The 24 hour VACCINATION BOOTH AND VACCINATION ADVISORS

I got the above interesting image of HIV vaccines (Indo-Jap collaboration) from here.

After completing a century of blogposts, here is my 101st blogpost! The focus is on the vaccines market in this blogpost.

As things stand now, the highly commoditized vaccine market of India is a pure doctor-centric business. The main focus is on pediatricians and and to a lesser extent, the GPs. Global majors and Indian companies who manufacture and market vaccines are in a sort of conundrum - although the potential is very high (India is the largest human vaccines market), thanks to the population and the demographic picture of India, commodity vaccines sell more than the unique ones and there is a high cost of sale. The leader Indian companies not only supply vaccines (veterinary, poultry, and human) to the Indian market, they are leaders in export too. The global vaccines market is estimated to be about 10 billion USD, and growing in double digit figures.

Marketing vaccines is mostly a freebie based CRM approach. The focus is on pediatricians and loading the target doctor with as much vaccines stock as possible based on a lot of freebies like a free refrigerator, or free goods along with sales stock. This will block the entry of other competitor vaccine products or brands for some time at the concerned doctor clinic. The normal practice is for the doctor to administer the vaccines from the stock he or she has. The practice of giving prescriptions for specific vaccine brands is rare. So the vaccine marketing concept is doctor-centric. In case, the doctor does not stock the vaccine. It is the adjoining chemist who does it. This chemist or pharmacist is invariably hand-in-glove with the doctor in the sense, there is financial understanding between the doctor and the chemist retailer.

The Hepatitis B vaccine marketing saw a new era with a HEPATITIS B VACCINATION CAMP marketing approach. The thrust of all the Hepatitis B vaccine marketers was to organize mass vaccination camps in collaboration with the doctor(s) and sometimes with social organizations like the Rotary club and Lions club. The net result was MARKET BUILDING for the Hepatitis B vaccine product. Doctors particularly pediatricians saw this as a social marketing opportunity for thier clinics, through the Hepatitis B vaccination camps. Hence, today there is a great acceptance of Hepatitis B vaccination and in large part has possibly influenced IAP (Indian Academy of Pediatrics) to include this as a must-to-be administered vaccine. In all, some 25 vaccines are available in India with a major focus on the pediatric segment. Tetanus toxoid, polio, DPT, typhoid and Hepatitis B vaccines are the biggest markets in Inda.

How to grow the vaccine market?

Vaccines undoubtedly have a great role to play in healthcare. These products contain live (attenuated ie., weakened) or dead antigens of pathogens. On administration, the immune system is primed to produce specific antibodies. The primed immune system thus has circulating antibodies and can produce more antibodies on reexposure to the antigen. This gaurds the body from the disease attributable to the antigen. Thus, Hepatitis B vaccine gaurds people who have taken the vaccine from the dreaded Hepatitis B disease.

The first quest is to popularize the true concept of vaccines. For a majority of Indians, the idea of a vaccine is that it is a product meant primarily for infants and children, as a protective agent. However, we ought to know, vaccines are available for adults too. Today vaccines are being developed for various diseases. For instance, Cuba has a vaccine against lung cancer. SO TO GROW THE VACCINE MARKET, THE FIRST APPROACH IS TO MASS EDUCATE THE COMPLETE POTENTIAL BENEFITS of vaccines. For eg., the awareness of Wyeth's pneumococcal vaccine is not as high as the Hepatitis B vaccine. It just one of the optional vaccines...

The current marketing communication approach is aimed mainly through the pediatrician, by the vaccine marketers. The visible aspects of this approach is posters and patient information leaflets kept in clinics. This is read by some of the patients. And that is it. The doctor administers the vaccine brand he or she wishes to. The patient does not practically have a choice. Even doctors are wary of over-recommending any optional vaccine or specific brand. If doctors do this, it is possible that he or she may lose the patient.

IT IS HOWEVER, IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE NATION, PATIENT, AND MARKETER THAT MORE AND MORE AWARENESS NEEDS TO BE CREATED ON THE VACCINATION CONCEPT AND THE PLETHORA OF VACCINE BRAND CHOICES AVAILABLE.

Thus, a marketing approach would be:

a) for a comprehensive website that provides details of vaccination and each and every vaccine brand available. This website ought to serve as a single window of information on the vaccination concept and vaccine brands in India.

b) the next is to have 24 HOUR VACCINATION BOOTHS, that provide information, vaccine brands, and facilities to administer vaccines to interested people. This would really create market building for vaccines.

c) the third important approach is to have VACCINATION ADVISORS manning these booths. The vaccination advisors concept is similar to education counsellors of computer education companies, beauty advisors of companies like Lakme, and insurance advisors of various insurance companies. The vaccination advisors should be informed and trained personnel who will advise interested people on various vaccination issues, and even conduct seminars or go about visiting 'new parents' to talk on vaccination issues and help make a proper vaccination choice for thier new born. It should be noted that vaccination is often a once in a life time affair and can make a big difference to the future of the neonate. So a proper ecosystem for information and vaccination administration should be created and the VACCINATION ADVISORS along with 24 HOUR VACCINATION BOOTHS concept WILL HELP in this direction.

It is not healthy to have a purely freebie based CRM approach to vaccination. And it is impractical to expect that the pediatrician or the GP will have time to educate the patient on various vaccine brand options and help the patient make his or her choice.

IN INDIA, 24 HOUR VACCINATION BOOTHS AND VACCINATION ADVISORS WILL SERVE AS VITAL LINKS AS DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER ADVERTISING ON VACCINE BRANDS IS NOT PERMISSIBLE UNDER LAW.

Thus, to build a robust market for vaccines the actual consumption of the brands should take place, for this the market should expand. If this is to happen, then, patient empowerment is a must. The road to patient empowerment and vaccine market expansion is through VACCINATION BOOTHS AND VACCINATION ADVISORS, and a knowledge campaign through dedicated workers. Such vaccination knowledge dissemination cannot happen through busy doctors, a bunch of patient information leaflets, and posters on some clinics.
There is a lot of ignorance regarding the CHICKEN POX VACCINE AND TYPHOID VACCINE. Pushing more patient information leaflets and posters on these vaccines is not going to help the cause of marketing these vaccines nor is it going to help the prospective patients who would benefit from these vaccines. A lot of persuasive information needs to go through specific trustworthy personnel such as vaccination advisors.

Will vaccination advisors be trusted?

As long as the pitch of the vaccination advisors is related towards information and empowerment, it will work, and any selling activity is best left to the sales persons.

A good vaccination empowerment ecosystem is vital for the future

In years to come, quite a few breakthrough vaccines will be introduced in India. For instance, Gardasil, the cervical cancer vaccine. There are segments in the Indian society who will be benefited by these vaccine, and there could be more useful vaccines forthcoming in to India. How to market them? The vaccination advisors and 24 hour vaccination booths will help the cause.

