FINAL PROJECT REPORT

ON

DIGITAL MARKETING IN INDIAN

PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
In partial fulfillment of University of
Mumbai

UNDER THE GUIDANCE

OF PROF. ANNIE PILLAI

SUBMITTED BY
PRASHANT
GAMRE ROLL NO:
MMM-12
MMM SEMV (2014
-2017)

GURU NANAK INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

Matunga (East), Mumbai400019

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the study presented by PRASHANT

GAMRE to the University of Mumbai in part completion of the
three year part time degree of MMM under the title of Digital
Marketing In Indian Pharmaceutical Industry

has been

done under my guidance.

To the best of my knowledge this project is in the nature of
original work that has not been submitted for any degree of
this University or any other University.

Signature of the
Candidate
(PRASHANT GAMRE)

Forwarded through the Research

Guide

Signature
Guide

of

the

(PROF. ANNIE PILLAI)

ACKNOWLEDGE
MENT
This research was the fruit of experiment and experience and it goes a long way to modeling
a person and gaining a new insight in that field of research. In this rewarding experience, one
recognizes the help and support rendered by kind heart behind its success.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and deep regard to my
project guide Prof. ANNIE PILLAI for her exemplary guidance, valuable feedback and
constant encouragement throughout the duration of the project. Her valuable suggestions
were of immense help throughout my project work. Her perceptive criticism kept me working
to make this project in a much better way. Working under her was an extremely
knowledgeable experience for me.
I would also like to give my sincere gratitude to all the friends and colleagues who filled in
the survey, without which this research would be incomplete.
Lastly I would like to thanks my beloved parents, my sister and almighty god for being us all
through the project work

(PRASHANT M GAMRE)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Pharmaceutical companies operate in a regulated environment which poses constraints
in the nature of promotional and marketing activities they can pursue. Thus, most
pharmaceutical promotional initiatives consist of Below the-Line (BTL) activities with an
objective to engage their customer segment the healthcare professionals with a positive
brand experience. The world over, pharmaceutical companies are experimenting with the
digital medium to capture the attention, create unique brand engagements and clock brand
equity with health care professionals. A significant number of publications have documented
and established the increased interest and usefulness of digital marketing in pharmaceutical
promotion globally; however, data with regard to the readiness and attitudes of
pharmaceutical marketing professionals in India to embrace digital marketing tools is rather
scarce. Thus, this study attempts to tap the mind-set of Indian marketing professionals in the
pharmaceutical industry and assess the momentum digital marketing has as a promotional
lever.
Researchers of this study jointly have 7 years of experience in Pharmaceutical
marketing and promotions in both Indian and MNC Companies. We believe that this study
will serve as an important milestone that provides relevant and useful insights for
pharmaceutical marketing professionals in India to help them gauge the usefulness of digital
marketing as a promotional tool.

TABLE OF
CONTENT
Sr.No
1

Conte
nt
Indian Pharma industry: An overview

What is digital marketing?

Introduction: Digital marketing

in Indian pharmaceutical
industry
Study Focus &Objective of the study

Page
No.
1-2

3-5

6-8

9-12

Literature
review

13-26

The
hypothesis

27

Limitation and scope of the study

Research and sampling

Design
Data collection methods & Data analysis
technique
Finding of the survey Questionaries

28

29

30-42

10

Recommendations & Conclusion

43-44

12

Bibliography & Questionaries Format

45-49

INDIAN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY : AN

OVERVIEW
The Indian pharmaceuticals market is the third largest in terms of volume and thirteenth
largest in terms of value, as per a report by Equity Master. India is the largest provider of
generic drugs globally with the Indian generics accounting for 20 per cent of global exports
in terms of volume. Of late, consolidation has become an important characteristic of the
Indian pharmaceutical market as the industry is highly fragmented. India enjoys an important
position in the global pharmaceuticals sector. The country also has a large pool of scientists
and engineers who have the potential to steer the industry ahead to an even higher level.
Presently over 80 per cent of the antiretroviral drugs used globally to combat AIDS
(Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome) are supplied by Indian pharmaceutical firms. The
UN-backed Medicines Patent Pool has signed six sub-licences with Aurobindo, Cipla,
Desano, Emcure, Hetero Labs and Laurus Labs, allowing them to make generic anti-AIDS
medicine TenofovirAlafenamide(TAF) for 112 developing countries.
Market Size
The Indian pharma industry, which is expected to grow over 15 per cent per annum between
2015 and 2020, will outperform the global pharma industry, which is set to grow at an annual
rate of 5 per cent between the same period. The market is expected to grow to US$ 55 billion
by 2020, thereby emerging as the sixth largest pharmaceutical market globally by absolute
size, as stated by Mr Arun Singh, Indian Ambassador to the US. Branded generics dominate
the pharmaceuticals market, constituting nearly 80 per cent of the market share (in terms of
revenues).India has also maintained its lead over China in pharmaceutical exports with a
year-on-year growth of 11.44 per cent to US$ 12.91 billion in FY 2015-16, according to data
from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Imports of pharmaceutical products rose
marginally by 0.80 per cent year-on-year to US$ 1,641.15 million. Overall drug approvals
given by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to Indian companies have nearly
doubled to 201 in FY 2015-16 from 109 in FY 2014-15. The country accounts for around 30
per cent (by volume) and about 10 per cent (value) in the US$ 70-80 billion US generics
market. India's biotechnology industry comprising bio-pharmaceuticals, bio-services, bioagriculture, bio-industry and bioinformatics is expected grow at an average growth rate of
around 30 per cent a year and reach US$ 100 billion by 2025. Biopharma, comprising
vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, is the largest sub-sector contributing nearly 62 per
cent of the total revenues at Rs 12,600 crore (US$ 1.88 billion).
1|Pag
e

Increasing investments in the sector

The Indian pharmaceuticals market increased at a CAGR of 17.46 per cent in 2015 from
US$ 6 billion in 2005 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 15.92 per cent to US$ 55
billion by 2020.
By 2020, India is likely to be among the top three pharmaceutical markets by incremental
growth and sixth largest market globally in absolute size.
Indias cost of production is significantly lower than that of the US and almost half of that
of Europe. It gives a competitive edge to India over others.

2|Pag
e

WHAT IS DIGITAL MARKETING

Digital marketing is an umbrella term for the marketing of products or services using digital
technologies, mainly on the Internet, but also including mobile phones, display advertising,
and any other digital medium.
The way in which digital marketing has developed since the 1990s and 2000s has
changed the way brands and businesses utilize technology and digital marketing for their
marketing. Digital marketing campaigns are becoming more prevalent, as digital platforms
are increasingly incorporated into marketing plans and as people use digital devices instead
of going to physical shops.
Digital marketing activities are search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing
(SEM), content marketing, influencer marketing, content automation, campaign marketing,
and e-commerce marketing, social media marketing, social media optimization, e-mail direct
marketing, display advertising, ebooks, optical disks and games, and any other form of
digital media. It also extends to non-Internet channels that provide digital media, such as
mobile phones (SMS and MMS), callback and on-hold mobile ring tones.
Advantage of digital marketing over Traditional marketing
1. Level playing field: Any business can compete with any competitor regardless of size
with a solid digital marketing strategy. Traditionally a smaller retailer would struggle to
match the finesse of the fixtures and fittings of its larger competitors. Online, a crisp well
thought out site with a smooth customer journey and fantastic service is king not size.
2. Reduced cost: Your business can develop its online marketing strategy for very little cost
and can potentially replace costly advertising channels such as Yellow Pages, television,
radio and magazine.
3. Simple to measure: Unlike traditional methods you can see in real time what is or is not
working for your business online and you can adapt very quickly to improve your results.
For measuring traffic to your site you can use Google Analytics to measure specific goals you
want to achieve for your website or blog and most packaged email marketing solutions
provide good insight into how many people are opening, reading and converting from your
emails.

