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1. 

   Jitendra Gursingh June 4, 2015, 3:50 am

   Hi Anirudh ,

   Morning & hope you are doing well.

   The image you have shown above is quite an interesting product mix. I believe you have your target consumer in mind quite clearly but need to put it down on paper. Try preparing a persona (going beyond demographics like age, sex etc.) of an ideal consumer like what type of jobs they do, what are their biggest fears in life etc. This should be a starting point. Then think whether this sort of a customer would be interested in a subscription-based program?

   Secondly, as you said, most of your products are OTC, it is time you stop your dependence on the doctors & setup a direct sales & distribution network for chemists / medical stores. For OTC products, a chemist’s recommendation is good & some branding display at each store should give sales a good boost.

   What you could do is prepare trial packages (as you are manufacturing the products) of smaller sizes and combine them into a single pack. The products should be complementing each other. Just before the gifting season, you could also launch gift packs. Products like Sunscreen, moisturizer and an anti-fungal soap would be a good pack for Summer.

   If you can, do try and improve the packaging, or at-least get a standard look so that all products have the unmistakable company stamp. From the image above, all of them seem to have a different packaging, colors etc. Once you have a common family look, the value of the brand goes higher in the minds of the re-sellers as well as the consumers. I maybe wrong, but currently, the packaging looks a bit outdated.

   You have a lot of online options also open for you today .. sites like Flipkart, Healthkart, Snapdeal etc are selling organic / health products. You can generate traction in sales as well as brand awareness through this channel.

   I would advise to keep away from a subscription based model for now as I cannot think of anyone in my friends circle who is on a subscription based model for any product. The closest is Amway and it has taken them years to reach where they are right now but I am assuming even they would not be happy with their current market position.

   All d best..

2. 

   asha chaudhry June 4, 2015, 5:40 am

   hey anirudh,

   pls reach out to abhik as well – https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/ask-abhik-about-starting-up-idea-validation-marketing

3. 

   Anirudh Ashok June 4, 2015, 9:39 am

   Hey Jitendra,

   The image you have shown above is quite an interesting product mix. I believe you have your target consumer in mind quite clearly but need to put it down on paper. Try preparing a persona (going beyond demographics like age, sex etc.) of an ideal consumer like what type of jobs they do, what are their biggest fears in life etc. This should be a starting point. Then think whether this sort of a customer would be interested in a subscription-based program?

   We don’t have any data on our consumers but we can make good assumptions. The problem is I’ve done random searches on the web and seen people sometimes use our product in way we never thought they would be.

   For instance Markal – A calamine lotion is used for rashes, prickly heat and is a summer season product. But there are women out there who vouch for our product as the best foundation they’ve used for their makeup. Its also preferred over Lacto-Calamine – The market leader- as ours is the only non-comedogenic calamine lotion out there. Non- comedogenic means won’t cause acne or clogged pores.

   

   Secondly, as you said, most of your products are OTC, it is time you stop your dependence on the doctors & setup a direct sales & distribution network for chemists / medical stores. For OTC products, a chemist’s recommendation is good & some branding display at each store should give sales a good boost.

   We have the network in place already- C&F to retailer. The CTA currently is the prescription. The chemists already have other bigger brands like Olay utilizing their window real estate for product dressing. These brands also pay per sale apart from nominal margins. That’s hard to compete with.

   I also ask myself before I go out to rent a window. Have I ever looked into one of those windows and bought anything in the past ? Not even close. I’d like your take on this.

   What you could do is prepare trial packages (as you are manufacturing the products) of smaller sizes and combine them into a single pack. The products should be complementing each other. Just before the gifting season, you could also launch gift packs. Products like Sunscreen, moisturizer and an anti-fungal soap would be a good pack for Summer.

   We are into third party manufacturing but we do manufacture samples that we give doctors. The idea can be implemented but our margins wont make up for the sample cost and extra paper board. Will people be willing to buy a Rs. 80 hamper instead of just a Rs. 55 soap ?