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Post 61st anniv. of Indian independence: start of a new era of Technology in Pharma India

We have just celebrated the 61st anniversary of Indian independence. The golden lining (not silver lining!) is that AB (not Amitabh Bacchan, but ABHINAV BINDRA) got our country the first ever individual gold medal in modern Olympics at the Beijing Olympics in the 10 m Air rifle shooting event (on 11.8.2008). This gold medal win has a great lesson for us in India. One that we can be winners on the world stage. And, two, it requires great nurturing of talent to make a world-class winner. Full credit goes to the devoted wealthy parents of Abhinav for creating this victorious moment for us Indians (you can see the photo of AB with his parents above). It also shows the way to the lakhs of wealthy crorepathy Indian families on how they can use their wealth intelligently to create good children - very often children of the wealthy are spoilt ... spending most of their time with beer (alcoholic beverages) and negative activities. The victory showcased by AB is a lesson to all wealthy crorepathy Indian parents!

The dawn of AN ERA OF PHARMA TECHNOLOGY IN INDIA

Today, Indian pharma industry is highly commoditized. It is an era where CRM power is the muscle power of a company. The marketing orientation is towards intense CRM activities. The marketing and sales cycle is simple: contact the doctor-detail-sample-gift-negotiate and provide specific gifts and sponsorships (including celebrations of birthdays and anniversaries) in return for prescriptions or POBs (personal order booking) related sales. The moot point is how long can this go on and to what extent? Pharma companies today provide prescribing doctors with groceries, provisions, movie tickets at multiplexes, white goods (like DVD players, washing machines and refridgerators), sponsored vacations under the garb of seminars and symposia, clinical oriented gifts, pens, payment of electricity bills, cash, samples, schemes (ie., free goods with sales stocks) and what not... Earlier it was a minority of pharma companies that indulged in no-holds barred CRM and it was a minority set of doctors who indulged in taking any and every thing that a pharma company provided. Today, the situation is converse. Almost all pharma companies do intense CRM and majority of doctors demand the kind of items (gifts and freebies) they want to be serviced with. Doctors themselves lament that today the situation is not what it was say in the 1970s ... SO WHAT IS THE NET RESULT FOR PHARMA COMPANIES? Events like the sale of Ranbaxy to Daiichi Sankyo ... C'MON, THAT IS FAR FETCHED!! HOW CAN CRM RELATED SALES AND MARKETING ACTIVITIES MAKE A COMPANY WEAK ENOUGH TO BE TAKEN OVER BY ANOTHER COMPANY? THE ANSWER IS HERE...

When any pharma company gives CRM the highest in the priority in terms of revenue generating business activities, the focus of the entire company (right from the top management to MR level) goes towards CRM. Everything else becomes secondary. The casualty of a hyperfocus on CRM is profits. When marketing value is perceived in terms of freebies and gifts given to the prescribers the product per-se takes the back seat. And with that there is an erosion of profitability.

The medical profession too feels the pain today... doctors have seen the erosion of trust between the doctor and patient. When trust and profitability get eroded, it means business processes are becoming less effective and efficient.

Peter Drucker says that profits are a measure of effectiveness and efficiency. So what will the pharma entrepreneur do to improve profitability? Cut down on CRM budgets overnight! NO!! THAT WILL BE SUICIDAL!!!

THE ERA OF PHARMA TECHNOLOGY IN INDIA WILL BEGIN NOW (as a force of circumstance)...

The sagacious pharma entrepreneur will start putting the focus on technology - either packaging technology (for instance Juggat Pharma's ingenious application of tetra pak technology to create the product category of ELECTROLYTE ENERGY DRINKS for Rx support, for more details: info@jagdale.com) , or new drug development programs or new dosage delivery systems.... Pharma companies will exploit science further - to apply scientific precepts, concepts, and tools to improve the pharma product's safety, utility, and application. This in turn will create unique features in brands. This certainly will provide USPs (unique selling points) for the brand. This will ensure new and attractive talking points while detailing the brand to the target audience. And when a product is presented as different and better, the focus on gift based or freebie based CRM will decrease. This will ensure that profits will be better.

Without growth in real profits, a company's decline will begin. The pharma company will enter in to a vicious cycle of a freebie based CRM trap, from which it will not be able to get out fast. Today, let us say a doctor gets satisfied with a TV for his clinic and he gives a bonanza of prescriptions for a brand. However, the opium of the freebie will fade away fast, the doctor's need will rise further - he will want a LCD TV or plasma TV next. If a doctor is offered a 5 star room for his sponsored stay during a symposia, he will want the next time a seven star room facility.

Hence, the sagacious pharma company will start producing pharma goods that will create brand differentiation through technology. For instance, Zydus Cadila has collaborated for a little known technology to differentiate their erythropoietin offering - they are offering erythropoeitin which is pegylated. It is an interesting technology of combining erythropoietin with polyethylene glycol. It is described as a low hanging fruit on the technology tree. Not a very complex technology, but nevertheless a technology that can give brands some more power and real marketing value.

Another little step in this direction is the resin based system in Becosules Z (from Pfizer) to enhance the absorption and bioavailability of B complex vitamins. This differentiates the brand further from other B complex products. NOW IMAGINE, IF PFIZER LAUNCHES A BECOSULES NANO, WHERE IN THEY PROVIDE A MULTIVITAMIN USING NANO SPHERES (VITAMINS ARE PRESENT IN THE NANOSPHERES) AND THAT THIS ENHANCES ABSORPTION ... THE RESULT IS HIGHER PERCEIVED VALUE FOR BECOSULES Z AND MORE PRESCRIPTIONS. Imagine a nano based tech product for rifampicin or isoniazid that enhances absorption and bioavailability - thus, lesser drug can be used for the patient and the side effect (particularly liver toxicity) can be reduced. Value delivery through technology in pharma is better marketing sense than an overemphasis on freebie based CRM.

Application of technology in pharma will increase with the interdisciplinary approach in pharma.

End note

It is well known that technology provides companies with more financial might than freebies based CRM. Imagine for a moment - if Ranbaxy had provided as much focus on technology as it has provided for freebie based CRM, in its marketing operations right from the beginning, today probably Ranbaxy would not have got sold out to Daiichi Sankyo.

RECOLLECT THE ASIAD DAYS IN INDIA (1982), WE HAD TV BRANDS IN INDIA LIKE DYANORA, TEXLA, CROWN, EC TV, KELTRON, KEONICS, ETC. TODAY, AFTER ECONOMIC LIBERALIZATION, WHERE ARE THOSE TV BRANDS? THEY HAVE BEEN GOBBLED UP BY THE TECH GIANTS - MAINLY THE JAPANESE. TECH COMPANIES HAVE FAR MORE FINANCIAL MUSCLE. THE SAME THING HAS STARTED HAPPENING IN INDIA, DAICHII SANKYO HAS BOUGHT OUT RANBAXY ( I ESTIMATE THAT IN 3 TO 4 YEARS, IE. BETWEEN 2011 AND 2015, THE INTEGRATION BETWEEN RANBAXY AND DAIICHI WILL BE COMPLETE, AND MOST LIKELY, THE NAME RANBAXY WILL VANISH IN TO OBLIVION OR WILL BE THERE ONLY FOR NAMESAKE). AS THE INDIAN PATENTS ACT, 1970 HAS BEEN AMENDED, PRODUCT PATENTS ARE NOW VALID IN INDIA. HENCE, TECH COMPANIES WILL HAVE THE UPPER HAND SLOWLY BUT SURELY. SO THE SAGACIOUS ACT WILL BE TO PUT THE FOCUS ON TECH ASPECTS IN PHARMA COMPANIES - IT SHOULD HAVE AS MUCH PRIORITY AS MUCH AS 'FREEBIE BASED CRM' HAS IN INDIAN PHARMA COMPANIES. This is more important in current times when world over the focus is on BRIC countries. Right now, America is in a recession and Brandweek says that even the drug industry in America is in a recession, another net poll (at John Mack's blog) too says this. So where will these tech rich companies of USA focus? Yes ... of course India and China for growth. So expect more buy outs and shakeouts. Already there are reports that Takeda the #1 Jap pharma company is tryin' to buy out Torrent.