3|Pag
e

4. Real time results: you dont have to wait weeks for a boost to your business like you
would have to waiting for a fax or form to be returned. You can see the numbers of visitors
to your site and its subscribers increase, peak trading times, conversion rates and much more
at the touch of a button.
5. Refinement of your strategy:

Basically anything that you capture in your customer

journey can be reported on and honed for greater success at the fraction of the cost of
traditional marketing. After all, how annoying is it to get a couple of forms returned from a
mailshot. Marketing online enables you to refine your strategy at any point in time and see
any improvements or opportunities for further refinement almost instantaneously.
6. Brand Development: A well maintained website with quality content targeting the needs
and adding value to your target audience can provide significant value and lead generation
opportunities. The same can be said for utilising social media channels and personalised
email marketing.
7. Far greater exposure: your business can be seen anywhere in the world from one
marketing campaign, the cost to do this using traditional method would be considerable. Plus
once you have optimised the key word search content in your website you should see a longterm return on your investment and will be fairly low cost to maintain your ranking.
8. Viral: how often do your sales flyers get passed around instantly by your customers and
prospects? Online, using social media share buttons on your website, email and social media
channels enables your message to be shared incredibly quickly, just look how effective it is
for sharing breaking news. If you consider the average Facebook user has 190 friends of
which an average of 12% see their liked posts your one message has actually been seen by
15 new prospects, now imagine a number of them also like and share your message and their
friends do the same? Mind blowing isnt it. However a word of caution, bad news can travel
much quicker so make sure you have a risk management strategy to tackle negative press as
soon as it is circulated.
9. Not Intrusive: I know most people hate receiving sales mailshots or phone calls at
inconvenient times on stuff that they have little interest in. Online people get the choice to
opt in or out of communications and often it are relevant because they were the ones
searching for it in the first place. Also, have you ever got frustrated receiving a regular email
4|Pag
e

on a topic that interests and adds value to you? Nor me so dont underestimate the power of
market segmentation and tailored marketing.
10. Greater engagement: With digital marketing you can encourage your prospects, clients
and followers to take action, visit your website, read about your products and services, rate
them, buy them and provide feedback which is visible to your market. So it doesnt take
long for good publicity to enhance the prospects of your business.

5|Pag
e

Introduction: Digital Marketing In Indian Pharma

Industry
With the rise of interactive communications and digital connectivity, various challenges
have surfaced for the practice and theory of advertising and marketing. The nature of digital
media is communal, participatory and interactive, which warrants increasingly vibrant
advertising content novel forms of communication practices.
In addition to affecting Advertising in terms of measurement, investment, planning and
strategy, the proliferating Digital media in pharmaceutical broadly influences the overall
branding and marketing as it Necessitates the search for new ways by which marketers to
reach their customers and engage them further. These reasons make it critical to understand
the efficient and effective integration of digital media and marketing with other
communication means within the industry.
As digital media provides the opportunity for continuous interaction between customers
and marketers as well as open participation, it gives rise to various challenges like the
problems associated with measurement in addition to the coordination and control of content
and messages on the broad range of media.

In the case of India, digital media based

marketing is a concept that is still at a nascent stage, but one that is growing at a significant
pace. Therefore, more research in this area and how it will help the Indian pharmaceutical
industry will highly useful.
Pharma Prescription product selling is not B2B or B2C marketing, it B2CC marketing. We
have our customers (Doctors) and consumers (Patients) as a very different breed with
different knowledge set about the same need. Thus marketing efforts are completely different.
Different is still ok and interesting, but it becomes really challenging when we have a big R
in between all this. And that R is like a big hepa filter of marketing, which stands for
Regulatory. Its like a censor board for Aastha channel, making life miserable for many
marketers in Pharma. So essentially its B2RCCmarketing in Pharma. Digital has been a very
new entrant in Pharma Marketing space. From here on, B2RCC model is bound to get further
complicated, however early signs have been really great in India and across the globe. Till
date globally we have seen use of tech and its implementation in marketing for purpose of
HCP (Doctor) engagement, Disease awareness and Patient Adherence. Some of the global
campaigns on YouTube (like Take it from a FISH) and using Augmented Reality (Genz yme
AR for Patient Awareness) have really set the basics right, but in India, we have only seen
basics of Digital marketing like websites and App so far.
6|Pag
e

Considering the fact that we will see more and more Pharma and devices companies
investing in Digital Marketing, here are top 5 trends I see emerge in 2016. We have set the
ground, now lets raise the ceiling.
Top 5 Pharma Digital Marketing Trends for India in 2016:
1. From Quantum to Search on websites
For more than 5 years now industry websites have been providing a lot of medical content to
doctors. We have Knowledge Genie from Abbott dealing in Journal publications and articles,
e-subscriptions and similar space, Univadis from MSD providing access to Lancet, Pubmed,
Video Interviews, e-CMEs and what not. All this will soon start shifting towards an end.
Though a very potent strategy till now, online content is increasing in quantum and thus
ensuring difficult to search. Companies will now start focusing on more personalized content,
which will happen by tweaks in way they code their sites to understand user behaviour and
navigation. Features like social media collaborations and what your region reads will come in
handy.
2. ROI on Apps
Till date having an app was a differential. One of the industry data shows that more than 50%
investment on tech from Pharma goes to Mobile apps, and also more than 50% of this
investment has no mechanism to calculate ROI. This will and has to change now. Companies
and teams are showing less enthusiasm to build an app for the sake of building an app. Which
is really good? Now the model will shift from building an app to focus on Engagement on
existing App, Downloads and usage. Also not to forget why we make such apps, to benefit
the Patient/Doctor, this part you will see being solved more and more in coming years. If
none of these numbers are meeting the expectations companies will start focusing on
discontinuing their existing app assets.
3. Oculus Rift
From Gaming to healthcare Oculus Rift is a virtual reality head mounted display headset.
You wear this headset and it feels like you are right there in that scenario. This tech has been
used in Gaming for some time now, but with consumer driven product like Oculus Rift and
its increasing availability in India in 2016, we will see many agencies proposing this tech,
and many Pharma using this at Medical conferences. Its use` will range from explaining
doctors mechanism of action to surgical procedures. The difference of this tech from AV tool
is that you can actually have a 360 degree view with this and feel like being there in vivo.

7|Pag
e

4. Digital marketing for Doctors

You cant miss out on this one if you want to survive in todays ever changing scenario. You
would have heard of Sermo and doximity in US. These are essentially doctor networking
platforms in US. They are extensively used by Pharma industry as a marketing and market
research tools. In India too we have seen more than 1 lac doctors networking online. With
that mass bound to grow 2 fold at least and platforms like DocPlexus, Curofy and more
getting funded in double figures, Pharma is bound to come on board with these platforms.
5. IVR and Telemedicine
This one more than a trend will pop out as a necessity for Pharma Industry. NLEM is a reality
now with government pushing more and more drugs in Pharma into price control. Several
premium products are now priced at half than what they were 2 years back. Only way for
them to grow is by increasing access. We need to find a way to reach 65% of our population
where healthcare access has not reached, and what better way to do that, other than using
Handset which most of the rural population now have. Using mobile for IVR messages to
spread awareness and supporting slur of start-ups in their telemedicine initiatives will be a
mandate for Pharma companies.