   If you can, do try and improve the packaging, or at-least get a standard look so that all products have the unmistakable company stamp. From the image above, all of them seem to have a different packaging, colors etc. Once you have a common family look, the value of the brand goes higher in the minds of the re-sellers as well as the consumers. I maybe wrong, but currently, the packaging looks a bit outdated.

   Some of our products are recognized by the way they look and haven’t changed in 30 years, I see it as a plus.

   You have a lot of online options also open for you today .. sites like Flipkart, Healthkart, Snapdeal etc are selling organic / health products. You can generate traction in sales as well as brand awareness through this channel.

   Amazon, Flipkart refused to list our products and Snapdeal was willing. The margins they charge per sale is not affordable for us. Snapdeal has even been dragged to court for happily listing drugs online. We’ve now registered on PayTm lets see how that goes.

   I would advise to keep away from a subscription based model for now as I cannot think of anyone in my friends circle who is on a subscription based model for any product. The closest is Amway and it has taken them years to reach where they are right now but I am assuming even they would not be happy with their current market position.

   The reason I was for some products to become subscriber based is because no other competitor exists offering the same type of treatment in that segment- We have products that are non steroidal and nobody has anything like it.

   I’m ready for other advertising inputs too.

   Thanks again for the reply Jitendra

   cheers,

   Anirudh

4. 

   Anirudh Ashok June 4, 2015, 9:42 am

   Thanks, I will

5. 

   Dinesh Chindarkar June 6, 2015, 5:45 am

   Hi Anirudh,
   If the products are strong, take the route of Digital marketing and make consumers/patients the true ambassadors in brand building. Currently compared to advertising, Word of mouth is the way to go and good genuine & time-tested brands, capable of creating ‘buzz in healthcare’ can outshine.

   Best
   Dinesh

6. 

   Anirudh Ashok June 6, 2015, 2:50 pm

   Hi Mr. Dinesh,

   Yes a lot of my brands are strong and can get off prescriptions. When I mean strong I mean has few competitors and quite unique in its treatment pathway.

   Sir, please elucidate what you mean by digital marketing. To date I’ve never clicked an advert on the internet and with apps like adblock won’t even see them. I probably have a wrong impression of digital marketing.

   Thanks again for your reply and an opportunity to connect on various other portals.

   Regards,

   Anirudh

7. 

   Abhik Prasad June 6, 2015, 4:52 pm

   Hi Anirudh,

   Apologies for the delay in responding to your post. It’s a very interesting situation that you have and here are some thoughts which have been running through my mind over the last couple of days.

   I think you you should start thinking more and more like a FMCG company rather than a pharma company since most of your products can be sold OTC. 

   Among your 24 products, let’s take the flagship product ACNIL (i assume the name was a clever play on ACNE NIL )

   You mention that it’s steadily losing market share. Apart from doctor commissions, have you dug in deeper to find out why its losing market share – What are the doctors, distributors, dealers (chemists) and users saying ?

   Since it’s for Pimple care, I did a quick google search. It seems like there are quite a few people searching for solutions to pimples online…Roughly about 1 lakh searches on Google in India every month (see images below)

   I assume there will be a larger segment which is offline.

   Then I searched for ‘pimple care soap in india’. Here are a few of the top articles:

   • https://www.stylecraze.com/articles/most-recommended-acne-soaps/
   • https://www.beautyglimpse.com/top-5-effective-acne-soaps-india/
   • https://beautyhealthtips.in/which-is-the-best-soap-for-acne-or-pimple-available-in-market/

   Acnil is mentioned in 2 of the 3 articles but not as No 1 in either of them. These are the articles which probably come up when people search for pimple care soap or tips in India.

   Another interesting thing I noticed was that Acnil was the cheapest among all the soaps. Is this a disadvantage or an advantage for you ?

   Since this is a specialized product, people might think “Sasta hai to shayad accha nahi hoga” + You have lesser margins to share with your distributors / dealers compared to your competitors.

   I assume your cost of production will be similar to that of your competitors.

   Consider launching ‘Acnil PRO’ at a cost which is 3 times your current cost is the most expensive among all your competitors.

