Q 1. Tell us about your journey as a pharma entrepreneur and what made you venture into pharma and stay on in pharma?
My journey started with two good decisions, one- to be a Medical Representative (MR) in Mumbai, which built a strong foundation and the other, to join Helios, a new pharma company, which was like a baptism of fire. Together, they molded me well.
I was promoted as a Front Line Manager (FLM) within a year. And after spending four excellent years in Helios, I joined Group Pharma as Product Manager (PM) and ever since, it’s been an exciting learning experience.
I was exposed to Pharma very early in life as my dad was in J L Morison, as part of the promoter-team of Warren Pharma. At home, I was the designated telephone operator and order processing clerk. Those were the days of trunk-calls - calling managers and distributors to note down orders. Hence, I was exposed to the excitement of targets, achievements, deficits and campaigns very early in my life. The idea of ‘work-life balance’ was not in vogue. One would look to their parents who worked long hours with pride making it something you wanted to emulate. Things have changed a lot but I would not trade the decision I made, to get into and stay in Pharma.
Marketers often think that everything is new in the digital world. They have simply forgotten the first principle, which is to serve the customers – to have a customer-centric view and not a product-centric one.
More than digitalizing your product promotions, the case calls for building and engaging your brand community through digital solutions that create memorable customer experiences.
With the new normal emerging, the traditional Pharma commercial model needs to be relooked by exploring alternative channels of engagement, which offer opportunities to create value for customers.
Company-specific digital adoption workshops to experience how a brand can be promoted using the omnichannel approach with field force involvement.