8|Pag
e

Research Focus
According to UDA (2012) the pharmaceutical industry provides an appealing context to this
Study with its recent experience of quick growth (30.4%) in online marketing investments.
Alkhateeb et al., (2010) contends that pharmaceutical companies are adopting new online
media such as electronic detailing (e-detailing) appropriate for the promotion of medicines to
Physicians. Even though online medical marketing has a very low share, it permits the
investigation of up-and-coming practices of digital marketing in large and established
markets. The Pew Research Internet and American Life Project (2011) noted that online
health information is sought by eight of ten internet users.
Subsequently, Fox (2011) observed that online health information is sought by
approximately 60% of all American adults. Fox and Jones (2009) further reported that 41%
of patients read the experiences of others on social media corresponding to their medical
or health issues. This provides the players in the health industry an opportunity for digital
media marketing. Even though the contemporary media has been used by various
pharmaceutical companies, caution is being maintained by them since there is lack of
guidance in terms of the use of digital marketing.
Schwartz (2011) contends that draft guidance is expected from the FDA, it has been delayed
twice from its intended release in the first quarter of 2011. In the year 2013, the Indian
pharmaceutical industry was valued at $ 12 billion. The Indian pharmaceutical industry is
driven by exports to the semi-regulated and regulated markets. The pharmaceutical industries
in India export their drugs to over 200 nations across the world and exports vaccines and
biopharmaceutical products to around 151 countries. When observed from an international
perspective, the Indian pharmaceutical industry ranks as the 3rd largest in terms of volume
and the 14th largest in terms of value. However, the Pharma sector in India is highly
fragmented as the top 10 companies contribute to over 41% of the total sales. Furthermore,
the next 10 companies contribute to about 22% of the overall sales. The sales demographics
show that a majority of the pharma products are sold in urban centres (60%), while the
remaining amount is sold in rural regions. According to the statistics, the markets for
pharmaceutical products in tier 1 cities in urban centres are growing at an annual rate of 10%,
whereas the rural areas are growing at 14.5% every year. The main factors that are
contributing to this growth is the increase in access to healthcare, better infrastructure and the
greater efforts by the pharma industry to penetrate and access markets that have not been
accessed yet. However, despite their efforts, the pharmaceutical industry in India is facing a
number of challenges that are continuing to slow the growth of sales for the pharma
9|Pag
e

companies. In order for the pharmaceutical companies to succeed in such a complex

environment, it is necessary for the companies to take a customer centric view to re-look at
the value proposition for each major customer segments. The pharma companies have to look
towards developing and forming unique forms of connecting with the consumers using
advanced mechanisms like sales force engagements, consolidation of field force,
strengthening marketing channels with adoption of digital marketing, and organise patient
education programs. The use of digital marketing by Indian pharmaceutical companies is
further unclear.
The digital health of the Indian pharma industry was published in a report by the Indian
Pharma Digital Health Report 2015'. According to this report, the digital map was done to
help determine the loopholes, design a plan to resolve these loopholes and help implementing
these plans as part of the decision making process. The report also made a significant
observation which was that although the major pharmaceutical companies do maintain a
presence in the social media platforms, their level of active engagement with consumers
remains quite low.
Only nine out of 40 companies managed a score above 50 out of 100
Only eight companies have India-specific Facebook page
Google+ has high presence of 87 per cent, but only one company is active
Twitter showcases 52 per cent active management (India and global handles)
LinkedIn, most popular social media platform, but only 14 are active
Therefore, it can be argued that though there has been an increase in use of different channels
of marketing, the acceptance of the digital platform for marketing purposes has been rather
high in other industries, in comparison to Pharma industry. This can be assumed as the reason
why the pharma industry is being cautious in its use, in addition to the uncertainties of the
regulatory framework that did not supported the industry while other industries used it
aggressively (PWC, 2013). However, aggressive use can be seen in only those companies that
have integrated digital marketing into their corporate strategy. In order to understand the
usage a primary step can be the understanding of the models of other companies. Pitfalls can
be avoided if compliance can be learnt from companies that have already started usage in this
area. Internal buy-ins and better compliance can be ensured significantly by integrated effort
throughout various divisions.
Considering a global view of how this sectors is affected by different media, the current
research aims at digital marketing and its role in the Indian pharmaceutical sector. The study,
10 | P a
ge

in particular, examines the way the confidence of prescription medicine doctors or physicians
regarding laboratory and drug brands is influenced by digital marketing efforts.

Study Context
Pharmaceutical companies operate in a regulated environment which poses constraints in the
nature of promotional and marketing activities they can pursue. Thus, most pharmaceutical
promotional initiatives consist of Below the-Line (BTL) activities with an objective to
engage their customer segment the healthcare professionals with a positive brand
experience. The world over, pharmaceutical companies are experimenting with the digital
medium to capture the attention, create unique brand engagements and clock brand equity
with health care professionals.
A significant number of publications have documented and established the increased interest
and usefulness of digital marketing in pharmaceutical promotion globally; however, data with
regard to the readiness and attitudes of pharmaceutical marketing professionals in India to
embrace digital marketing tools is rather scarce. Thus, this study attempts to tap the mind set
of Indian marketing professionals in the pharmaceutical industry and assess the momentum
digital marketing has as a promotional lever.

11 | P a
ge

Research Aim/Objectives of the Research:

The current studys aims are as follows:
To gather insights on the perception of Digital Marketing as a promotional lever
To understand the scope and context in which digital marketing is currently being
deployed
To gauge the motives and challenges for marketing professionals in adopting
pharmaceutical brand building.

12 | P a
ge

Review of Literature
1. Competencies of Digital Marketing: Do we have the skills?
Akar and Topcu (2011) contend that with the research into social media, the need for further
study has surfaced with specific focus on the use of social media for the purpose of
marketing. Reibstein et al., (2009) further add that research is also required to address the
needs of the industry so that the apparent gap between academia and industry, in terms of
marketing, can be bridged.
According to Reibstein et al. (2009) the collaboration between managers and scholars has
produced some of the best work in terms of the development of theories-in-use which, in
addition to succeeding in practical application are also academically rigorous. However,
Reibstein further identifies the need for collaboration between industry and academia. Crush
(2011) acknowledges the existence of significant trade comment that confirms training needs
with emphasis on the digital skills gapwithin the marketing field. Reibstein et al., (2009)
argues that marketing has been in constant demand of research so that the existing issues and
challenges in the field can be addressed along with practitioner concerns; while Valos et al.,
(2010) stress its need to handle skills shortage.
Digitisation has brought about several changes in the field. For instance, Brynjolfsson and
Schrage (2009) contend that, in comparison to undertaking focus groups, it is rather easier for
marketers to use Facebook for experimenting new ideas and garnering swift feedback in
greater numbers; while Mulhern (2009) contends it to be a better option than other traditional
research approaches. Wymbs (2011) argues that it has taken academia relatively longer to
integrate technological developments and marketing skills into the curriculum. In order to
address these gaps in skills and training, it is recommended that the courses provided by
professional marketing bodies be attended.
According to Day (2011) the development of Web 2.0 technologies resulted in a big change
in the form of the development of a river of information where individuals and businesses
have the opportunity to promote their blogs, reviews, opinions, services and products, which
in turn generates immense information. This implies that the marketing experts in future will
be required to have the skill of extracting useful information from all the information
available online.
According to Micu et al., (2011) marketing research is mainly conducted to tackle 80% of the
current issues; however, in the future, technology and people will have been developed by
themost advanced companies to fish the riverof existing information. Valos et al., (2010)
13 | P a
ge