   Don’t spend money on direct advertising, yet.

   http://www.pimplecare.in – ( I checked, the domain is available)

   Consider booking the domain name http://www.pimplecare.in – Since you want to start a subscription program, this can be your launch pad.

   Develop a ton of content on how to treat pimples and acne and skin care tips in general. Over a period of time, this should give you organic traffic via google search.

   Instead of selling soaps singly, you can sell weekly, monthly or quarterly packages. E.g. if someone has very oily skin, you can suggest a longer treatment period.

   Have a facility where users can upload their photographs and a skin expert can suggest recommendations for free.

   Hire a PR Agency – with a focus on getting Acnil mentioned in various beauty magazines and newspapers. Start first with either the local Bombay market or Maharashtra. 

   However, this should ideally be done after you have presence in retail shops, especially in the smaller towns.

   Try and get a PR agency which has expertise in and connections with vernacular / local language media.

   This will help you reach the offline market

   Get a Brand Manager: If you don’t have brand management expertise, consider hiring one if budges permit. This will not only give you branding expertise but also build P&L budgets so that you can track increase in sales compared to your marketing efforts

   Alternatively, you could go to some of the marketing professors at SP Jain or Narsee Monjee and tell them you need help – Would their students be interested in a brand building assignment ? Structure it as a competition with a cash award. 

   These types of assignments were very popular when I was an MBA student a decade back – I hope they still are.

   Start with one brand and then you can individually ramp up for the rest of your 23 brands.

   Hope this is useful. And all the best 🙂

   Google Search volumes monthly for pimple care.

   

   

   

8. 

   Anirudh Ashok June 6, 2015, 6:33 pm

   Thanks for the insights given Abhik

   You mention that it’s steadily losing market share. Apart from doctor commissions, have you dug in deeper to find out why its losing market share – What are the doctors, distributors, dealers (chemists) and users saying ?

   Whats happening in Pharma:

   1. Doctors are paid their share of the sales before the month begins and before a single prescription is inked
   2. They want favors from us right from running on errands to european tours. I’ve had my MRs report doctors being bought biryani from 100kms away being served for lunch.
   3. Even after those favors they won’t write your product
   4. Doctors have become dispensers- they operate their own partner stores and get healthy cuts of upto 60%
   5. Companies operate better schemes causing your prescription to be converted to another company’s because they make more off that. e.g If I operate 15+1 cases of soap they do 8+1 and kill our sales
   6. There are local businesses making products at Rs. 3 and selling at Rs. 100 + – The doctors say paisey se matlab hai, 60% deta hai. Highly prevalent in Gujarat.

   Apart from all this I believe that there’s this belief that soaps are bad for the face and face-wash is better. That’s a big factor for drop in soap sales. I actually am about to start a smear campaign on f/w products to boost acnil sales. Thought I’d circulate those as newspaper inserts.

   Another interesting thing I noticed was that Acnil was the cheapest among all the soaps. Is this a disadvantage or an advantage for you ?

   We started at Rs. 5 and are today Rs. 55 – beaten inflation. Yes margin is Rs. 5 and that’s very little breathing space. The product has been a 5 Cr. product for 10 years now in the face of inflation. Goes to show how we’ve been loosing sales over the years.  I like the idea of an Acnil premiuim brand that’ll have added benefits and a beefed up price. Doctors don’t write cheap products anymore. The logic is that if a patient can pay a consultant Rs. 3000 for a sitting, why can’t he buy a product that costs Rs.300. That 300 gives both parties bigger cuts.

   Hire a PR Agency – with a focus on getting Acnil mentioned in various beauty magazines and newspapers. Start first with either the local Bombay market or Maharashtra. 

   However, this should ideally be done after you have presence in retail shops, especially in the smaller towns.

   We have advertised on billboards in the 80s. Dad keeps telling me how deferred revenue expenses can bring you big demand but you’ve got to be ready with production capabilities and availability. Back then we had orders but no money left to fulfill them. We can get ourselves into magazines but the question is how will I know if I can break even. Is advertising a sheer trial and error gamble ?

   Alternatively, you could go to some of the marketing professors at SP Jain or Narsee Monjee and tell them you need help – Would their students be interested in a brand building assignment ? Structure it as a competition with a cash award.