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CHANGE - the greatest motivator

I GOT THE ABOVE IMAGE FROM HERE.

How to motivate a person or a group of people towards a goal? This is a constant challenge for a manager (a person designated to manage people and other resources to achieve organizational objectives), or - a politician, a leader, an entrepreneur, a teacher, and just about anybody else in society. And the answer lies in a simple word – CHANGE. In fact, this word is the platform on which Barack Obama has centred his entire electoral campaign, truly, Barack has hit the nail on the head. CHANGE is in fact the greatest motivator.

When a pharmaceutical sales manager ponders on his communication to put across new targets to his team, when a politician crafts his electoral strategy, and when an entrepreneur puts together a business plan – all are working to create a CHANGE. If you can sell the proposed CHANGE as a hope or as a benefit to the target audience, the CHANGE will motivate the target group to work to create the change. When an entrepreneur crafts a taut business plan and successfully convinces that the plan will work to produce the required CHANGE, it will motivate his financiers to put the money in line with his talk. This was Dhirubhai Ambani's success mantra too. Dhirubhai convinced financiers and potential shareholders that his business plans will produce an attractive change - products will be created that will rake in profits to increase shareholder value and produce juicy dividend yields. Dhirubhai Ambani won through the change he was confident of producing. ABILITY TO CREATE CHANGE, MANAGE CHANGE, AND BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IS WHAT CREATES SUCCESS.

Late Mr. Nagaraja Rao Jagdale (of Jagdale Ind. Ltd., Bangalore; info@jagdale.com) believed in the change that electrolyte energy drink concept in tetra pak can produce - this created success for him. Bhai Mohan Singh believed taking over Ranbaxy from Gurbax Singh and Ranjit Singh was a positive change, John Mack passionately believes that his online activities like pharma marketing network will contribute to positive change in pharmaceutical marketing, Mr. M Manal founder of The Himalaya Drug Company was dedicated to changing healthcare through marketing of Ayurvedic products, Swami Ramdev (of Patanjali Yog Peeth, Hardwar) believes that Yoga and Pranayama can bring about certain positive changes in healthcare and the belief, the conviction, and the logic in a certain CHANGE has motivated these individuals and their target audience in a certain direction of action. It was Mr. Narayan Murthy's confidence that IT will produce a change in society and that there was a good business opportunity - this motivated him to found Infosys. When Bill Gates was studying, he realized software will create profound changes in society and he dedicated himself to this change. The result for Bill Gates has been astonishing - he has become the world's richest person. Mrs. Kiran Majumdar believed that enzymes and biotech can produce a significant change and the change can help create a successful business enterprise for her - the result is, she is one of the richest women in India. VERILY, CHANGE IS THE TRUTH AND THE GREATEST MOTIVATOR.

Dettol: unparalleled brand, unchallenged change

Dettol is an unusual brand. Dettol is the unchallenged leader brand in India in the area of disinfection or the antiseptic product category. This is unusual for a healthcare brand in India. Normally, in India, leader brands will spawn numerous me-too brands and create a fragmented market. After all the product DETTOL is not complex. It is simple and plain chloroxylenol - an antiseptic. But the brand building activity is legendary. After achieving good penetration with antiseptic Dettol liquid in the Indian market, Dettol has played on its product theme SHIELD OF PROTECTION and extended it to various sister categories like antiseptic healthcare soaps, antiseptic handwash, shaving cream .... In fact, the banner of Dettol is extending itself to HYGIENE. The most attractive aspect of Dettol market is that it is an OTX (a combination of over-the-counter and prescription) market - with a heavy focus on OTC (over-the-counter). The Dettol market is one with a long life - perhaps Dettol will be there as long as there will be humans! There is no stopping the growth of Dettol - one will not be surprised if Dettol launches new line extensions for kids, veterinary use, and other related fields of antiseptic use! DETTOL has a very interesting web site to engage prospects and customers in UK, it is a very effective approach of online marketing CLICK HERE. All the quizzes, activities for kids, and information campaigns on infections like avian influenza are very engaging and they subtly promote the goodness of antiseptic Dettol in hygiene and infection management. IT IS TRULY UNUSUAL TO OBSERVE THAT IN INDIA WHERE ALMOST 30% OF THE PHARMA MARKET IS FOR ANTIBIOTICS, THIS MEANS INFECTION MANAGEMENT IS BIG BUSINESS, AND UNUSUALLY IN INDIA, DETTOL IS HAVING AN EASY RUN WITHOUT THE USUAL AVALANCHE OF ME-TOO BRANDS BITING IN TO THE MARKETSHARE OF DETTOL. Perhaps, with pharma and healthcare marketers (particularly consumer healthcare divisions like Mankind's new consumer healthcare division) in India looking for products with a long life in a growing market, will see the antiseptic Dettol market as attractive and will eventually challenge the collossal presence of Dettol in this market. What makes Dettol a very aggressive brand is not only the line extensions but also the wide range of packs to suit both small consumers, home consumers, and also the large volume consumers like hospitals.

Regarding the Rs. 1000 crore Dettol brand - here is an interesting net reference:

Dettol is the leader in the antiseptic market with 85 per cent market share. Liquid hand wash created a new market and lords over 60 per cent of the market in the category, while the various Dettol soaps account for 18 per cent of the health soap division . Reckitt Benickiser the MNC is the owner of the mega Dettol brand.

CONCLUSION: believe in change and experience success

It is important to identify the correct change, work on it, and success will ride on the change.

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Who is a manager?

I got the above interesting image from here.

One cannot forget the office boy who used to regularly talk to me - even coming out of the way to meet up, and talk a few words with me. At that time I was a Product Manager. One fine day, he came to me excitedly and said, "Sir, I am a manager now!" A little amused at his child-like excitement I congratulated him. He continued, "Sir, I am now a manager at the CMD's house. All the workers there are reporting to me. I have a cabin, table, chair, and buzzer!" Ah! I understood then that his vision of a manager was one who has a cabin, table, chair, and a buzzer (to buzz and summon the office boys).

During Managers' development and training programs, it is interesting to start off by asking who is a manager? The range of responses are interesting: One says that a manager is a person who has reportees and gets work done through them. Another participant adds, a manager is a person who plans and organizes the limited resources to achieve the company objectives. Still another states a manager is a person who has obedient subordinates.