contend that instead of gut-feel, opinion and conjecture, majority of the decisions will be
rather based on statistical heuristics and data-driven extrapolations. The current study
explores this statistical experimental continuum. According to Micu et al., (2011), in the
new world, even before business questions are formed, knowledge regarding it will already
be available. Mulhern (2009) thus conclude that it will be crucial to have effective
performance metrics, technical skills and, analytical skills. A major way through which
companies are conducting marketing research is through the aid of digital marketing
platforms. Thus, it is important to determine how pharmaceutical companies can use digital
media to market their products.
2. Meeting the needs of Digitally Empowered Consumers
The recent surge in online social networks is a major change in human interaction. With the
speedy growth of Web-based platforms assisting online social behaviour, there has been
significant modification in the nature of interactions habitats and activities of humans.
According to Budden et al., (2011) this shift towards digital dimension enables
communication between different cultures, individuals to entertain one another and share
knowledge. The question if people are signing in is outdated now; the question today is what
they are signing in to and why specific applications are being used to do the same.
According to Bayo-Moriones and Lera-Lpez (2007) if the perspective of consumer is taken
into consideration, numerous benefits are offered by the use of information communication
technologies, such as product diversity, cost reduction, competitive pricing, wide product
selection, richer and participative information, convenience and efficiency. These benefits are
further enhanced by online social networking as proactive communication by consumers is
possible. For instance, individuals can use online social networking to seek out others
opinions regarding particular products.
Berthon et al., (2012) further add that, in this process peer judgements are valued more by
consumers in comparison to firm promotions, which indicate that there is a shift in the locus
of persuasive power. India is a country that is seeing a rapid growth in the number of
individuals adopting the internet and using it to better their lives. The urban centre in India
has seen a sharp increase in the consumption of digital media. The rural areas are not too far
behind when compared to their urban counterparts. The speed and rate at which internet
penetration will happen in India will depend on a number of factors. However, it is widely
expected that the number of internet users in India will double from 190 million in 2014 to
400 million in 2018. Therefore, this growth rate is quite high and a majority of users who will
14 | P a
ge

be adopting the internet will be from the rural regions. It is expected that the internet user
base in the rural areas would increase by 40% every year - from 60 million in 2014 to 280
million in 2018. According to a survey conducted by BCGs Centre for Consumer and
Customer Insight, more than 50% of the individuals who have access to the internet have a
tendency to use the internet to make an informed decision before making a purchase. Thus,
the consumers are quickly getting used to taking advantage of the benefits that internet based
technology can give. As they get more comfortable with digital capabilities, their usage
patterns exhibit growth that belies age and other demographic variables (BCG, 2014).
Pharmaceutical companies can directly interact with consumers on social media and garner
attention towards some of their new products and the benefits of it.
3. Digital Revolutions and Business Models
The current business models are being threatened by the digital revolution. According to Day
(2011) business models elucidate how value is created by businesses by providing to
customers, and in turn capturing economic profits. Sorescu et al., (2011), in particular, define
business models as well-defined system of correlated process, activities and structures that
act as the organising logic of a firm for value appropriation (for itself and its partners) and the
creation of values (for its customers). Sorescu et al., (2011) further add that with business
model changes, both value appropriation and value creation along with its basic strategies are
affected, for instance, customer efficiency in terms of value creation and operational
excellence in terms of value appropriation. The field of retailing has rather had frequent
discussions pertaining to the effect of digitisation on business models. Rigby (2011) further
elucidated the future of shopping in a digital era. The business models of companies require
re-specification if the companies want to enable their customers to search and buy online. it
was observed from a convenience sample that, even though less than 5% of sales are
generated online by companies, digital marketing has proved to be an unruly force that has
the ability to profoundly impact the transformation of business models. The most significant
strategies that can address the challenges occurring with the frequency of technologies and
digital tools that threaten the current business models include the adaptation of the existing
business models to novel and/or disruptive technologies in addition to the integration of
technology and digital tools into the existing business models.

15 | P a
ge

4. Digital Marketing and Brand Health

In social networks, people can affect each other through intricate interpersonal/social
influences. According to Eck van at al., (2011) these influences can be normative or
informative, active or passive, and conscious or unconscious. This social influence is partly
reflected by word of mouth (WOM). Previously it was very difficult to measure the strong
effects of social influence. Chen et al., (2013) contend that various opportunities have been
offered by social media since its introduction for stimulating and measuring social
interrelations between customers.
Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) define social media as a collection of Internet-based applications
through which user-generated content can be created and exchanged. Chen et al., (2011)
further add that an incomparable platform is provided by social media to the customers for
publicising their personal evaluations of the products purchased which further assists in
word-of-mouth communication. deVries et al., (2012) argue that there is a general difference
between firm-initiated social media such as brand communities, and customer-initiated social
media such as blogs and reviews.
According to Nielsen (2007) since most forms of advertising are not trusted by
customers, social media makes it possible to make contact with a large audience at low cost,
which in turn enables the creation of trust.
Yoganarasimhan (2012) determined and confirmed the effects that social networks have on
adoption and retention of customers.
Risselada et al., (2014) argue that since the effects of social media are dependent on variable
types of contact with customers, the complexity of effects goes beyond linear effects. In the
case of India, statistics show that an average social media user spends about 2 hours and 25
minutes per day using social networks and micro blog. This represents a significant time that
an individual spends on social media. Time and opportunity that pharmaceutical companies
can make use of to get to the potential customers.

16 | P a
ge

5.

How Digital is Shaping the Future of Pharmaceutical Marketing

(Manhattan Research)

Technology has prompted drastic changes in the marketing world over the past decade, and
pharmaceutical marketing has not been excluded from this evolution. Faced with shifting
consumer and physician media preferences and shrinking budgets - what is a smart
pharmaceutical marketer to do? The task is best summed up by the words of English
naturalist Charles Darwin, It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most
intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change. So change you
must. The following paper overviews the latest consumer and physician digital health trends,
explores digital marketing examples, and shares helpful resources for staying up-to-date on
the latest digital pharma news and information.
Digital Health Trends Physician Market Trends
The first and still the most prevalent, pharmaceutical drug promotions were aimed at the
gatekeepers of the prescription pad - physicians. Traditionally, pharmaceutical companies
have deployed sales reps armed with product information and freebies to promote products to
doctors. But technology trends and changing media preferences are forcing pharmaceutical
companies to reassess how they reach and build relationships with physicians. In the past,
doctors were limited to offline materials like journals and references for accessing medical
information and news. But those days are long gone, and with just a click of a mouse or touch
of a screen, physicians have access to all of the resources they need to stay abreast of the
latest knowledge in the field. Internet-savvy physicians are no longer an emerging group
this market is at a saturation point, as nearly all physicians are online for professional
purposes weekly or more. In fact, the average physician now spends a full work day (eight
hours) per week using the Internet for professional reasons, a substantial jump from only 2.5
hours in 2002. The trend of shifting to digital channels is expected to continue, with
physicians reporting that they expect to increase their use of online resources in the near
future. Professional content that have been feeling the shift the most are clinical
textbooks/references, journals, conferences, news, and continuing medical education (CME).
Mobile technology has played a significant role in increasing physicians dependency on
online resources 64% of doctors own smartphones and are using them to supplement their
desk or laptop computer usage to be always on. Also, mobile devices help physicians to
access clinical resources at multiple points throughout their day, even to at the point of care.
Currently, physicians prefer to conduct easy tasks such as information-checking on mobile
17 | P a
ge

devices, while leaving more complex activities like CME for completion on their PCs. But as
mobile browsing capabilities improve, physicians will start to use smartphones for more
advanced activities than just reference purposes.

