Beyond the Label: Crafting A Resilient Pharma Brand

The pharmaceutical industry flourished for several years without pharmaceutical branding. For example, paracetamol has been a popular medication since 1878, but only after decades of use was paracetamol branded as Tylenol, Panadol, Calpol, and Alvedon by different pharmaceutical companies. Today, pharmaceutical branding is critical. Pharmaceutical companies have to develop their unique brand and put a lot of effort into maintaining brand integrity and brand consistency in marketing.

Pharmaceutical branding in pharma is a method of creating awareness among customers – awareness about the product and the company manufacturing it. However, once a company has made its unique brand in the pharma industry, it needs to be maintained. Unfortunately, pharmaceutical brand management in pharma is the biggest challenge because of the high competition in the industry. Despite the high efforts required, pharmaceutical brand management yields notable positive results for pharma companies.

The Role of Pharmaceutical Brand Management in Pharma

Trust & Credibility

The pharma industry relies heavily on trust; when customers trust the pharma company, they are likely to buy products or services. Good pharmaceutical brand management in pharma helps companies retain the trust they have gained from their customers. An essential part of this is ensuring the brand sends a consistent message through all marketing campaigns.

Pricing

Strong brands can often use premium pricing because customers trust the brand more and are more likely to pay for services or products associated with the brand. For example, a consumer is more likely to purchase paracetamol from a trusted brand than from a no-name brand, even if the branded product is expensive. This premium pricing often results in improved profitability.

Competitive advantage

Strong pharmaceutical brand management can also result in a marketing advantage over competitors. For example, Listerine is the most widely used mouthwash in the world, and most consumers think only of Listerine when they think of mouthwashes. Consequently, competitors have a hard time challenging this advantage, giving the company a competitive advantage.

In addition to these advantages, companies also benefit from improved customer loyalty and stronger emotional connections. Well-developed pharma pharmaceutical brand management strategies help companies maintain brand integrity. Over the long term, this brand integrity makes the brand an intangible asset of the company, which contributes to the overall company image/value and attracts investors, partnerships and customers. However, the key to this is consistent and good pharmaceutical brand management strategies.

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Pharmaceutical Brand Management Strategies

A pharmaceutical company’s brand revolves around its unique value proposition and image. Consequently, pharma companies have to maintain these aspects using unique pharma pharmaceutical brand management strategies:

Ensure messaging consistency

Any brand is created by the message its core message. For example, Aurobindo Pharma’s core message (or vision statement) is “to become a consistent top 10 generic pharmaceutical supplier with a reputation for superior customer service, honesty and transparency”. Therefore, all pharma pharmaceutical brand management strategies have to align with this message. Sending a unified message across all marketing channels allows the customer to associate the brand with a specific message. If different messages are sent, the customer may get confused about the brand’s unique value proposition.

Undertake CSR initiatives

In the pharma industry, most companies have patient-oriented and disease-oriented mission statements, for example, to treat a disease, to help rid the world of a disease, and to inspire care. But, pharma companies must back these mission statements up with action. The key is corporate social responsibility. Pharma companies must support initiatives or undertake projects that demonstrate their commitment to their goals, which will improve their brand reputation and customer loyalty by showing the world that they aren’t only focused on profits but also on community and patient welfare.

Focus on patient trust and brand loyalty

Brand loyalty is the biggest challenge in the pharma industry because companies may lose their decades-in-building reputation over product recalls, lawsuits, high pricing, aggressive marketing tactics or regulatory queries. Therefore, pharma companies must take decisions while actively assessing how it will affect patients. By demonstrating their focus to patients’ wellbeing and best interests, pharma companies can retain patient trust and, over time, brand loyalty. This may often translate into decisions that don’t benefit the company in the short term, but it will help the company retain its customer base.

Employ digital and emotional branding!

A digital and emotional brand positioning strategy involves the use of digital transformation in the pharma industry through platforms and tools to build a campaign that allows the company to emotionally connect with its stakeholders, i.e., patients, HCPs, investors, etc. Using social media, privately developed applications and chatbots, pharma companies can provide a human touch to their communication with their stakeholders. Furthermore, companies can leverage data analytics and insights to personalize their communications and services, which helps further connect with stakeholders on an emotional level. Such campaigns, while time-consuming, will have a direct impact on the brand’s reputation as they humanize the brand and help it differentiate from competitors in a very saturated industry. Furthermore, such brand positioning campaigns also drive organic growth because stakeholders may discuss the brand with close friends and family.

