In conversation with young talent awarded by business mint for “Excellence in Marketing: Respiratory” during “Nationwide Pharma Marketing Excellence Awards”

Business Mint- INDIA’S LEADING & MOST CREDIBLE MARKET RESEARCH FIRM annually conducts “Nationwide Pharma Marketing Excellence Awards”. The purpose behind the award is to acknowledge the outstanding contribution of a marketeer towards the brand building or an initiative devised to improve patient outcome.

Under the banner of the awards, we get an opportunity to interact with Mr. Vinus Patel, the winners of “Nationwide Pharma Marketing Excellence Awards” for “Excellence in Marketing: Respiratory”. Mr. Vinus is a distinguished marketeer, currently associated with the leading pharmaceutical organization, Cipla Ltd as a Senior Product Manager and bringing in rich experience of 8 years in marketing. He is scripting his marketing career in respiratory speciality with a special focus on diseases such as asthma & COPD. His outstanding talent got recognition due to his unique initiatives such as Foracort AIRQ camp. After congratulating him, for winning “Nationwide Pharma Marketing Excellence Awards” for “Excellence in Marketing-Respiratory”, We have had an informative dialogue with Mr. Vinus. I am sharing glimpse from insightful and inspiring conversation for the benefit of all reader.

                               

Q.1: Today you have been awarded as the best marketeer in the respiratory specialty, tell us, what inspired you to pursue a career in the profession of pharma marketing at first?

I started my journey with education in pharmacy. I was sure to have pharma as the core field. I chose marketing The Pharmaceutical Industry is a growth industry with a very excellent future. It is well known fact that Pharmaceutical Industries invest more in research and development than any other industry in the world. Working in industry will not give you the chance to have contact with patients, but you are producing something that has the potential to bring benefits to a whole population of patients. Pharmaceutical Industry seems to be an exciting and rewarding career.

Q.2: Can you tell us about your journey as a marketeer, your learning curve & what was that inflection point in the journey that transformed you into a successful marketeer?

I learnt, customer-first orientation, Insight and forsights are the stepping stone for building brand and is a never-ending journey. Connecting the dots across data sources to find insights and opportunities to improve our customers’ experiences across multi channels. I understand the importance of brand positioning and the role of insight in driving it,these things helped me to be more inclined towards Brand building and management.            

                                                                          

 

Q.3: Being a successful brand manager, according to you, what are the traits of trade that a brand manager should inculcate to excel?

There are multiple things that a brand manager should have, inclination towards

• understanding the customer, market and competition,
• Deeply understand the competitive landscape and likely futures and identify gaps and new spaces where we can drive a competitive advantage.
• Develop a  Differentiated positioning and story for our core brands based on market insights.
• Use insights to find the key issues, opportunities, drivers and leverages to set strategies for the

core brands.

• Focus on Portfolio expansion- Actively search and identify future ideas that can feed potential gaps in our existing portfolio and in line with future market trends.
• Actively involved in product launch and understanding what it takes to successfully launch new offerings in streamlined and agile way
• Focus on engaging with all the stakeholders along the customer journey

Q.4: For the year 2022, you have been awarded as the best marketeer in the respiratory Specialty, tell us something about you last year’s marketing initiatives that make you stand tall in this highly competitive industry.

Our role is to help patient live there life fully and in a simplified manner, this at Cipla Respiratory we have done through our breakthrough innovation

In respiratory diseases, the patients try to avoid inhalation therapy. With the help of our innovative drug-device combinations, we have simplified the patients life. We have introduced one of the simplest devices for the patients. For usual devices, the hand and the lungs should be synchronized to deliver the respective dose of the inhalation therapy. Our device is simple enough to meet the patient’s needs and ensures comfort at the same time. This initiative has really improved the uptake of inhalation therapy &  made patient’s life simple.

Q.5: How have your marketing initiatives improved the quality of life of the patients?

At Cipla, we constantly work towards ensuring access to high quality and affordable medicines to support patients in need. Which is why, we have been trusted by health care professionals and patients across geographies for the last 8 decades.

In respiratory portfolio, “Breathe Think Cipla” Over last 6 decades, Cipla is proud to have helped millions across the world to breathe free!!. Our unmatched presence across the care continuum and wide range of drug-device combinations have established us as the lung leader in India. Thus helping Millions Breathe Free.

Q.6: Every specialty has a typical success lever, according to you what are those levers of success in the respiratory specialty?

Despite of speciality, all doctor’s focus on how a product can simplify and ease their patients life, and at Cipla We strive to consistently make developments in the medical fraternity to spread awareness, shatter myths and empower patients to lead fuller lives. No efforts  is spared to make our products and doctor/patient services easier, better, more useful. Apart from this Wide spread availability, Focussing on unmet clinical needs of patients and  Our Breakthrough innovation in the form of drug-device combinations has helped patients realize their true potential and live unstoppable lives with the help of an inhaler.

Q.7: At last, what would you like to tell, the budding marketeers, hoping to carve out their career in pharma brand building?

I would like to tell budding marketeers is that main skill of the marketeer is working on Insights and Foresight. Keeping customer at a centre is today’s prime requirement, the 360 degrees approach to understand the customer, market and competition is of prime importance. A marketeer has to understand that, everything starts with the customer. It is not enough to be different, first, fastest, cheapest or even the best if your product is not relevant.

For a successful marketeer, we all have to  understand customers’ current and future beliefs, needs, motivations and barriers to engagement, &  with help of  brands, we should  try to work on the solution for addressing  the needs and beliefs, these will surely help  &  build winning  brands, portfolios and businesses , which will last for  decades and retain a competitive position in market place.