Interview Times Joy Chatterjee, a bright mind with the position of General Manager, Sales & Marketing, World’s leading Pharmaceuticals Company (Mankind) had a conversation with The Interview Times. A reporter at Interview Times got an opportunity to have a great conversation with him.
Excerpts of the conversation
1. We appreciate that you are the GM, Sales, and marketing, in the world’s top Pharmaceuticals Company. Could you please tell us about your journey here?
My journey started in the year 2006, I have extensive experience in sales and marketing where I look and understand the ground reality of our business. With the combination of on-ground experience & consumer research, we made the right marketing mix and focused on its implementation. Over the years, we have successfully created brands that now stand as category leaders and are endorsed by popular faces in the Industry.
2. Why and when did you join the Pharmacy, and what is your key role here? What was your idea behind coming up with a digestion product in the market?
I am a marketeer to the core, joining this pharmacy in its early days to set up the OTC portfolio felt just right to me. It was quite exciting & challenging to build up a Business Division pertaining to the OTC & FMCG basket. We definitely started on the right foot and laid its foundation stone in the year 2007 and since then there has been no looking back.
The launch of Antacid powder 7th edition made a lot of sense for us considering there is only one major player in the category with a size of 2251 Crs. With the strong distribution network, we had the right muscle to compete in this market and reach all corners of PAN India.
3. Well, it seems you have been in the pharmaceutical world for so long. What were the challenges you faced and how did you overcome that?
The company’s total revenue contribution from Pharma is 86%. We are the 4th Largest Pharma Company in India with the fastest growth rate over the last 25 years. In pharma, we have a strong presence across various acute & chronic segments but OTC became an important area of exploration, we entered a bit late in the segment but eventually managed to make an impact.
4. In India almost everyone is suffering from gas problems but they barely trust any medicine instead they prefer home remedies. But we find that our medicine has had great breakthroughs from the past few years. Would you like to say something about this?
Our digestive sachet is not a general antacid. Our antacid powder active range has real Jeera and Ajwain flavors. These ingredients are trusted and time-tested home remedies. This is the main USP of the brand which establishes a good connection with consumers.
5. How is your product different from other antacids available in the market in terms of ingredients?
We have enriched our antacid product (sachets) with the goodness of real Jeera and Ajwain with great taste.
6. What is your marketing strategy? How do you grab their attention towards your product? Do you have any renowned brand ambassadors?
In the near future, we are planning to launch new products under the sexual wellness category. We are also planning to introduce some interesting condom flavors for the youth which will be announced soon. We also have plans to expand our multivitamin portfolio under the Health OK umbrella and will be launching a premium pack from the pregnancy test kit under Prega News.
In 2021, AcneStar will be coming up with more engaging campaigns and marketing strategies to reach out to its target audience. We are taking a regional approach by roping in popular faces from the regional film and television industry that will help the brand to establish a direct connection with its audience.
Our Antacid brand has been coming up with new campaigns in regional languages to communicate with their target audience in a more personalized way. Recently, the brand has come up with a video campaign in Hindi-speaking markets like UP, Bihar, MP, Chattisgarh, in the Marathi language for Maharashtra market, in the Bengali language for West Bengal market and in Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam language for South India markets, featuring their brand ambassadors; Saurabh Shukla and Biswanath Basu and Brahmanandam.
7. How often do you change the packaging and face of the promotion?
This is up to market demand and need. We always believe in connecting with consumers in a personalized way and accordingly, plan our way.
8. How is your market divided & from which part do you get the main business?
As per the Antacid category, the market is divided into zones, East West North South, and Central. We have a good presence in PAN India, and we are strong in the North, East, and south region.
9. During lockdown many people switched to home remedies. Did it affect your market or did you notice any increase or decrease in sales before and during the lockdown? Was any change seen after a lockdown in the market response?
People are always keen to explore multiple cuisines which create issues like acidity, gas, and indigestion problems. Today irregular eating habits and sedentary lifestyle create stomach issues are very common among people. There has been strong demand among people that are looking for an Ayurvedic solution. Brand Gas- O-Fast is an Ayurvedic antacid with the goodness of real Jeera that gives a complete solution to acidity, gas, and indigestion. In the last year, we have seen positive growth in sales among different ages of consumers buying our company’s antacid powder and has received tremendous response from the market.
We are expecting the same trend to continue, and thus we are quite optimistic that will see a jump in sales this year also. Going by the numbers, the average sale of Gas-O-Fast sachets approximately counts over 1 Crore sachets every month. The brand is quite optimistic that the numbers will increase further due to the rising demand in the market.
10. Are you planning for any new marketing strategy for the same?
We are regularly working on new innovations to explore more natural ingredients and other flavors to enrich our Antacid powder range. Last year, the brand has done association with multiple regional influencers for the digital platform. These regional influencer activities will continue for better brand connection with consumers.
