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Sravanthi Challapalli

Chennai , Sept. 28

FCB-Ulka Healthcare has launched a new service called Brand RX. This service is available to any brand that needs to communicate with doctors for validation.

"Nowadays, many consumers take the doctor's advice even if it's a non-prescription brand they want to use," says Mr Satish Ramachandran, General Manager, FCB-Ulka Healthcare. The service can be used by any brand — not just pharmaceutical — from the fast-moving consumer goods sector, which needs positive endorsement from doctors. Typically, these categories would be foods, cosmetics, oral hygiene products and such, he explained.

"Many brands that are advertised on mass media often miss out on positive word-of-mouth among the medical profession. Brand RX is aimed at fulfilling this vital gap," he says.

Rational communication

Contacting a target group of doctors is totally different from a consumer contact programme, says Mr Ramachandran, adding that doctors need "rational communication" to consider the product. Brand RX uses a five-stage model to approach doctors. This includes understanding the brand's mass-market position and communication, figuring out its medical relevance, preparing the communication, campaign planning and monitoring.

Campaigns

Without revealing the name, Mr Ramachandran said a major global brand recently used Brand RX to speak to over 9,000 dentists in 12 cities. Drug audits, done for companies to gauge if their communication is reaching the right doctors, are also a part of the service. FCB-Ulka Healthcare's campaigns include those for the painkiller Brufen and antacid Digene, made by Abbott Laboratories.

Mr Ramachandran, however, declined to reveal the billings made by the division.

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