Physician engagement in Web 2.0 has been one of the hottest topics over the past few years.
As a group, physicians have acclimated themselves to advanced online activities, such as
watching streaming video and listening to podcasts, at a much faster rate than consumers.
Doctors are also catching the social media fever. Many are collaborating in online
communities designed specifically for healthcare professionals; participation in these
networks doubled between 2008 and 2009. Just as the professional channel mix is evolving,
so is the traditional physician-sales rep relationship. Physicians are no longer limited to inperson details for information and updates on pharmaceutical products, but can easily seek
out this type of information at any time via the Internet. In light of this, pharmaceutical
companies are offering physicians online customer services such as customer service portals,
live video reps, interactive detailing, and e-sampling. Sales reps are also digitalizing their
in-person visits with tools such as tablet PCs.
Consumer Market Trends:
Unlike physician marketing, DTC advertising in the U.S. is a fairly recent development, only
just about to reach the quarter-century club. And the DTC advertisements that we know today
have only cropped up in just over the past decade, after the FDA amended its legislation on
the amount of risk information required for drug companies to append to promotional
material. Similar to the physician market, an emerging breed of eHealth consumers those
using digital sources for health is transforming direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing. Like
in the case of the physician market, the consumer channels mix has been shifting significantly
18 | P a
ge

towards digital over the past decade. An ever-increasing plenitude of media sources has
ultimately given individuals the upper hand in controlling their information consumption,
lessening advertisers ability to reach a concentrated consumer mass through any one
channel. Television, magazines, and newspapers no longer dominate the news and
entertainment world as they once did. In fact, less than half of U.S. adults reports to watch
all of their television programs live on their TV set, indicating the growing popularity of
DVR, online video, and other alternative viewing channels. Following suit with the overall
consumer channel shift, individuals of all ages are turning to the Internet as tool to empower
healthcare decisions. This eHealth consumer market is not yet at the point of saturation, but
still is a substantial 60% of the U.S. adult population. Health 2.0 is one of the hottest areas of
online health. Over 60 million U.S. adults consume or contribute health-related social media
content, such as blogs, message boards, chat rooms, online patient support groups and other
networks. Patient online rating and reviewing of doctors, health insurance plans, hospitals,
and prescription drugs is one of the fasting growing Health 2.0 activities - and is helping
consumers to compare experiences and become more empowered in their personal healthcare
decisions. Consumers have not reached the same adoption levels as physicians when it comes
to smartphones and advanced mobile technologies beyond just the cell phone. But an early
adopter group of mHealth (mobile health) consumers is emerging, as already over 10 million
consumers use mobile devices for health and medical purposes. The mHealth trend has been
largely driven by a plethora of new health-related iPhone applications, ranging from weight
loss trackers to diabetes management tools to medication dosage references.
Beyond just looking up general health resources, 100 million consumers are online
specifically for pharmaceutical or prescription drug information. Individuals obtain this
information from a variety of sources, including blogs, insurance sites, general health portals,
government sites, Wikipedia, online communities, and of course the corporate and brand sites
of the product makers themselves.

19 | P a
ge

Online health and pharma digital trends are leading to better informed, more empowered
patients, and are impacting physician-patient interactions. Virtually all U.S. physicians report
that at least some of their patients bring health information they found online to an
appointment, and more than two-thirds of physicians believe that this trend is a good thing.
Additionally, the majority of physicians report they spend more time with a patient as a result
of the information they brought in to discuss. Traditional doctor-to-patient lectures are giving
way to two-way conversations between physicians and informed eHealth Consumers.

20 | P a
ge

ePharma Marketing Strategies Physician eMarketing Life Cycle:

Reach With sales rep access to physicians becoming increasingly narrower and the physician
channel mix more complex than ever, reach is one of the most challenging stages of the
physician marketing life cycle for marketers. Many are including more interactive advertising
in the marketing mix as a way to reach physician audiences, ranging from online display ads
to e-newsletter sponsorships to paid search ads and more.

Novo Nordisk promotes its CSP with paid search.

Acquisition:
Though gaining the attention of a target physician audience is a great thing, the next step is
actually prompting them to take action. Driving physicians to a customer service portal (CSP)
or product website for more information is a great way to ensure that interested parties are
taking the next step towards conversion. These sites in a way serve as the hub of the
physician marketing strategy, aggregating all of the brand components and information that
cant be communicated through just an advertisement.

21 | P a
ge

{MerckMedicusoffers resources in a variety of formats, including PDA tools, interactive 3D images,

clinical podcasts and much more}

Conversion
Conversion is one of the main indicators of the success of a marketing program the tactics
put in place were effective in leading an individual to complete a desired brand goal. For
physicians, perhaps the most obvious conversion is writing a script, but can also pertain to
other favorable actions such as ordering a sample or recommending the product website to a
patient. The main point to keep in mind is making sure that site content and features are
intuitive and compelling for taking desired actions.

22 | P a
ge

Retention/Loyalty
Even after a physician converts, a pharmaceutical marketers job is still not complete. Now
the focus is on keeping the physician satisfied enough to grow a relationship with the brand
and become a repeat customer. Pharmaceutical customer service portals are intended to keep
them coming back for more, so to speak, but studies show that the retention rates for these
websites are much, much lower than for prominent non-manufacturer professional sites like
WebMDs Medscape. CSPs must feature useful, relevant, and up-to-date content and tools,
and provide easy access to company reps for product questions, if pharmaceutical marketers
want to foster physician loyalty.

Merck offers physicians access to company representatives through Merck

OnCall .

Consumer eMarketing Life Cycle

Reach DTC advertising was still in its adolescence when the usual way of doing things began
to change due to emerging technologies and new media. Television, print and radio ads
become less effective as the consumer media mix continues to fragment. Additionally, the
mass media tactics that were once successful in raising awareness of blockbuster drugs arent
as efficient as the industry shifts focus to niche therapies. So while offline DTC advertising
still dominates, its important for pharmaceutical marketers to keep up with consumers
evolving media preferences.
23 | P a
ge

Streaming video content offers a highly-engaged environment for reaching targeted

consumers.

Acquisition
As with physicians, a product website can also serve as the hub of a consumer marketing
strategy, extending the brand experience that beyond just an ad impression. Additionally,
consumers who visit product sites are nearly three times more likely than the average U.S.
adult to request prescriptions by name from their doctors. The standard side effect and
condition information are the most common types of information sought out by visitors, but
features that enhance the brand experience, such as personal videos, an online community
and interactive quizzes, can help sites stand out from the crowd.

Vyvanses paid search ad features a compelling offer and leads those who click thru to a website featuring a call out button for the offer.
They could have even shortened the conversion funnel by leading visitors directly to the enrollment form .

24 | P a
ge

Conversion
Converting consumers in the pharmaceutical world is a much more indirect process than in
other industries, as the physician controls the ultimate product choice. Still, individuals are
now researching health and prescription drug information online an Crohns & Me, UCBs
unbranded site for Cimzia, is a network supporting Crohns disease patients. The
approachable design, informative tools and community resources aim to keep visitors coming
back to the site. Crohns &Me, UCBs unbranded site for Cimzia, is a network supporting
Crohns disease patients. The approachable design, informative tools and community
resources aim to keep visitors coming back to the site. Crohns &Me, UCBs unbranded site
for Cimzia, is a network supporting Crohns disease patients. The approachable design,
informative tools and community resources aim to keep visitors coming back to the site. d are
visiting the doctor armed with much more knowledge than in the past, and with more
influence over eventual treatment decisions. Visitor conversions can range from asking the
doctor for the drug by name to downloading patient education materials and trial offers.

Crestor.com features prominent call to actions on most of its web pages, not just on the
homepage. Its important to make desired actions intuitive for consumers throughout the site,
especially since search engines will drop visitors off at any given landing page that appears in
search engine results.
25 | P a
ge

Retention/LoyaltyConsumer retention and loyalty is an interesting point to ponder for

pharmaceutical marketers, since unlike other products like cars or soft drinks, patients for the
most part would rather not be on medication if they didnt have to be. But online tools,
loyalty programs and support communities can help consumers stay compliant and have a
positive brand experience.