When asked, 'give an example of a successful field manager', it invariably leads to a particular gentleman field manager from north east and another from the west. And what do they have in common? Well, they are the epitomes of what Peter Drucker has to say about a manager:

The best fit description of a manager is given by Peter Drucker, he says: MANAGERS' ARE THOSE WHO BUILD BUSINESS. How right!!

These gentlemen referred to above as examples have built the business of the organization, and one has done it from scratch and taken it to great heights.

And to build a business, managers' have to do the following: planning, organizing, staffing, measuring, integrating, leading, and development of people.

Besides to build successful businesses, MANAGERS HAVE TO MANAGE CHANGE. If anything is constant in this dynamic world, it is change! Either you can surrender to change, adapt to change, or be the change you want to see happen. And the last aspect, differentiates the boys from the real managers. One has to be a leader to be good change manager.

Who is a leader? When this question is put to the participants, very interesting responses are generated. Some say a leader is fearless. Another person adds leaders instill courage in people. Yet another gentleman reiterates, that a leader is one who has followers. It is like saying a guru is one who has chelas (ie., a teacher is one who has students).

The best description I have come across of a leader: A PERSON WHO MAKES OTHERS WORK ENTHUSIASTICALLY AND WILLINGLY TOWARDS COMPANY OBJECTIVES.

And that is easier said than done!!

Managers as terrorists':

Another unusual display of managership is bullying or terrorizing subordinates. It ranges from verbal abuse to threats. This has given to a new form of behavior from nonmanagers and subordinates. Defensiveness, loss of trust, and militant unionism ... and now even taking the battle to personal level on the street so as to say. The nonmanagers or subordinate victims are becoming Khalis to take on terrorizing bosses. Many of the terrorizing managers' have two faces and are wedged between the upper managers and subordinates. These Janus headed managers display a coy and presentable behavior to their bosses, while to their subordinates they are the opposite.

With increasing competition and stretch targets, which is common to all pharma and healthcare companies in India and abroad, sometimes people issues are swept under the carpet, sacrificed on the alter of sales. However, HR issues are becoming very important. Moreover, getting good people on board has become an onerous task as candidates are ready to change companies and even the field of work itself. Globalization, immigration, and free market economy are throwing new challenges to companies - it is increasingly difficult to get good candidates, develop them, and retain them. Unless, pharma and healthcare organizations start putting as much emphasis on the means and company culture to achieving the end goals ... the long term harm to organizations will be difficult to manage.

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Success through innovation

In the above image we see a workshop conducted at Dr. Shikha Sharma's Nutri Health Systems ...

Doing something novel or new has become the need of the hour, ie. the order of the day. Do something new, and do it first ... seems to be the necessity of the times. Earlier, particularly in India, you just had 'to do' to make a small fortune ... like manufacture soap bars or paracetamol tablets or malt (milk-mix) beverages and market it ... Today?! It is a prescription to lose money!! It is very essential in the current times, to do something new and better to gain mindshare and hence, marketshare. Competition, globalization, and the trend towards free market economy has made this change in the marketplace.

Cpink has done something new

Cpink is a hematinic brand from Wanbury (a pharmaceutical company that features in the top 75 pharma companies of India). Cpink has created a stir by notching Rs. 12 crore plus value in the first year of launch. The campaign theme and focus for Cpink was on paleness to pink (of health). This theme along with relationship management with key opinion leaders (doctors) has apparently done wonders for Cpink. The Rs. 500 crore hematinic market is seeing some interesting action through brands like Cpink. Remember hematinics are top selling brands in pharma India. In fact, Dexorange , a hematinic, is a steady top brand in pharma India.

Dr. Shikha is creating a new stir

Dr. Shikha Sharma noticed the wellness trend in urban India quite early in 1999, when this enterprising allopathic doctor started work on weight management, nutrition, and wellness. Today, Dr. Shikha is shaping the well being of clients through a focus on nutrition. It is quite in line with the current trend for preventive healthcare and nutritional supplements. With the impending boom in wellness, Dr. Shikha is well positioned to cash in on this mega trend.

The reason for being novel

Being innovative means creating more value for the customer when compared with competitive offerings in the marketplace. A standout example of superior value creation is the tetra pak based fruit juice based electrolyte energy drink category created by Juggat Pharma. Such is the success of this category that bigwig Pharma companies like Merck are partnering with Juggat Pharma (Pharma Div. of Jagdale Ind. Ltd., Bangalore) to get line extensions manufactured with this concept (ie., Electrobion Lemon Sip and Apple Sip) (info@jagdale.com)

Be novel with communication too

The process of message transfer (communication) has gained higher importance and is the most vital ingredient of the marketing mix in the modern competitive world. For eg., new research in interpersonal communication points out that the verbal component of communication influences to the extent of just 7% in interpersonal communication. The Vocal component forms a sizable 38% of one's communication. Vocalization refers to voice modulation (pitch, pace, and pause), pronunciation, and confidence. 55% of effectiveness of interpersonal communication depends on nonverbal communication (or body language); this means one's appearance, personality, gestures, eye contact, active listening, and confidence make the maximum impact in interpersonal communication.

Communication is very vital for success of any innovation. And this is the bottomline.

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The 2020 vision: India, the global wellness hub

Ex-President of India, Abdul Kalam is a passionate man and a patriot; he has a vision for India. He inspires all people to have a vision for themselves. Dr. Kalam who has breathtaking 30 honorary doctorates and all the three top Indian civilian awards to his credit (Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, and Bharat Ratna) has written a book of his vision for India – India 2020. In this book he also writes his vision for healthcare in India. Dr. Kalam emphasizes the importance of research, technology, NUTRITION, and service to improve healthcare. It is worth noting that he states that an estimated 5% to 10% of Indians are diabetic. His vision is healthcare for all in India well before 2020. And for this transformation, he rightly says that a change in thinking is required.

It is certainly correct that a sick society is a sick market! And that spells bad business for businessmen. Thus, healthcare should be accorded maximum priority for altruism by the rich in India for all Indians, because healthy Indians make better consumers!

The wellness wave

There is a new robust change on the healthcare scenario thanks, to the inflation, ever-increasing cost of medicare, and the empowerment through the electronic media in India (and world over). The robust change is the wellness trend (in India and the world over). People are ready to invest more time and energy in preventive healthcare products and practices. This is causing a rapid increase in the demand for value added wellness products particularly the nutritional supplements (both in India and abroad). Companies like Ajanta Pharma and Krauter Healthcare have understood this trend and are riding on it. In India, lifestyle disease is already the no. 1 killer (mainly cardiovascular disease and diabetes). Healthcare is becoming expensive and altruistic support for the poor patient is patchy in India. Thus, necessity being the mother of innovation and action, Indians are taking to wellness and preventive healthcare practices like ducks take to water.