   I’d love to do this but its my MRs and old managers who are sometimes too stubborn to try anything new. It was them who asked me to give them a noble idea for marketing last year end and I told them to enroll at least 1 person each onto a subscription and sample other offerings to them.

   Thnaks again Abhik

   Anirudh

   Ps. Thanks for the analytics. I pretty much service the entire list with offerings that are unique or better. I’d like to exploit that. I also believe some SEO work on my website will help.

9. 

   Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal June 7, 2015, 12:19 pm

   Wow! CONGRATS JUST FOR THIS ONE LINE:

   We’ve always believed in honesty and delivering the best products we could make and deliver with bite sized margins.

   I will promote your post coz I have NO insight in this business or industry!

10. 

    Dinesh Chindarkar June 8, 2015, 4:25 am

    Hi Anirudh,

    I am not talking of selling thru ads. In healthcare, community building is a very strong aspect – we have worked on areas like infertility, intimate hygiene, pathology etc wherein a strong force of community can itself be your brand ambassador provided you are confident about your product. An integrated approach after consumer insights can pave path for the new-age marketing. Check out some of my elaborate thoughts in Pharma & Healthcare marketing:

    https://medicinman.net/2014/01/special-digital-issue/

    Best

    Dinesh

11. 

    Karan Vazirani June 8, 2015, 5:33 pm

    Hi Anirudh,

    If you are actively looking for online platforms, i guess websites like Sastasundar.com would be better match than Snapdeal/PayTm. Do check it out.

    PS: I Know nothing about your line of business. This is just a suggestion which came to mind upon reading your article.

    Best Regards,

    Karan

12. 

    Anirudh Ashok June 9, 2015, 4:04 am

    Thanks Karan

13. 

    Punit Sarda June 9, 2015, 5:44 am

    Hi Anirudh

    This is the best post I have ever read. More so because I have seen almost all of these ideas getting practiced in the market. 

    Lets start with the basic line

    “30 years on, need new ideas”

    To apply new idea, you need to be open. Sometimes you have to rework the old idea which failed sometime back and apply again

    “For instance Markal – A calamine lotion is used for rashes, prickly heat and is a summer season product. But there are women out there who vouch for our product as the best foundation they’ve used for their makeup. Its also preferred over Lacto-Calamine – The market leader- as ours is the only non-comedogenic calamine lotion out there. Non- comedogenic means won’t cause acne or clogged pores.”

    This is called off-label usage. This is common practice not only for your product but across the FMCG product line. I dont know if you know, the biggest consumer of J&J baby soaps are not babies but adults. The biggest consumer for Junior Horlicks at one stage were Old age people as they saw it easy to digest. Hence, you have to create a value proposition and make your product command Authority towards it.

    “Acnil has been an ORG no.1 in the past and has steadily been loosing market share year on year.”

    Thats the change you have to incorporate. Stop using ORG and start using Nielson and House hold panel data. This will help you track a bigger and actual Competition. Also it helps you track to which brand your existing customers are moving

    “I also ask myself before I go out to rent a window. Have I ever looked into one of those windows and bought anything in the past ? Not even close. I’d like your take on this.”

    So, in B2C sales we never take personal perspective while making business decision. I may not do it, but all customers may or may not behave like me. We believe in data which comes after trying many new ideas in the market. So Why this window space. Data shows ,majorly it helps in 3 things –

    1. Help Recall your product/brand in your most important selling channel (the customer may have seen the ad in some TV. newspaper etc but when s/he comes to shop in the store, s/he may have some other things in mind. But once she sees your product, the recalls come and s/he may ask your product), 

    2. It helps show availability and portray your brand as a strong name. When you see a product being promoted and available in too many stores, the customer do feel that it is doing good and many people are trying it. This helps you generate Enquiry and in many cases first triers also.