Crohns &Me, UCBs unbranded site for Cimzia, is a network supporting Crohns disease
patients. The approachable design, informative tools and community resources aim to keep
visitors coming back to the site.

26 | P a
ge

HYPOTHESIS:
H1: Digital Marketing Is an Important Advance Tool to Increase the Standard of Pharma
Marketing Strategies
H2: Digital Marketing Plays an Important Role Connecting With Customers in Efficient Way

27 | P a
ge

Limitations And Scope for Research:

An exploratory approach has been adopted in the current research, to understand the use of
digital marketing in the Indian pharmaceutical sector. The survey conducted was limited to
Mumbai pharma professionals and sample size for survey was too small to apply its result to
broad portion of pharmaceutical industry. A qualitative survey on more number of sample
sizes might be carried out in future research so that strength of these findings can be probed
across a broad portion of the pharmaceutical industry. The Digital Marketer Model should be
tested in future research with employees from other healthcare associated organisations. This
will help in determining if the model fairly represents a rounded digital marketing
community.
Conservatism has been observed in the pharmaceutical industry at some instances in the form
of comments relating to the new technical developments and costs related with the
investment and experimentation of new technology. Risk aversion may be explored in future
research as an attribute of the skills deficit in digital marketing

28 | P a
ge

Research Methodology
This is an observational study and involves a survey of 50 pharmaceutical marketing
Professionals working across various therapy areas in Mumbai. The respondents for the study
have been Chosen randomly and represent 8 different organizations and include employees
from both Multinational and domestic pharmaceutical companies. The selection criteria
included a Minimum 3 years of active marketing and sales experience in pharma industry.
Survey was conducted using a well-structured questionnaire. Questionnaire was an MS
Excel/word based one, allowing respondents to objectively tick mark their response, while
allowing for additional comments as well. The administration of the questionnaire was done
under no supervision and thus captured only the top of mind and spontaneous responses.
Random sampling technique was used to gather data from 50 pharmaceutical marketing
professionals who work in 8 different companies. They belong to the age group of 25-50
years. A primary survey was also performed to test the questionnaire and to understand the
level of understanding among the respondents.
The study has been designed to capture the following attributes of digital marketing: purpose, objectives, usage, understanding, future strategy, target audience, resource
utilization, impact and sustainability.

29 | P a
ge

STUDY RESULT:

Q1. WHAT IN YOUR OPINION IS THE NO.1

CHALLENGE FOR MARKETERS IN THE
PHARMA INDUSTRY IN TODAYS SCENARIO?
A. INTERNAL
ORGANISATIONAL
STRUCTURE
20
%

44%

B. REDUCTION OF COST AND

INCREASE PROFIT
20
%

36%

C. PHARMA REGULATION

D.BEING INNOVATIVE &

CREATIVE TO MATCH THE
CHANGING DIGITAL MARKETING
STRATEGY IN THE MARKET

Findings:
Above pie-chart conclude that
20% of peoples are saying internal organisational structure is the no.1 challenge
for their organisation currently
20% of peoples are saying reduction of cost and increasing profit is the big
challenge for their organisation currently
36% of peoples are saying that changing policies of government and many
products going in DPCO has lead their organisation to big losses. So Pharma
regulation is the no.1 challenges for their organisation.
44% of peoples are saying being innovative and creative in the marketing
strategies is the big challenges for their organisation as many MNC pharma
companies are coming with unique and effective marketing strategies.

30 | P a
ge

Q2. IS DIGITAL MARKETING AN

INCREASING PRIORITY FOR
YOUR COMPANY?

A.YES

8%

B.NO

92
%

Findings:
Above pie-chart conclude that
92% of peoples are saying that Yes digital marketing is becoming the increasing
priority for their organisation to sustain in the market and to compete with the MNC
pharma companies that are coming with the unique digital marketing strategies to
engage the customers.
8% of peoples are saying No digital marketing is not a priority for their organisation
as other basic things need to be given more priority to sustain in the market.

Most of the companies which are saying No are small companies like
Mankind, Hetero pharma, FDC etc.

The companies which are saying yes are the big Indian companies who are competing
with MNC companies and also MNC companies like Cipla, Dr.Reddy, Abbott, Pfizer
etc.

Q3. DOES YOUR ORGANISATION

CURRENTLY HAVE A DEFINED
DIGITAL STRATEGY

A. YES

10%
6%
6%

B. NO
C. ON PROCESS
78%

D. PLANNING

Findings:
Above pie-chart conclude that
78% of people are saying Yes their organisation have a defined digital strategy
6% of peoples are saying No their organisation dont have a defined digital
strategy
6% of peoples are saying their organisation is designing digital marketing
strategy; they are in process of making the digital strategy.
10% of people are saying their organisation is planning to adapt digital marketing
strategy in the coming year.
From the above chart it clearly shows most of the pharma companies have started
using digital media/tools in their marketing strategy.
Companies like Mankind, FDC and Hetero pharma are lacking in the digital
marketing strategy.
Companies like Abbott, Pfizer and AstraZeneca has already started using this tool

of digital in their marketing strategies.

Q4.DOES YOUR ORGANISATION HAVE

ANY DEFINED MOBILE DIGITAL TOOLS
LIKE APPS TO HELP
SALESFORCE/CUSTOMERS

A. YES
16%

B. NO
84
%

Findings:
Above pie-chart conclude that
84 % of peoples are saying their organisation has defined mobile digital tools like
apps to help sales force to implement the marketing strategy and to engage the
customers.
16% of people are saying their organisation dont have any digital mobile app tool
to support the sales force and customers.
Companies like Abbott , Pfizer has their mobile apps like livers is life, Abbott
India ltd app , Pfizer sales force app, 1point contact and also may virtual reality
apps which supports their sales force to analyse the things and implement the
strategy in productively and capture the market share and help the customer
understand their organisation product/service in effective way.

Q5.WHICH TOOL YOU ARE USING

CURRENTLY TO COMMUNICATE
WITH THE CUSTOMER?

A. VISUAL AID
20%

B. E-DETAILER
20%

60
%

C.
TABLET/IPAD

Findings:
Above pie-chart conclude that
60% of Pharma companies still using cardboard material made Visual Aid as a
tool for their communication with customer since they find it is more convenient
to customer as well sales force.
20 % of pharma companies are using E-Detailers to communicate and engage the
customers
20% of pharma companies are using Tablet/I-pad to communicate with their
customers.
Companies like Dr.Reddy, Pfizer, Cipla etc are using i-pad to communicate with
doctors
Companies like Abbott few divisions are using E-detailers to communicate with
doctors.
Companies like FDC, Mankind and few divisions of Abbott are using Visual Aid

to communicate with doctors.

Q6.HOW DO YOU REPORT DAILY

WORK AND EXPENSE
CLAIMS TO SUPERIORS?

14%

A.
COMPANIES
WEBSITES

4%2
%

B. MOBILE APPS

70%

C. THROUGH
PAPER FORMAT
D. GPS CALL
TRACKER
SYSTEM

Findings:
Above pie-chart conclude that
70% of people report their daily work through their companies websites
14% of people report their daily work through their companies mobile apps
4% of people report their daily work through paper format and send that format to
their office by courier
2% of people report their daily work through GPS Call tracker system
Companies like mankind, Hetero pharma still continue with paper reporting along
with mobile reporting.
Companies like Abbott are planning to come up with GPS call tracker system.

Q7. WHAT % OF MARKETING BUDGET IS BEEN

SPEND ON DIGITAL MARKETING BY
YOUR ORGANISATION?

