Moniclor: Monitoring the health of distaclor (Caps); Eli Lilly Ranbax Ltd., Delhi

Abstract

This project attempts to gauge the response of the launch of Distaclor capsules on it’s target population i.e the doctors. The study was conducted in the cities of Hyderabad and Bombay and the key findings and recommendations stemming from the study are as follows: The 4 months performance of the brand in terms of it’s awareness and usage among the doctors shows heartening results. It has broken free from the traditional skepticism faced by the cefaclor group in general. In fact the most startling fact is the immediate association of the brand with the molecule, which is absent in all the other categories of drug. As far as within group competition is concerned Distaclor is already FIRST IN THE MIND. Across the drug categories Distaclor was competing with mainly amoxycillin, cephalexin and ciprofioxacin. Cephalexin is surely not a competition any more especially in the treatment of LRTI's. Amoxycillin still has the top of mind in case of antibiotics for (especially for first line treatment). Itis a difficult drug to shake considering it’s satisfactory performance in the Indian conditions. Ciprofloxacin, on the other hand does not seem to have that strong a hold in the second line drug category, which looks like an open field with no major preferences shown by the doctors. A positive point that Distaclor has against ciprofloxacin is that it can be combined with bronch-dilators etc. which are often used in severe infections. The COST FACTOR seems to be playing a much larger role than was anticipated. in addition, the doctors are not really paying much attention to the Cost-Effectiveness part of campaign. They still associate the price of the medicine with it’s-cost-effectiveness. The fear of prescribing a strong antibiotic is for real in the minds of the indian doctors (specially in Bombay). The recent propaganda about developing resistance to antibictics have made the doctors more conservative in their choice of the antibiotic more so to preserve their reputation among the community for being careful. The word that Distaclor owns in the minds of the doctors is “AFCB” only. Attempting to promote it for AFCB and Smokers only dilutes the focus of the brand. The laws of marketing talk about owning_A word in the prospect's mind and that is what the company should concentrate on doing.