Beyond the Label: Crafting A Resilient Pharma Brand

The pharmaceutical industry flourished for several years without 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, pharma 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.

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, brand management in pharma is the biggest challenge because of the high competition in the industry. Despite the high efforts required, brand management yields notable positive results for pharma companies.

The Role of 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 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 brand management in pharma 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 brand management strategies help companies in maintaining 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 brand management strategies.

Pharma 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 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 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.

Maintain regulatory compliance and trust.

In the pharma industry, regulatory compliance and customer trust go hand in hand. If a pharma company is non-compliant with regulatory requirements, they may lose licenses and face product recalls, which in turn will mean the loss of customer trust. Therefore, pharma companies must adhere to all regulatory requirements. It is also necessary to disclose all medical information, including side effects and risks. Furthermore, they have to take a proactive approach to risk management and appropriately respond to the safety concerns, side effects, or adverse events caused by their products. This honest communication with HCPs, patients, and regulatory bodies will ensure long-term trust.

Engage with HCPs.

While patients are the primary consumers of pharmaceutical products, it’s the HCPs who recommend them. Therefore, pharma companies must maintain a dialogue with HCPs. It involves educating them on the product’s benefits and offering them access to clinical tools and educational materials to help them understand the brand. Pharma companies can also build relationships with key opinion leaders who can advocate for the brand based on scientific evidence.

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.

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

Johnson & Johnson: An Excellent Example in 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 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, brand management in pharma is not as easy as Johnson & Johnson makes it look. Pharma companies often face several challenges.

Overcoming 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

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, brand management and consistent messaging are becoming the keys to staying alive. As the example of Johnson and Johnson has shown, 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 brand management.

FAQs

What are the consequences of regulatory non-compliance on the brand?

The consequences include product recalls, license cancellations, facility shutdown, fines, lawsuits and loss of brand reputation.

Is it necessary to regularly update information to maintain brand reputation?

Yes, pharma companies must regularly update all information regarding their products to ensure complete transparency. Failure to do so may result in regulatory questions.

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.