Yoga and dietary supplements

Yoga is the talk of the town. Yoga is reaching out to the masses in India. No more is Yoga seen as an esoteric practice of celibates and Himalayan Yogis. Acceptance of Yoga cuts across creed and caste. Wellness and preventive healthcare is a mass trend, and Yoga is at the vangaurd. In fact, it is interesting to observe that the land for the Yog-gram being put up by Swami Ramdev has been donated by a Muslim: Dr. S. Farrukh. It is estimated that 30% to 40% of attendees of Ramdev Baba’s mass camps in rural areas (of India) are Muslims.

Dietary supplements and herbal products are seeing a lot of action and interest in India and the world over, thanks to the media and the evangelists for such products – like Swami Ramdev, Sri Sri Ravishankar, and many more companies and individuals. In USA, about 56% of adults use nutritional supplements, and normally American market is the window of the future of emerging markets like India. The logic is that it is better to take personal care through preventive methods and products rather than suffer through financially draining complex diseases.

Given India’s traditional strengths in the space of wellness and preventive therapies and products eg.,Yoga and herbalism, it would not be out-of-place to have a 2020 vision document for creating India as a global hub for wellness and preventive healthcare.

Tailpiece – a vision on the current scene
The buzz is that India’s low cost pharmaceutical industry and reverse engineering skills are causing heartburn to non-collaborative innovator Pharma companies across the world. The sale of Ranbaxy (promoter shares) - a reverse engineering Pharma major from India - to Daichii Sankyo adds fillip to the Japanese pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. The control over Ranbaxy adds to the marketing muscle of Daiichi Sankyo. As is well known, Japan has made its mark in technology, electronics, and the automobile industry. And now will Japan become a new super power in the global Pharma industry?

Asian pharma power is clearly on the rise. This new Asian pharma order will naturally compete with the well established European-American pharma axis. Any conflict between the old order and the new age pharma corporates will be detrimental to all concerned. The best approach will be to collaborate and grow. It is in the best interests of 'health for all'.

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eHealth conversations

I GOT THE ABOVE NICE IMAGE FROM HERE (PLEASE CLICK)

There is a lot of talk going on regarding eHealth these days. Hence, it will be appropriate to explore the eHealth frontier, and try and understand how it will impact societal life, patients, and pharmaceuticals. Here is a great write-up on eHealth CLICK HERE.

eHealth refers to the application of information technology, and technological developments in electronics, to healthcare science. For eg., the internet itself is a part of the eHealth ecosystem. However, given the ever increasing penetration of mobile phones - this communication gadget is seen increasingly as a tool for healthcare. There are reports that Revolution Health and the Google 2.0 initiatives will tap in to mobile phone technologies to create value in healthcare.

One of the high impact areas of eHealth will be on EVIDENCE BASED MEDICINE. The revolution here will be, access to therapy evidence to one and all, and sharing of knowledge in real time fashion. Google's initiative - Google Health and Microsoft with its Healthvault, can go beyond digitizing medical records to capturing knowledge for the practice of evidence based medicine. The result will be integration of healthcare knowledge: beyond the silos of allopathy, ayurveda, herbalism, and the other systems of healthcare. Because, ultimately the patient or consumer wants safe, effective and value-for-money healthcare.

The growth of evidence based medicine in eHealth platforms has significant implications to pharmaceutical marketing. No longer will the doctors as healthcare opinion builders hold complete sway on the consumption of pharmaceutical products. The informed patient will take decisions in consultation and collaboration with medical and healthcare practitioners. The rise of collaborative medical care and healthcare is imminent, and eHealth will inevitably strengthen OTX (over-the-counter plus prescription) and OTC (over-the-counter) brands.

The growth of case study analysis

The impact of eHealth can maximize case study documentation and analysis. When herbal and medical products lack in-depth clinical studies, case studies can play a critical role in helping informed patients and healthcare professionals to try and understand the behavior of specific herbs or other healthcare products, and thereby add value to the decision making process. In fact, today, the benefits of pranayama are being boosted through case study documentation by Swami Ramdev.

Case study analysis for OTC healthcare products

One of the interesting benefits of IT and eHealth to society, is the ability to create platforms to share and document knowledge, and in turn, this can add to the word-of-mouth regarding product benefits. Let us take a hypothetical example: Horlicks.

Let us say (HYPOTHETICALLY) Horlicks creates a web based platform: http://www.horlicksinaction.com/ ! This website encourages end consumers, and other healthcare professionals to share their experiences of the benefits of Horlicks in real case studies. This web site can also, let us say, up load photos, videos, and other material that document specific case studies (from families, medical colleges, pediatricians, and other institutions) of how Horlicks has helped a patient recover from illness, or a child grow taller, or how Mother's Horlicks has helped a mother-to-be and so on. One can integrate alerts and other short messages to interested recipients from the web to the mobile phone too. The critical impact of this approach of harnessing currently available eHealth approches (such as the above hypothetical eg.,) is that it increases the knowledge related to the wellness aspect and the product. And knowledge sharing creates ideas, images, and HOPE. This will market the product further through connecting people, opinion builders, and strengthening word-of-mouth. The buzz of a brand depends on the knowledge associated with a brand and application of this knowledge.

Thus, with the increased penetration of the internet, PCs, and the mobile phones, we can expect to see accelerated changes in the healthcare sector due to the eHealth dimension. THE BEST IMPACT OF EVIDENCE BASED CASE STUDY WILL BE TO INCREASE TRUST BETWEEN BRANDS AND TARGET AUDIENCES. I can hear IBM saying, we are ideating - Not Talking!! (seen the latest IBM ads on ideating?!) Thnks for reading this blogpost, please scroll down and read all other blogposts, by clicking on older posts, where necessary.

The mother of all battles

The above is an interesting image of obesity (increased belly fat) in children, and I got the image from HERE.

The latter half of 20th century and 21st century will be remembered for various military battles. However, the mother of all battles that is being waged now is the WAR ON EXCESS FAT. The body is now getting heavier. Across the world people are realizing that excess fat in the body is not only responsible for ungainly looks, but also for disease. Low body fat is the key to healthy living and a healthy and beautiful (or handsome) body. There are several interesting dimensions of this battle against excess fat.

Omentum: TV show hostess Oprah Winfrey can take credit for popularizing the concept of omentum. The omentum is located in the abdomen. This abdominal tissue is a repository of fat. Located in front of the stomach is the greater omentum. And covering the liver is the lesser omentum. The omentum acts as a reservoir for not only fat but also stress hormones like cortisol. Greater the thickness of the omentum, (click here for an exciting photo) more the fat and other chemicals, and greater is the risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. When the mass of omentum increases, inflammatory processes in the body increase - causing damage to the body inner organs and diseases like atherosclerosis and diabetes. In fact, there are various aspects of the omentum that need to be investigated like free radical level in the body and thickness of omentum, relationship between kidney disease and omentum etc.

One can safely conclude on the basis of reasoning that the pranayama techniques popularized by Baba Ramdev (particularly Anuloma-viloma and Kapalbharati) exercise the body inner organs to reduce the omentum. This translates in to multiple benefits and better metabolism in the body. Hence, pranayama creates health and happiness.

There is a neuro-hormonal basis for our thoughts-words-actions. Baba Ramdev stresses that regular pranayama and Yoga creates chitta shuddhi meaning purer mind and thought flow. It is obvious that pranayama creates better neuro-hormonal functioning and this translates in to happy and purer thoughts. Baba Ramdev is a tele evangelist for Yoga and life management. His Yoga - pranayama programs are broadcast on Aastha TV channel to 169 countries.