A. LESS THAN

8%
12%

50%

20% B. 2030
%

40%
C. 41-60%
D. MORE THAN 60%

Findings:
Above pie-chart conclude that
50% of pharmaceutical companies are spending 41-60% of their marketing budget
for digital marketing
30% of pharmaceutical companies are spending 20-40% of their marketing budget
for digital marketing
12% of pharmaceutical companies are spending less than 20% of their marketing
budget for digital marketing
8% of pharmaceutical companies are spending more than 60% of their marketing
budget for digital marketing
Few of the MNC companies like Pfizer, Abbott spending more than the 60% of
their marketing budget for digital strategies for few of their divisions.

Q8. WHAT ARE THE TOP CHALLENGES

WHEN IT COMES TO DIGITAL
STRATEGIES IN YOUR ORGANISATION?
A. RESOURCES &
BUDGET
ALLOCATION
8%
32%

4
%

56
%

B. TRAINING TO SALESFORCE

C. TO CONVINCE
SALESFORCE WHO ARE USE
TO TRADITIONAL STYLE OF
MARKETING TO IMPLEMENT
THE DIGITAL STRATEGIES
D. TO MATCH THE MARKET
STANDARD OF MNC
COMPANIES

Findings:
Above pie-chart conclude that
56% of peoples are saying when it comes to digital marketing strategies, the most
difficult challenges they face is to convince the sales force who are used to
traditional style of marketing to implement the digital strategies
32% of people are saying that the top challenges for their organisation when it
comes to digital marketing is to match the market standard of MNC companies.
8% of people are saying the top challenge for their organisation when it comes to
digital marketing is the resources and budget allocation
4% of peoples are saying the top challenges for their organisation when it comes

to digital marketing is the training expenditure for the sales force.

Q9.WHICH DIGITAL ACTIVITY DID YOU PLANNED

RECENTLY?

4%
28
%

44%

A. WEBSITES DESIGN &

OPTIMIZATION
B. WEBINAR
CONFERENCE

18
%

6%

C.DIGITAL
ADVERTISEMENTS
D. USE OF DIGITAL TOOLS
FOR
CAMPS
E. OTHER. MOBILES APPS,
SOCIAL MEDIA, VIDEOS

Findings:
Above pie-chart conclude that
44% of pharma companies has recently planned digital activities like mobile apps,
social media messages, virtual reality apps and YouTube videos etc.
18% of pharma companies has recently planned to use digital tools for camps like
Hb camp, LFT Camp, lipid profile camp, Diabetic camps etc.
28% of pharma companies have planned recently for webinar conference to
engage the customers.
6% of pharma companies have recently planned for digital advertisement to
increase the awareness of their product and to improve the brand image.
4% of pharma companies recently designed and optimized their website to attract
the customer visit and to increase the awareness of their product and to improve

the brand images

10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.

Digital Marketing Is Changing The Pharma Companies Working

Culture
Majority Of The Targeted Customers (Doctors, Stockiest,
Retailers, Pharmacy)
Uses
Digital
ToolsTools
For Work
Digital
Marketing
HelpsPurpose
To Measure ROI More Easily And
Perfectly
Versus Tools
Traditional
Digital
HelpsMethods
Reduce The Cost Of Process And Helps In
Engaging The
Customer
With
LessInInvestment
Social
Media
Helps
Coordinating With Customer For Business
Purpose
Digital Tools Helps In Building Strong CRM Strategies With Key
Accounts
Customers
Digital Tools Helps In Coordinating With Different Departments
In Effective
Way Marketing Tools Will Lead To More Transparency In The
Digital
Pharma
Business
Processes.
Digital Tools
Helps In Understanding The Behavior And Impact
Of Newly
Connected Customers.

39 | P a g e

Q.10 TO Q.18
100%
1
2

3
1

1
2

8
80%
10

70%

3
7

90%
5

10

5
4

0
20

60%
19

20

20
15

32
29

50%
40%

43

30

12

30%
22

20%
20
10
%

20

20

10
2

0%

Q.10
Q11
Q.17
Q.18
STRONGLY AGREE

Q.12

Q.13

10

2
Q.14

Q.15

Q.16

AGREE

NEITHER AGREE NOR DISAGREE

DISAGREE STROGLY DISAGREE

Findings:
Above pie-chart conclude that
40% Strongly Agree, 38% Agree, 16% Neither Agree nor Disagree , 4% Disagree
and 2% Strongly Disagree on Digital Marketing Is Changing The Pharma
Companies Working Culture
10% Strongly Agree, 60% Agree, 0% Neither Agree nor Disagree , 20% Disagree
and 10% Strongly Disagree On Majority Of The Targeted Customers
(Doctors, Stockiest , Retailers, Pharmacy) Uses Digital Tools For
Work Purpose
44% Strongly Agree, 40% Agree, 4% Neither Agree nor Disagree , 2% Disagree and
40 | P a
ge

14% Strongly Disagree on Digital Tools Helps Reduce The Cost Of

Process And
Helps In Engaging The Customer With Less Investment

41 | P a
ge

 40% Strongly Agree, 40% Agree, 4% Neither Agree nor Disagree , 2% Disagree and
14% Strongly Disagree on Digital Tools Helps Reduce The Cost Of
Process And
Helps In Engaging The Customer With Less Investment
4% Strongly Agree, 40% Agree, 30% Neither Agree nor Disagree , 20% Disagree
and 6% Strongly Disagree on Social Media Helps In Coordinating With
Customer For Business Purpose
20% Strongly Agree, 58% Agree, 8% Neither Agree nor Disagree , 12% Disagree
and 2% Strongly Disagree on Digital Tools Helps In Building Strong CRM
Strategies
With Key Accounts Customers
4% Strongly Agree, 86% Agree, 10% Neither Agree nor Disagree , 0% Disagree and
0% Strongly Disagree on Digital Tools Helps In Coordinating With
Diferent
Departments In Efective Way
20% Strongly Agree, 24% Agree, 40% Neither Agree nor Disagree , 10% Disagree
and 6% Strongly Disagree on Digital Marketing Tools Will Lead To More
Transparency In The Pharma Business Processes
18% Strongly Agree, 64% Agree, 0% Neither Agree nor Disagree, 6% Disagree and
2% Strongly Disagree on Digital Tools Helps In Understanding The
Behavior And
Impact Of Newly Connected Customers

Q20. DO YOU THINK IN FUTURE THE DIGITAL

IT-SKILLS WILL BE MUCH TO QUALIFY FOR
SALES/ MARKETING JOB IN PHARMA
INDUSTRY?
A. YES
18%

B. NO

4%

78%

C. CAN'T SAY

Findings:
Above pie-chart conclude that
78% peoples are saying that in future digital IT-Skills will be much to qualify
for sales and marketing job in pharmaceutical industry
18% people are saying that they dont think digital

IT-skills will be the

requirement in future to qualify for sales and marketing job in pharmaceutical

industry
4% people are saying that they cant say anything presently on whether in future
digital IT-Skills will be much or much not be necessary to qualify for sales and
marketing job in pharmaceutical industry.

Recommendations:
1. Marketing leadership and product branding team should need to have a digital
strategy in place as a part of their large marketing strategy.
2. Intention and goal of digital marketing program need to be customer-centre since as
per literature review there is increase use of digital media and digital tools by
pharmaceutical customers.
3. Email marketing , web conference and mobile digital apps like tools use should be
increased by all pharmaceutical organisation as this are time and cost saving effective
tools.
4. Each pharmaceutical organisation should have minimum 50% of marketing budget for
digital marketing tools since it helps in engaging the customer in less cost, less time
and for long duration which would help the organisation to build strong CRM
strategy.
5. Each pharmaceutical organisation should give digital tools like E-detailers and Tabs
etc. to their sales force to communicate with their customers because of two reasons.
Firstly since it helps in connecting with customer in faster and efficient way. Secondly
it helps customer to understand our product/service in better way.