    3. It helps your brand to get a good neat merchandised space in the outlet. That really helps your product to stand out

    And trust me, the actual margin and xtra margin retailer get for single piece of Olay is very less. It is the volume that matters

    “I’d love to do this but its my MRs and old managers who are sometimes too stubborn to try anything new. “

    Your salesforce cant stop you from where you wanna go

    “

    Whats happening in Pharma:

    1. Doctors are paid their share of the sales before the month begins and before a single prescription is inked
    2. They want favors ………..ent in Gujarat.”

    Yes Doctors are like this but there is one more thing about Docs. They want their patients (customers) to come back to them. How can they promise this, by advising really good products to them. They are experts in the field of experimenting with different product prescription and getting feedback from the customers. They further give prescription basis these feedbacks only. Yes in a non-metro location, were product choices and dr choices are restricted, they do command commissions but I have seen in Metro locations, they are more interested in the products. Coz a good product will ensure their patients sing praises for them (mouth to mouth publicity) and get back to them. 

    “We have advertised on billboards in the 80s. Dad keeps telling me how deferred revenue expenses can bring you big demand but you’ve got to be ready with production capabilities and availability.”

    Yes you will have to reinvent the wheel. You may see different results now. N the thing pointed is right, you need availability of the product before promoting, or else all efforts to for a toss. But it really boasts sales

    Apart from this, there are 2 more ideas from my side

    1. Experiment with Modern Trade. Today customers go to Modern trade outlets not only to buy but to educate and entertain. They will pick up products, read about them (we call it experiencing the product) and may take buying decisions then and there. A nice merchandising and offer makes your product stand out easily

    2. Try to Saloon/ Beauty Parlour channel. Most of your products are more relevant in that channel. The channel asks for high margin but you can always create a label for saloon specific range of product which are priced higher (eg here is Loreal and Loreal Proessional, Loreal Professional (and also Matrix) is mainly for saloon channel whereas Loreal (and also Garnier) is for retail only. With Saloon, you easily get many many subscribers with little an effort (though I still dont buy this Subscriber model)
    

     Now, the same stuff was done by Revital some time back. You can read through its story (one being https://archivepharma.financialexpress.com/20060331/management02.shtml). It actually went out of prescription and Ranbaxy sold it for a good price recently. Another example in this space is Moov of PAras Pharma

    Do let me know your views on the same. 

     

14. 

    Amit Kumar Chattopadhyay June 9, 2015, 8:02 am

    Hi Anirudh,

    The corruption issue is not specific to Healthcare – honest business people in other areas like book selling also face the same problem. You have to find a way to get out of the rut. Many experts like Jitendra have already given excellent suggestion.  As most of your products are OTC, you should market your products more like FMCG than prescription medicine – as somebody has already suggested. Have you tried PCD route ?  I have seen many healthcare companies achieve high growth through network of agents/distributors/PCD across India. Selling your products through b2b route will be far more profitable and convenient than b2c. If you are looking for PCDs – pl visit Vanik.com.  Pl feel free to contact me for any other help/assistance

    Best Regards

    Amit

15. 

    Azhar Hasan June 10, 2015, 3:34 am

    Hi Anirudh,

    I havent spent much time on your problem. But here are some initial cost effective thoughts while thinking out loud:

    Product Mix:
    1) I think you have thought through a lot on this mix.If not take the 80-20 look.

    Customer segments:
    2) Explore new geographies/ new markets

    Channels:
    3) Partner with other subscription based services (like fabbag.com etc.) apart from usual offline channels.

    Customer relationships:
    4) Recommendation engine for customers in collaboration with a technology player like healthkart plus

    Key partnerships:
    5) Explore new key decision makers (Saloons, spas, chemists, gyms, beauticians, hobby clubs, bloggers). I think these people come cheaper than doctors.
    6) Bundle your products with other complimenting products

    Thanks,

16. 

    Anirudh Ashok June 12, 2015, 4:54 am

    Thanks for your enlightening reply

    Initial thoughts :

    1. What’s Modern trade ? Something like a reliance health store or Walgreens with a dedicated corner for my products and brochures ?
    2. Saloons always seem like places where they are either Schwarzkopf or L’Oreal franchises. The smaller Javed Habib ones which Mushroom everywhere seem to do little more than a Rs. 100 haircut. The mid segment ones use very cheap local oils and shampoos or even bleaches.
    3. When I think Paras Ranbaxy I think money power- a blitzkrieg of advertising like when Docomo launched overnight. Literally overnight because suddenly one fine morning its on the billboards , street lights and TV.

    Thanks for the cross-label selling gyaan. Even if I do bring the same calamine as a pure cosmetic, the next mental block is bechunga kaisey. I’ll have to work on that.

    Thank you so much and pardon me for the late response

17. 

    Anirudh Ashok June 12, 2015, 5:49 am

    Thank you. Hope it wont kill us though. 

    I have a few interested VCs, but relinquishing equity to another pharma company only builds fear that they’ll compel us to join the dark side. I was admonished by a few veteran retirees from different markets that if I held onto honesty as a doctrine it would hurt later.

    Anirudh

18. 

    Anirudh Ashok June 12, 2015, 6:02 am

    This would be a great way of entering markets where there are Medical rep associations which do not permit reps to work beyond 3 o’clock- absolute tomfoolery. PCD is a new concept to me. We are already B2B- we have a network of C&fs and stockists over 17 states of India. Without this its hard to distribute goods and collect from debtors.

19. 

    Punit Sarda June 12, 2015, 6:43 am

    Hi Anirudh

    1. Yes Modern stores are the self service stores with dedicated “Category” counter. You can either get your entire counter by paying more money. But can still place the product in the “Category” counter without any extra money. Also, you have Apollo and Medplus chains. 

    2. Use saloon as a selling medium of placing and selling your products. Saloons sell a lot of products which they dont use in their own business. These sale could be linked with barber led incentive on actual sale etc.

    3. Overnight success also requires a lot of effort. If you can understand what works in those efforts and slowly adopt those efforts, things can do wonders. 

    You will have to work on the value proposition your own product. Kam ko karna hi padega 🙂

    U r welcome 🙂

    It was indeed a very good discussion. I loved it all coz I could relate it so much

    Punit

20. 

    Abey John June 13, 2015, 8:30 pm

    Anirudh, I am also bowled over by your commitment to honesty.  What I’d like to reassure you is that it is 100% possible to regain ORG 1 (whatever that is) by holding on to your values in a snake oil market.  

    What you have are at least two blockbuster super star products who suffer from only one thing: proper marketing.  And the keyword here is “proper”.  

    One of the greatest Direct Response Marketing copywriters of all time, Sir Gary Halbert, broke it down to its bare bones basics with a question and an answer:

    Question: What do you need to sell?  Answer: A hungry crowd

    The job of marketing is to find that hungry crowd and present your product before them.  In the old days you reached the hungry crowd with big budget advertising that was effectively carpet bombing the entire population in the hope that the hungry ones would get caught in the net.  Now with the internet you can razor target your hungry crowd and pull them in at a fraction of the cost.  

    Abhik’s idea of building a community around each of your star products is hands down the best recommendation for your product category. For the acne soap users, pimplecare.in becomes a natural destination.  Give them good honest information about pimple care and provide a forum for them to discuss their problems.  

    At a strategic high level there are three areas to focus in marketing.  

    Reach – reach out to your target audience.  With all the data analytics tools available you can razor target your audience with scary precision.

    Engagement – engage with your target audience.  e.g. through social media tied back to pimplecare.in.  

    Conversion – get them to buy.  Structuring it as a subscription service is a good idea provided you can swing the numbers.  For a relatively low ticket item like acne soap a subscription service may not work unless you bundle it with value added services.  

    There is a correlation between reach, engagement, and conversion.  Once you establish the ‘conversion funnel’ and are ROI positive then its just a matter of pouring in as much money as you can to capture the market.  

    I am doing something similar for another rodinhooder and we are fleshing out the marketing machine around each star product.  Stay tuned to hear about results in a few months.  

21. 

    asha chaudhry May 4, 2016, 4:12 am

    hey anirudh,

    happy b’day!! just wanted to know how things are at your end? do update us on the subscription biz and what happened after this post! would love to hear!

    have a rocking day 🙂

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