What Drives Corporate Reputation of a Pharma Brand?
A new film has released, and you can’t make up your mind whether it’s worth your time and money. What do you do?
Well, reading some reviews might help, or maybe a recommendation from a friend. In either instance, you decision would be based on the reputation the film has earned. It is no different for any product, service or a company. It’s all about reviews and ratings, it’s all about those five stars, it’s all about gaining trust. In case of pharmaceuticals this becomes even more critical as you are dealing with human lives.
Why reputation management is important for a company?
In a world where dissemination of public opinion has become more free flowing than ever before, thanks to the proliferation of social media platforms, reputation management is no longer a choice for a company or a brand, it’s a necessity.
We all have quoted Warren Buffett’s famous quote on reputation “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” What is important is to see how do you ensure that you not only build brand reputation but also minimize the reputational risk.
The reputation of a company helps in creating credibility, attracting and retaining talent, securing business and building customer loyalty, and all these collectively lead to business success.
What leads to trust Deficit ?
In the recent past we saw a multinational pharmaceutical company undergo massive lawsuits related to one of its products, which resulted in massive damages of nearly $9 billion. The entire incident led to a decline in revenue, profits as well as market cap. More importantly it led to massive erosion of corporate reputation and trust for the brand.
Unfortunately, the global pharma industry is witnessing an onslaught of adverse media reports which focus on the high profit margins made by some of the companies. Regrettably, such reports, have painted the entire pharma sector in very poor light. The evidence suggests that today, people are very sceptical about the pharma industry and are most unforgiving in case they lose that trust.
In this backdrop, building reputation for pharma companies is not just critical it is also highly nuanced. Its not just about the quality of products and company’s performance, it is also about how that growth has been achieved.
What pharma companies can do to build and protect their reputation?
Central to building a credible pharma brand is patient centricity… like in case of Biocon, we believe we are in a humanitarian business and therefore our focus is on providing affordable access to biological therapies to patients across the globe.
Our strategy to impact global health is based on 4As: Accessibility, Availability, Affordability and Assurance. This helps us in building and sustaining the trust of all our stakeholders — patients, healthcare providers, partners, investors and others, thus ensuring long-term business success.
The pharma industry has realized the need to build a strong corporate narrative that reflects empathy, besides talking about the product benefits. Patient Support programs that expand access to the underprivileged also help in building a strong reputation for the Company. The companies are increasingly focussing on sustainable business practices and are working towards being nature positive.
In conclusion, Corporate Brand reputation is built on the bedrock of being authentic and purpose driven, focused on impacting people and the community, at large. Growth in business is a tangible outcome of good reputation. But the real earnings of good reputation are intangible -The Trust that the Brand Enjoys.
By: Seema Ahuja, SVP & Global Head of Communications & Corporate Brand, Biocon Group
A Blog by Biocon 