are Our Consumers – Brand Management 126 Who really are the customers for pharma? Some time back, I was reading an article ‘MIND YOUR LANGUAGE TO CATALYSE THE PATIENT REVOLUTION’ from the British Medical Journal (BMJ). It expressed deep concern for the patients. “The voices of patients and citizens were

Pharma India’s Growth Puzzle: Before Asking “Where Are We Going?”, Ask “Why Are We Here Today?” I just went through the PharmaTrac report for May. A few observations came to mind. 1. Value growth continues to outpace volume growth At the overall IPM level, MAT growth stands at 9.0% in value terms, while unit growth

Responsibilities and Accountability at Different Levels in the Hierarchy of Brand Management Teams – Brand Management 125 Case Study V & V Pharmaceuticals was a family owned organization, but was growing rapidly because of people who were in this company since its inception. They were fiercely loyal to V & V. As the company progressed,

Caregivers-at-home: The Ignored Heroes in the Patient Journey – Brand Management 124 Any count on the caregivers-at-home? And the cost or the value of the free services they render to near and dear patients? It’s anybody’s guess. But are you aware that they are a powerful yet the ignored entity in the patient journey? Does

A Brand Manager’s Guide to Building Iconic Brands – Brand Management 123 Definition of an Iconic Brand An iconic pharma brand in India is a brand that rises above the crowded market and earns deep trust from doctors, patients, caregivers and field teams. An iconic brand is not known only for high prescriptions or strong