It would also be interesting to understand the effects of various herbs on the omentum. There are herbs that help reduce body fat. Vrikshamla and Shuddha guggulu are some of them. In fact, globally the interest in herbs as healthy food and medicine is constantly increasing and now India and China are collaborating to research on Gymnema sylvestre for diabetes management.

Leptin: is a protein hormone secreted by fat cells. WHEN LEPTIN LEVELS INCREASE IN BLOOD, THERE IS INCREASED SATIETY, AND TENDENCY TO EAT COMPULSIVELY COMES DOWN. Thus, normal levels of leptin are crucial for reducing fat levels in the body. Recombinant leptin has been created and has helped people reduce body fat.

It is admirable that Swami Ramdev, who is pioneering Yoga and Pranayama as a robust science rather than as an abstract and mystical discipline, has started doing research on how pranayama helps influence levels of leptin positively, and thereby helps reduce the desire to over eat, and helps people reduce body fat and body weight. One can rightly suspect that Gymnema sylvestre may influence the blood leptin levels positively.

Fatty liver (including hepatomegaly): Increased consumption of alcoholic beverages, and other hepatotoxins (like drugs and other xenobiotics ie., non nutrient foreign bodies or chemicals) is leading to a condition called fatty liver. Essentially in this disease there is increased deposition of fats in the liver leading to enlargement of the liver (called hepatomegaly) and sluggish liver functioning that can manifest as loss of appetite, nausea, fatigue, lassitude, irritability, and lethargy. Fatty liver causes abdominal distension or pot belly. In fatty liver, there is inflammation of the liver ie., swelling and loss of function.

The liver is at the receiving end because all the nutrients and xenobiotics absorbed from the small intestine or ileum through the mesenteric capillaries, passes first to the liver via the portal vein. Thus, all internal chemical insults are faced by the liver first. The liver is a detoxifying organ and tries to convert all toxins to easily excretible substances and the toxins are excreted via the kidneys or bile. In the process the liver gets affected and this manifests as fatty liver.

The liver is crucial to generation of fat. Excess glucose is converted by the liver in to glycogen (a storable form of glucose). This compound is stored in the liver. Excess glycogen is converted in to fat and sent for storage under the skin (subcutaneous fat).

Abdominal fat: refers to the excess fat stored in the abdominal region. This is of greater importance as far as influence on disease processes is concerned compared to fat located in other parts of the body. Now it is well known that pear shaped body is healthier than the apple shaped body. In fact, the healthy waist measurement for Asian men is less than 36 inches and for Asian women is less than 32 inches. For non Asian men and women the criteria are different - please click here. So it is clear that there is a lot of scope for marketers to market products and services that will help reduce waist circumference.

I am sure that humanity will win the battle against excess fat with Yoga, pranayama and ayurveda helping in this dimension. Thanks for reading this post, please scroll down and click on older posts, when required, to read other posts.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP WORKS!!

Here we see two photos of a LCD screen in a pharmacy (at Balaji Medicals, Bangalore at top, and Yasho Pharma, Bangalore at bottom) that informs patients, and helps in "in-store" advertising. A fellow Bangalorean - PRAVEEN JAIN (Click here) a chartered accountant by qualification, quit his high paying job at KPMG, and donned the role of an entrepreneur to found a firm emediagenie.

I met up with Praveen Jain in the recent past, and I found his high energy entrepreneurial drive very inspiring.

Praveen comes from a typical middle class to upper middle class background from Bangalore. His elder brother is a pharmacist. Praveen worked with KPMG as a consultant and has worked with VCs for about 40 deals. He honed his skills in working on the nitty gritty of business plans while at KPMG.

Then ... the entrepreneurial bug bit him!!

While sitting casually with his brother in the pharmacy, he realized there was a potential to help marketers address the waiting patient population (at the counter) through something beyond danglers and posters - that are routine. He was on to something dynamic, contemporary, EXCITING, and engaging that would help patients, and at the same time boost sales of OTC (over-the-counter) and OTX (prescription plus over-the-counter) brands. The answer was a LCD SCREEN for "in-pharmacy" advertising.

IT IS SAID: IT IS EASY TO CONCEIVE BUT DIFFICULT TO DELIVER

Praveen no doubt, had a very good business idea and a high potential business concept. But it was one thing to conceive, but another thing to put the plan in to action ... as a profit making enterprise.

Praveen's experience at KPMG came in handy. He developed a very good database of chemists at Bangalore, then used a robust CRM software to maintain the database, and create his business plan. His CRM (customer relationship management) software is critical to his business operations, as it is updated constantly for ROI (return on investment) and is used for strategy development.

At first, Praveen found it difficult to convince potential advertisers to sign up, and chemists to agree to put up the LCD screen. He nevertheless persevered - initially through his contacts and his first LCD screen was at his brother's pharmacy.

Many small OTC brands warmed up to the idea, to begin with. Chemists who were at first skeptical, however, began to see the LCD screen as an ally to promote their store label and since the content was dynamic where in patients would get health tips and other useful information in the display, the idea was accepted, and the goodness of this concept spread word-of-mouth to other pharmacies too.

Internationally this idea is in vogue

In USA, Accent Health (a part of CNN) is into LCD based marketing communication, their area of focus is the patients' waiting room in clinics and hospitals. Globally, there are other operators in pharmacies like, Focus Media in China, Life Pharmacy in New Zealand, The Pharmacy Channel in UK and USA (which is the world's first and largest in the area of pharmacy screens), and Pharmacia in Italy.

ROI is the key

Praveen believes that it is imperative that he tracks the brand sales of advertised brands in pharmacies when it is advertised on his LCD screen. And this feedback is given to the advertisers to justify the ROI. The ad spend is well accounted for - and this is feeding the success of emediagenie. For eg., a diagnostic blood sugar aid as increased the sales by 8 to10 times after advertising. A small pain-massage oil brand has shown 3 to 5 times sales jump. Similarly, other brands have increased sales significantly. Pharmacies have found that this has added to the in-pharmacy atmospherics, they have gained through increased footfalls, and overall higher sales. In the current context of increased competition between pharmacies, audience engagement is very vital to increase the footfalls in pharmacies. emediagenie is helping pharmacies in this direction through novel advertorials like quizes for patients and the pharmacy providing the gifts to the winners, the winners photos being put up on the LCD screen etc. The sales data monitoring is constant and updated in Praveen's CRM software consistently. Belonging to the cyber savvy generation, Praveen has started using the CRM software from the word go and is a key component of his future business activities. Praveen has started building a digital nervous system in the activities of his enterprise.

Overall, Praveen's dalliance with marketing communication business is novel and is helping advertised brands through good growth in incremental sales and brand building. GREAT GOING PRAVEEN, BEST OF LUCK!! Praveen has successfully redefined point-of-purchase pharmacy advertising in India. For interested persons, Praveen's email id is: praveen@emediagenie.com

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ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEYS

I got the above inspiring image from HERE.

Entrepreneurship is the major trend of our times in India, and the need of the hour too. Narayanmurthy, Chief Mentor, Infosys, an icon among entrepreneurs was asked recently on CNBC (Hindi) – what is better - capitalism or socialism? In his answer, he asked people to look beyond these ‘isms’ – his reflection was that entrepreneurship was the remedy to most of India’s socio-economic problems as entrepreneurship creates jobs and disposable income. This in turn helps drive a country’s economy, and helps solve socio-economic problems.

An interesting Pharma entrepreneur is MR. NITIN SHAH, from the land of entrepreneurs – GUJARAT. His company is UNISON PHARMACEUTICALS, VATVA, GUJARAT. Operating only in Gujarat, this small company has a sizeable turnover in Gujarat – about Rs. 20 crores to Rs. 24 crores per annum. However, what is creating a major sensation is that as per the market buzz, a special ORG IMS prescription survey was done in Gujarat recently, and the finding was most remarkable: Unison gets the largest number of prescriptions in Gujarat, and beats even Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK), traditionally GSK enjoys the highest no. of prescriptions in India.

There are some interesting insights from the way Unison operates. The basic feature of Mr. Nitin’s business model is that the pricing strategy is very pocket-friendly, and this encourages patient compliance, thereby winning the prescriber’s favor. For instance, Unison’s Nimesulide (I forget the brand name) is forty paise per tablet to the patient, their Amlodipine + Atenolol combination (a branded item) is seventy one paise per tablet only - to the patient, their calcium carbonate tablets (branded again) are just Rs. 1.50 per tablet to the patient, and this product has a retail offer of 30% too; doctors are happy to prescribe Unison’s products as they help generate value-for-money prescriptions, and this increases patients’ confidence and faith in the prescriber. Nowadays, patients are all too aware how prescribers favor brands in return for freebies or favors from companies. Hence, the erosion of trust between patient and prescriber is a very sensitive thing. Unison wins on this count.

Unison has a handsome sampling policy: each interested doctor gets a minimum sample pack of a month’s course of a product. Most of the products are sampled to the doctors. The gifts given out by Unison are not big ones – just the routine kind of stuff (like pens) that help build relationships with prescribers. The most amazing thing about Unison is that from places like Anand with population of just 1 to 1.5 lakh, the rupee yield is Rs. 4.0 lakhs to Rs. 5.0 lakhs per month per MR.

The really amazing stuff about Unison is yet to come…

Mr. Nitin has appointed an old friend of his as the marketing co-ordinator. This gentleman transacts with the authorized stockists to obtain the primary orders, and receives the monthly stock and sales statements reflecting the secondary sales (from stockist to retailers). The MRs of Unison are instructed not to visit the stockists. They are advised to only meet the doctors and create the demand for the products. The secondary stock and sales statement information is available to the MR from the company. There are no sales targets for MRs - their job is only to promote aggressively! And the result is there for the Pharma industry to see!! Unison has the largest no. of prescriptions in Gujarat - more than even GSK!!!

Mr. Nitin is following a MR friendly man-management policy. He gives a good pay-packet, annual paid-vacation for the family, and good incentives too.

It does help that Mr. Nitin is a former successful MR himself. Now, just imagine the impact on healthcare in India, if you have a Unison type of company in every state of India!!

In fact, new resurgent India sees another phenomenon: many experienced MRs are getting on to the entrepreneurial bandwagon either through the propaganda-cum-distribution route or franchisee marketing route. As one MR said to me, today senior MRs are becoming directors directly. For instance, I met up with a MR of a small company, who was earning about Rs. 12,000 per month average. He then left the job and started franchisee marketing, and makes about Rs. 25,000 per month excluding Rs. 5000/-, which he spends on 'thanksgiving' gifts to prescribers.

Malvinder Singh is another ‘whos-who’ Pharma entrepreneur of India creating waves globally. It appears that one's approach to entrepreneurship or one's style of entrepreneurship is certainly influenced by genetics: Malvinder Singh’s decision to sell-off the promoter stake to Daiichi Sankyo is reminiscent of his grandfather’s (Bhai Mohan Singh), vice versa -decision to take-over Ranbaxy. As such, Ranbaxy was started by cousins Gurbax Singh and Ranjit Singh. Bhai Mohan Singh was the financier. Initially, Ranbaxy was a distributor for another Japanese company A Shionogi. (It is a curious coincidence to see the Jap connection again, where in Daiichi Sankyo is a Japanese company). When the cousins were in a financial bother, and unable to pay up their dues to Bhai Mohan Singh, the cousins suggested Bhai Mohan Singh may take control of the company in lieu of the dues. And Bhai Mohan Singh sensing a financial kill took over the company reins. Rest as they say is history. Bhai Mohan Singh’s illustrious son Dr. Parvinder Singh along with his committed team, took the company to great heights. Bhai Mohan Singh’s investment flowered even better. It appears Bhai Mohan Singh had great financial acumen, as can be evidenced from the fact, that Shri Bhai Mohan Singh was interested in even manufacturing and marketing consumer health care products like the toothpaste (considering that the national toothpaste market is Rs. 2500 crores per annum turnover market with Colgate having about half the market share, it would have been a good investment for Ranbaxy to enter in this domain too at that time). However, Dr. Parvinder Singh’s vision was clear, and that was to be focused on the pharmaceutical domain. Here we see two styles of entrepreneurship – while Bhai Mohan Singh’s style was focused on financials, Dr. Parvinder Singh, his son, was a technocrat – visionary. Malvinder Singh’s decision seems to be genetically inspired (!). Malvinder Singh has sensed a financial kill to reap a harvest (Rs. 10,000 crores is very big money), that may be inspired by his grandfather’s legacy; and Malvinder Singh through the decision to sell the promoter stake, has also ensured that Ranbaxy now scales even greater heights, and this may be inspired by his father’s legacy. The marriage between Daiichi Sankyo and Ranbaxy is a best-of-the-two-worlds match: generics plus innovator products.

All in all we observe two very interesting entrepreneurial stories above. Thanks for reading this blogpost, please scroll down, click on OLDER POSTS, when required to read all other posts. Thanks. This blogpost is put up at 7.45 pm on 23.6.2008, from the friendly neighborhood cyber centre.

SELL OUT!!

The shock news of Ranbaxy sell out to Daiichi Sankyo is yet to sink in ... the pharma community is in a tizzy, do read the interesting EIGHT COMMANDMENTS OF DAIICHI SANKYO - BELOW!!! A new phase in Pharma India has begun...

Our Eight Commitments
To realize our corporate vision, as we keep our mission in mind, we have identified three directives for action and eight commitments that each member of the DAIICHI SANKYO Group should use as the basis for making proper value judgments.
The three directives for action are “aspiration for innovation,” “good faith,” and “enthusiasm.” “aspiration for innovation” is the wellspring of our being.
Also, “good faith” is a duty we must fulf ill, and “enthusiasm” is a quality our actions should have.
Based on these three directives for action, we have formulated eight commitments. When making judgments, each member of the DAIICHI SANKYO Group should go back to these three directives for action and eight commitments before embarking on a course of action.

Aspiration for Innovation “What We Are All About”
1.To create first-in-class and best-in-class drugs
2.To take a global perspective and respect local values
3.To have academic curiosity and foresight

Good Faith “Our Duty”
4. To provide high-quality medical information
5. To provide a stable supply of high-quality pharmaceutical products
6. To be a trusted medical partner

Enthusiasm “Our Culture”
7. To express a strong desire to achieve our goals
8. To act as professionals and demonstrate strong teamwork

The sin economy and healthcare biz

I GOT THE ABOVE INTERESTING IMAGE FROM HERE.

Businessworld has been one of my favorite mags. The articles are superbly researched and always different. A breakthrough article has been published recently on the SIN ECONOMY (CLICK HERE). Briefly put, it refers to the at least Rs. 3 lakh crore (about 1/10^th of Indian GDP) business involving marketing of products and services relating to intoxication (alcohol and tobaccoism), gambling, and sleaze. In India, the sin economy is about 1/10^th of the GDP, while in USA it is just 1% of the 13.8 trillion dollar GDP.

Tobacco smoking and consumption is worth about Rs. 1,50,000 crores with 32% growth; ITC (makers of Gold Flake brand of cigarettes), sell 7 out of the 10 cigarettes in India, and ITC has shown 20% to 21% growth in sales and profits.

Alcohol (both country liquor and brands) consumption has an annual turnover of Rs. 11,401 crores. This biz is growing fast, beer shows 15% to 16% growth. DINK (double income and no kids) couples are driving the consumption. Alcohol czars are laughing all the way to the bank. United Breweries (of Bangalore, owning the Kingfisher brand – the beverage and airline brand) has trebled its profits in 2007 -2008.

Gambling is huge biz, satta (or matka) is popular during cricket matches. Online gambling businesses like Playwin has annual turnover of Rs. 2400 crores (this business arm dwarfs the other businesses of the group like Zee TV and packaging)

Sleaze refers to the illicit sex business, estimated to be Rs. 2000 crores per annum in turnover. There are estimated 30 lakh sex workers (40% being children), and the sleaze industry is estimated to show 40% to 45% growth.

So the conclusion is that the sin economy is a major trend and has wide implications for the healthcare businesses.

Smoking tobacco - a major health hazard. Smoking or consumption of tobacco orally as gutka or with paan is addictive. Consuming tobacco plays with the level of the neurotransmitters or chemicals of the nervous system (including the brain). Gives a sense of pleasure and the result is both physiological and psychological craving for the nicotine kick. The WHO has estimated that one third of the world smokes cigarettes. So that 's a CHAMPION market for you! (pun intended!!).

The trouble with alcohol is that first you take the drink, then the drink takes the drink, and finally the drink takes you (based on a Japanese proverb). Alcohol consumption with moderation are said to have benefits for the cardiovascular system. However, its addiction potential makes it a curse rather than manna. Alcoholism causes social problems (and remember, health is defined as a sense of physical, mental, and social well-being by WHO), and physically, alcoholism causes sluggish liver to fatty liver, then hepatitis (inflammation of the liver) and finally fibrosis of the liver or cirrhosis. Being the chief organ of detoxification, the LIVER is the first organ to bear the brunt of alcohol ill effects. Once the liver is affected, life force itself is affected. It is not without reason that the bard of Avon (William Shakespeare) referred to the liver as the seat of emotions. In fact, in Elizabethan times, it was said that the person who could not love had a weak liver.

Increased consumption of alcohol causes problems to the heart and blood vessels, and brain functions.

Both alcohol and cigarette smoking are anti-reproductive system. It is as if, nature does not want people to abuse these toxins. These repro-toxins cause low sperm count, reduce sperm motility, and cause erectile dysfunction. In females too the effects are devastating. Alcohol and tobaccoism are well known to cause cancer.

Thus, sin economy is boosting the healthcare businesses in India. The vast no. of healthcare problems due to intoxication (booze and tobacco), gambling (with its neuropsychiatry implications), and sleaze (causative of infections, and weakened immunity) are feeding the healthcare biz.

The SIN ECONOMY points to the vast potential for neuropsychiatry related pharma products and supplements

The iron grip of sin economy in Indian society points to the amazingly huge potential for neuropsychiatry products (both drugs and supplements). The sin economy is actually feeding on sadness, stress, anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia that are under-diagnosed and under-treated in India. In fact, the growth of the Indian sin economy can be stunted by market building marketing initiatives for neuropsychiatry products. (it won't be an exaggeration to say that the abuse of Corex is due to neuropsychiatric problems.) The sinonimics or the economics of sin product consumption can be replaced by consumption of herbal support products like ashwagandha and brahmi for management of mental stresses. Alcohol or smoking is not the answer for the mundane and extraordinary problems of life.

SIN ECONOMY VERSUS SPIRITUAL ECONOMY

The use of yoga and other spiritual techniques to tackle the challenges of life is a part of spiritual economy. What Sri Sri Ravishankar and Swami Ramdev are doing, - are tackling the challenges to health and well-being through spiritual techniques. However, the adoption of spiritual techniques for management of life's challenges requires an evolved mindset. Popping health supplements or drugs will always have more adoption. So spiritual economy will have its place in the scheme of things but will not cannibalize the consumption of healthcare goods and services significantly.

Boom-Boom is the growth of healthcare economy

Estimates are that the Indian herbal healthcare market will reach Rs. 14500 crores in India by 2012, and the herbal exports will reach Rs. 9000 crores. Hence the herbal segment and wellness market is seeing a lot of action - Yash Birla is interested in the wellness market, Himalaya has launched its fourth SBU (Zera), to address the rural market (basically towns and villages below 5 lakhs population are under penetrated; rural refers to places equal or below 10,000 population), and the TATAs are in league with FRLHT and Dept. of Science and Technology to strengthen the herbal-yoga-Ayurveda healthcare stream. As per ORG IMS, till Dec 2007, the Indian pharma industry has grown to Rs. 31038 crores, Dec 2007 MAT, and the CAGR for four years works to 13%.

WHY THIS AMAZING INTEREST IN HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY?

Simple, look at the balance sheets - RANBAXY has for year ending Dec. 2007, reported net income of Rs. 4778.30 crores with a profit before tax of Rs. 774 crores and profit after tax of Rs. 617.72 crores; BIOCON for the year ending March 2008 (FY 2007 - 2008) reported net sales Rs. 1090.20 crores, with profit of Rs. 463.91 crores!

Now look at the balance sheet of a very respected automobile parts company SUNDARAM FASTENERS (this company is a part of the highly disciplined and high profile TVS group), it has net sales of Rs. 1207.70 crores and profit before tax of Rs. 102 crores and profit after tax of Rs. 69.50 crores.

SO IT IS CLEAR THAT IT IS ALL ABOUT MONEY, HONEY!! The healthcare biz provides a comparatively very good profitable business opportunity!! AND WITH THE SIN ECONOMY TREND BEING POWERFUL IN INDIA, THE BEST DAYS FOR HEALTHCARE BUSINESS OPERATORS ARE YET TO COME!!!

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