Here’s an excellent example of a company that has implemented many of these pharmaceutical brand positioning strategies.

Here’s an excellent example of a company that has implemented many of these pharmaceutical brand management strategies.

Johnson & Johnson: An Excellent Example in Pharmaceutical Brand Management

Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational pharmaceutical company founded in 1886. It has an extensive portfolio that includes medications and medical devices. In 2023, Johnson & Johnson was ranked the largest biotechnology and pharmaceutical company by revenue. It is also the world’s most valuable and strongest pharma brand.

Because of its century-wide journey, Johnson & Johnson has become an excellent example in pharma pharmaceutical brand management strategies. Over the years, it has branded itself as a company that takes care of people. 

Here’s how:

Johnson & Johnson ran the Care Inspires Care campaign after a 2012 global study reported that people thought the world was becoming a less caring place. It used its sponsorship of the 2014 FIFA World Cup to change this belief.

In 2014, Johnson & Johnson launched the Champions of Care program, in which people worldwide shared stories about the caring champions in their lives and nominated them as Champions of Care. Among the nominees, one was selected as the winner and granted a ticket to the final match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Over the years, the company has launched various father-centric campaigns, encouraging the role of fathers in their children’s lives.

In 2018, Johnson & Johnson launched the #makeHIVhistory campaign for World AIDS Day. The campaign aimed to help end HIV.

In 2024, Johnson & Johnson launched the My Health Can’t Wait campaign, which encouraged people to prioritize their health. The campaign not only targeted individuals but also focused on doctors, encouraging them to open dialogues with patients. The program sponsored various community wellness programs across the USA.

These unique marketing campaigns have aligned excellently with Johnson & Johnson’s brand and fit very well with their tagline: Caring for the world, one person at a time.

However, pharmaceutical brand management in pharma is not as easy as Johnson & Johnson makes it look. Pharma companies often face several challenges.

Overcoming Pharmaceutical Brand Management Challenges

Regulatory restrictions

Marketing in pharma is heavily regulated by local and international authorities, which limits the types of promotional campaigns companies can run. In various countries, direct-to-consumer advertising is banned, which means HCPs are the main and only target audience, complicating marketing efforts. Furthermore, product packaging, labelling and claims are strictly limited, and all information must be backed by evidence, which slows down promotional campaigns. Finally, even minor deviations or exaggerations can lead to regulatory penalties, fines, and product recalls. Unfortunately, the only solution to these issues is compliance with regulatory guidelines.

Competition

The pharmaceutical space is saturated, which leads to a loss in exclusivity, pricing pressure from generic drugs, and crowded therapeutic competition. Pharma companies have to extensively justify their products and their pricing through strong messaging about their product’s efficacy, safety and brand trust. Furthermore, the high competition can result in loss of differentiation—the patient may not be able to tell one company from another. For them, as long as the product works and there are no side effects, the brand name does not matter.

Public Perception

Public perception is the biggest challenge in the pharma industry because companies may often lose their decades-in-building reputation over product recalls, lawsuits, high pricing, aggressive marketing tactics or regulatory queries. Furthermore, product recalls, safety concerns and adverse events can permanently damage the product in the public’s eye even if the company reproves its product’s efficacy to regulatory bodies or overcomes all concerns.

Conclusion

Pharmaceutical brand management is a relatively new concept in the pharmaceutical space, but it is increasingly gaining importance. As the space becomes more competitive and companies try to outdo one another, pharmaceutical brand management and consistent messaging are becoming the keys to staying alive. As the example of Johnson and Johnson has shown, pharmaceutical brand management in pharma requires constant effort, but it can be rewarding. We hope this article helped you understand more about the importance, methods, and challenges of pharma pharmaceutical brand management.

FAQs

How is pharma brand management different?

Brand management in pharma is significantly different from any other industry because the industry is heavily regulated. All marketing campaigns, plans, etc. need to be compliant with regulatory guidelines, which means standard templates cannot be used.

Why is trust crucial for pharma brands?

Pharma brands considerably impact public health. A loss of trust, due to any reason, may make HCPs and patients avoid the company’s products, leading to irrepairable consequences.

How long does it take to build a pharma brand?

There is no specific timeline for how long it takes to build a successful brand. Pharma companies must instead focus on consistent and measurable growth.