With the continuous expansion of the scope of generic drug procurement and the continuous enrichment of categories, pharmaceutical companies are seeking another growth point with higher profit margins, and the transformation and innovation corresponding to the huge unmet clinical needs is a road, and with the development of domestic aging, self-medication awareness, and pharmaceutical separation reform, the market potential of OTC products has also expanded, according to IQVIA data analysis, China's over-the-counter drug market size will increase from 248.3 billion yuan in 2021 to 306.1 billion yuan in 2025.
China has undoubtedly become one of the OTC markets with the largest potential in the world, but the demand for OTC products is in front of us, how to fully market product potential still requires a comprehensive strategy, among them, brand building is very important, the market's requirements for OTC products have been upgraded from the past product quality and service to a higher level, but also put forward higher requirements: how to discover the brand, how to do a good job in brand communication
On December 23-24, 2023, the first OTC brand conference hosted by the China Non-prescription Drug Association was grandly opened in Beijing, the capital of China. With the theme of "Believe in the Power of Brands", the conference aims to build an "industry ecological platform" to promote the high-quality development of OTC brands, and invited the main forces from the core elements of government, industry, learning, use, media, and services in the field of OTC brands to give speeches and discussions on core topics such as hot policies, development trends, innovation and upgrading, and professional communication of Chinese OTC brands.
Brands should create their own "wind".
During the opening ceremony of the conference, in addition to inviting a number of celebrities to give keynote speeches, it also released the comprehensive statistical ranking of China's non-prescription drug manufacturers in 2023, the comprehensive statistical ranking of chemical drugs in China's non-prescription drug products in 2023, the comprehensive statistical ranking of Chinese patent medicines in China's non-prescription drug products in 2023, the list of China's non-prescription drug ** major single products in 2023, and the comprehensive statistical ranking of China's health product manufacturers in 2023. At the same time, the conference also announced the list of 2023 China OTC brand innovation outstanding cases.
Among them, the comprehensive statistical ranking of China's over-the-counter drug manufacturers in 2023 has set up 24 product groups, with 5 products in each group, and a total of 120 products have entered the list, including cold and cough, cold and antiviral, digestive, intestinal, qi and blood, calming the mind, ** family, etc., the well-known China Resources Sanjiu Cold Ling Capsule Granules (trade name: 999), Dong'e Ejiao's Ejiao compound Ejiao paste (trade name: Dong'e Ejiao), Taiji Group's Huoxiang Zhengqi Oral Liquid (trade name: Tai Chi), Jiangzhong Pharmaceutical's Stomach Digesting Tablets (trade name: Jiangzhong brand), and Yabao Pharmaceutical's Ding Guier Umbilical Patch (trade name: Ding Gui) are on the list. More than 20 chemical drugs and Chinese patent medicine products, such as Shandong Dayin's vitamin AD drops (trade name: Yikexin) and Kangenbei Pharmaceutical's intestinal Yanning tablets granules (trade name: Kangenbei), have also entered the list of China's over-the-counter drugs.
In fact, one of the biggest common features of these products on the list is that they have a clear brand positioning. As one of the guests concluded, "Brands must create their own style, not chase the outlet, and companies should choose a concept from a brand in the minds of customers, make it synonymous, and then merge the two into one." ”
A number of keynote speeches and roundtable discussions shared a successful case – Dong'e Ejiao, which one of the panelists described as "the transformation of mental violence into mental power".
For consumers in the Chinese market, the concept of "blood supplementation" is empty and outdated, so Dong'e Ejiao repositioned the concept of "blood supplementation" as "nourishment", thus realizing market transformation, no longer framing the demand for "blood supplementation", but expanding the positioning of people who need blood supplementation to almost the entire health care product consumer market. At the same time, Dong'e Ejiao also borrowed the concepts of ginseng, deer antler velvet and ejiao in the ancient classics of the "Compendium of Materia Medica", making Ejiao and these two concepts go hand in hand in the concept of consumers, becoming the "three treasures of nourishment" in the concept, which not only realizes the upgrading of consumption attributes, but also anchors the foundation for the future of the brand. "In the era of involution, we don't want to be rolled, but take the initiative to use positioning to lead and create our own brand, and Dong'e Ejiao has made such an innovation. The guests at the meeting said bluntly.
How to "make the wind".
From the case of Dong'e Ejiao, it can be seen that the two strategies of becoming synonymous with consumer concepts and differentiated innovation positioning are very important, which is the mission of the company's operators: to jump out of the ocean and seize the concept in the minds of customers.
So, how to "live" in the minds of customers?How to create such a brand?This is also one of the core topics discussed at the OTC Brand Conference.
The discussion of this topic is directly related to the "OTC Brand Value Evaluation Standards and the OTC Brand Value of the First Batch of Enterprises" released on the spot. According to the guests, brand value is the core element of brand management and represents the core asset of the brand. It is a key symbol that distinguishes the brand from competitors, directly affects the competitiveness of the brand in the market, and is the key guarantee for the long-term development of the brand.
OTC brand value is mainly combined with two indicators - corporate financial information and OTC brand strength evaluation, of which OTC brand strength evaluation includes four dimensions: quality factors, sustainable development factors, market factors, consumers, doctors, and store staff factors. The participants concluded that "intangible assets" such as cash flow and profits can enhance brand valueFor the brand strength index, continuous improvement in effective investment, accurate communication, improving brand awareness, increasing the willingness to buy next time, and the recognition of consumers, doctors, and store staff has a very high impact on the compound success rate of brand value. In addition, the guest also pointed out that in terms of market value management of enterprises, the improvement of brand value will also increase the premium of enterprise valuation, which is one of the competitiveness of enterprises.
At the practical level of brand value enhancement, how to build a brand, establish brand positioning, and spread the brand has become a topic of discussion among many enterprise managers attending the meeting. A guest concluded that today's brand communication can be summarized as "double micro, one shake and one focus", that is, online Weibo, WeChat, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, do content, do topics, do implantation, and create content that can be disseminated by consumers;The resonance between offline apartment buildings, office buildings, shopping malls, cinemas, and the detonation of consumers' core living spaces is the most effective way to communicate the brand.
Of course, in the face of brand communication in so many scenarios, "channel resonance" is easier said than done. He believes that "the brand is for tomorrow's income, the perspective of continuing the positioning, grasping the minds of consumers, different products must be a good study of their own consumers, and how they see your products." ”
For example, the core element of Winona's brand communication in professional channels is precision, which not only accurately targets sensitive skin, but also distinguishes solutions at different stages of sensitivity, "implants" consumers with the concept of precision and sensitivity, and conducts targeted brand marketing.
For example, in eye drop branding, differentiated branding is not to tell consumers what is dry or moisturized, but to spread how to keep your eyes dry. "That's really thinking from the perspective of the consumer. ”