OTC and Prescription drugs:
What are prescription medications : The kind of medicinal substances which are prescribed by a doctor and bought at a pharmacy and normally regulated under a stringent authority. (Ex: Food and drugs administration)
What are Over the counter (OTC)medications: The medications which can be bought or consumed without any prescription from the doctor. These kind of medicines can be directly bought over the counter in the pharmacy and in many cases general stores. They are meant for self medication and are generally safe if warnings and directions are followed.All medicinal products that are not included in the list of ‘prescription-only drugs’ are considered as non-prescription drugs (OTC, or over the counter) in India.
This small brief brings some differences between marketing of prescription and over the counter drugs with respect to Indian Pharmaceutical market:
| Prescription marketing | OTC Marketing | |
| Target audience | Doctors of various specialities | Consumers |
| Decision maker | Doctors who prescribes the medication , however patients who are prescribed medicines can also be a decision maker at the point of purchase based on factors like cost of medication and pharmacist recommendation | Consumers are the decision makers |
| Market research | Research is done with an objective to understand doctor’s prescription behaviour, molecule usage and attitude for a category of molecules /therapy area | Research is done to build consumer insights which when cretiavely communicated leads to an inspirational OTC advertising |
| Communication | Communication talks about molecules advantages, its benefits and superiority to previous class of molecules/ enhancement in drug delivery system/ convenience over other brands. | Communication talks about consumers , product benefits |
| Prescription marketing | OTC Marketing | |
| Objective of the marketing communication | Objective of the marketing is to influence and penetrate into the consideration set of the Doctors/KOLs for brand building | Objective of the marketing is to penetrate the consideration set of consumers and associate the brand with their specific needs |
| Communication aims at creating a favourable image in front of the doctors which helps in prescription generation and revenue generation for the organisation | Aims to build a memorable and convincing advertsiement for the brand so that the brand can be recalled at the point of purchase | |
| Channels of communication | Sales team -Medical representatives are mostly employed by the pharamceutical firms. With advancement of technology the promotion is expanding through virtual detailings and webinars | Channels of communications with target audience are wide- Broadcast Media(TV, Radio), Print media(Magazines, Newspapares),Out door media, Indoor promotions, Internet promotion etc |
| Other channels include advertisements in Medical journals, books , showcasing products in conferences etc | ||
| Message delievery and dilution | Message is communicated through medical reps which can lead to message distortions and key messages getting diluted many times | Message is conveyed directly to consumers through various channels (TV, Radio,Web etc) with no chances of getting key message diluted |
| Advertising expenses | 65-70% expenses are towards field force cost | A& P expenses are very high in the initial 2-3 years of launch . 65-70% expenses are in advertsing /10-15% field cost |
| Return on investment | It can take short time since doctors are aware about the basic molecules and any brand who is active in promotion,creating favourable activities have a higher chance of getting returns on the investment( Think only branded generics) | ROI usually takes a long time since building brand awareness and creating a desire for the product takes a long time.Its an entire process of brand building. |
| Product launches | There are numerous product launches in a year in prescription marketing with a new division emerging every year in many pharmaceutical companies .For ex; 1700 new product were launches in 2012 in Indian Pharmaceutical industry | Very few brands are launched in the market who can break the clutter and make into the mind of the consumers |
| Price Regulations | Prices are goverened by NPPA which is the main pricing authority in industry according to which prices of non essential medicines can not rise by 10% per year | No such regulations exists however pricing is brand specific which is governed by competitive scenario. Unless the brand has significant USP to offer the prices remain in the competitive bandwidth |
| Legal recognition | Legally all prescription drugs fall under Schedules H and X | No specific legal recognition in India |
Link: http://www.directfrommind.in/marketing/otc-and-prescription-marketing/