CONCLUSI
ON
The World Wide Digital Marketing has proved to be an immensely significant tool
for marketers in the creation of strong brands and garner competitive advantage but Adoption
of digital marketing continues to be in its infancy among all of Indian pharmaceutical
organisations.
This research concludes that apart from pharmaceutical regulation, being innovative
and creative to match the world wide changing digital marketing strategy remains the
challenge for Indian pharmaceutical organisation. Adapting to digital marketing tool is
becoming priority for the Indian pharmaceutical organisation due to increased use of digital
tool by Doctors, Stockist and Retailers. Most of the Indian pharmaceutical organisation dont
have defined digital tool to compete the world pharmaceutical market. Every few Indian
pharmaceutical organisation are using to digital tool (E-detailers, Digital Tabs) to
communicate with their customers. GPS call tracking system is least famous in India; Most of
the sales force of Indian pharmaceutical organisation uses organisation websites for reporting
the daily work and to claim the daily expenses. Research also conclude that when it comes to
digital marketing strategy the biggest challenges faced by marketer is to convince the sales
force to adapt to the digital tools and implement the digital marketing strategy since they are
used to traditional style of marketing. Most of the Indian pharmaceutical organisation spends
20-40% of their marketing budget on digital tools while most of the MNC companies
operating in India spend around 40-60% of marketing budget on digital tools.
The research also conclude that most marketers and salesforce of Indian pharmaceutical
organisation believes that digital marketing will changes the working culture but will also
reduce the cost from long term prospective and will help in understanding the behaviour and
need of the customers and engage the customer and build strong CRM. Pharmaceutical
professionals also strongly agreed that in future the digital IT-skills will be much to qualify
for the sales/marketing job in pharmaceutical industry.

BIBLOGRA
PHY

1.

https://issuu.com/sanjaykumarguptaa/docs/a-project-report-on-thepharmaceutical- industry-pr

2. http://www.slideshare.net/meghavi_14/digital-strategies-in-pharmaceuticalindustry
3. http://www.slideshare.net/marcmunch2014/pharma-digital-marketing?
next_slideshow=1
4. http://www.slideshare.net/marcmunch2014/pharma-digital-marketing?
next_slideshow=1
5.

http://www.slideshare.net/rahuldutt1/digital-marketing-for-pharmaabbott-pharma-social- media

6.

http://www.slideshare.net/gurpindersingh/emarketing-in-pharma-india

7. http://digitaldefynd.com/2015/12/22/pharma-digital-marketing-in-india-in2016/
8.

http://www.ibef.org/industry/pharmaceutical-india.aspx

9. ManhattanResearch How_Digital_is_Shaping_the_Future_of_Pharma_Marketing
10. article_wjpps_1459426072

APPEN
DIX
SURVEY ON DIGITAL MARKETING IN PHARMACEUTICAL
INDUSTRY

NAME OF THE RESPONDER:

AGE:

SEX: MALE

FEMALE

QUALIFICATION:

NAME OF THE PHARMA COMPANY (MNC / INDIAN):

DESIGNATION:
_(SALES/MARKETING)
TOTAL YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN PHARMA:

Q1. WHAT IN YOUR OPINION IS THE NO.1 CHALLENGES FOR MARKETERS

IN THE PHARMA INDUSTRY IN TODAYS SCENARIO?
ANSWER:
A. INTERNAL ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
B. REDUCTION OF COST AND
INCREASE PROFIT C. PHARMA
REGULATION
D. BEING INNOVATIVE & CREATIVE TO MATCH THE CHANGING DIGITAL
MARKETING
STRATEGY IN THE MARKET
Q2. IS DIGITAL MARKETING AN INCREASING PRIORTIY FOR
YOUR COMPANY? ANSWER:
A. YES

B. NO

Q3. DOES YOUR ORGANISATION CURRENTLY HAVE A DEFINED

DIGITAL STRATEGY? ANSWER:
A. YES

B. NO

C. ON PROCESS

D.PLANNING

Q4. DOES YOUR ORGANISATION CURRENTLY HAVE DEFINED MOBILE

DIGITAL TOOLS LIKE APPS TO HELP YOUR SALES FORCE IN FIELD OR
FOR CUSTOMERS?
ANSWER:

A. YES

B. NO

Q5 WHICH TOOL YOU ARE CURRENTLY USING TO COMMUNICATE

WITH CUSTOMER? ANSWER:
A. VISUAL AID

B. E-DETAILERS

C. TABLET/I-PADS

Q6. HOW DO YOU REPORT YOUR DAILY WORK AND EXPENSE CLAIMS
TO SUPERIORS? ANWER:
A. COMPANIES
WEBSITES B.
MOBILE APPS
C. THROUGH PAPER FORMAT
D. GPS SYSTEM-CALL TRACKKER
Q7. WHAT PERCENTAGE OF MARKETING BUDGET IS BEEN SPEND ON
DIGITAL MARKETING? ANSWER:
A. LESS THAN
20 % B. 2040%
C. 40-60%
D. MORE THAN 60%
Q8. WHAT ARE THE TOP CHALLENGES WHEN IT COMES TO DIGITAL
STRATEGIES IN PHARMA MARKETING?
ANSWER:
A. RESOURCES AND BUDGET
ALLOCATION B. TRAINING TO
SALESFORCE
C. TO CONVENCE THE OLD SALESFORCE WHO ARE USE TO
TRADITIONAL STYLE OF
MARKETING TO IMPLEMENT THE DIGITAL STRATEGIES
D. TO MATCH THE MARKET STANDARD OF MNC COMPANIES DIGITAL
STRATEGIES
Q9. WHICH DIGITAL ACTIVITES DO YOU PLANNED
RECENTLY? ANSWER:
A. WEBSITE DESIGN &
OPTIMIZATION B. WEBINAR
CONFERENCE
C. DIGITAL ADVERTISEMENT
D. USE OF DIGITAL TOOLS FOR HEALTH
CHECK UP CAMPS E. OTHERS: MOBILE APPS,
SOCIAL MEDIA, VIDEO

QUESTION NO. 10 TO QUESTION NO. 16

A. STRONGLY
AGREE B.
AGREE
C. NEITHER AGREE NOR
DISAGREE D. DISAGREE
E. STRONGLY DISAGREE
Q.NO
QUESTIO
10.
Digital Marketing IsNS
Changing The
Pharma
Companies
Working
Culture
11.
Majority
Of The
Targeted
Customers
(Doctors,Stockist , Retailers,Pharmacy)
Uses
Tools For Work
12.
Digital Marketing
Tools Purpose
Helps To
Measure ROI
More Easily And Perfectly Versus
Traditional
13.
Digital
Tools Helps Reduce The Cost Of
Process
And Helps In Engaging The Customer
With Less
14.
Social
Media Helps In Coordinating With
Customer For Business Purpose
15.
Digital Tools Helps In Building Strong
CRM
Strategies
With
KeyIn
Accounts
Customers
16.
Digital Tools
Helps
Coordinating
With
Different Departments In Effective Way
17.
Digital Marketing Tools Will Lead To More
Transparency In The Pharma Business
Processes.
18.
Digital
Tools Helps In Understanding The
Behavior And Impact Of Newly
Connected
Customers.

Q19. TELL ME ABOUT THE DIGITAL MARKEITNG INITIATIVES TAKEN BY

YOUR COMPANY IN THIS YEAR WHICH HAD A IMPACT ON BUSINESS?
ANSWER:_

Q20. DO YOU THINK IN FUTURE THE DIGITAL IT-SKILLS WILL BE MUCH

TO QUALIFY FOR SALES/ MARKETING JOB IN PHARMA INDUSTRY?
ANSWERS:_
A.
YES B.
NO.
C. CANT SAY
ANY OTHER COMMENTS: