The Brand Document: Why the Pharma CEO MUST BE the Brand Custodian in India

The Brand Document: Why the Pharma CEO MUST BE the Brand Custodian in India

In this article, the CEO a generic term. It could be the owner of the firm, the entrepreneur, the managing director, the chairman or anyone who will stay with the company forever.

The year is 2009. Jupiter Pharma introduced a probiotic exclusively for neurologists. It was for neuro-developmental disorders The brand name coined was Normal. The Brand Manager Naina Pradhan worked thoroughly in the field to get insights. And the most important insight she generated was not from the kids but from the mothers, the decision-makers. The mothers were finding it difficult to cope up with the special kids. It was a real challenge for mothers.

Naina Pradhan targeted Normal for pediatric neurologists and psychiatrists for neurodevelopmental disorders like attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, learning disabilities, and intellectual disability.

The positioning message was very clear – “Helps mother cope up with the learning disability of her special beloved child”. This was supported by an emotional live image of a mother taking her son to the school for special children. A powerful logo was developed to match the character of Normal. The model of the mother and child came at a huge cost. Naina Pradhan argued beautifully with CEO Saidas Iyenger for an additional budget. And the outcome was exotic.

Normal matched the brand promise and was widely accepted by the targeted segment, the pediatric neurologists, and psychiatrists. Day after day the numbers of prescriptions for Normal were increasing.

And within three years, Normal was tending towards becoming a mega-brand for Jupiter.

And that was the time when Naina Pradhan switched her job. The new incumbent Rakesh Roy was from a multinational giant with several successful brands to his credit.

He was in a hurry to show his brilliance to the C-suite at Jupiter. He scurried through the brand plan of Normal and was only looking for flaws to be corrected.

The brilliant Rakesh felt that the segment was too narrow and broadening it could result in a better prescription flow. He was used to getting all inputs and brand directions from the parent company based at Basle; he did not bother to generate newer insights for Normal.

He incorporated all neurologists and psychiatrists. He also included GPs and obstetricians as he felt that the mother would first go to the GP or her obstetrician to seek advice for her child.

Rakesh was pleased with his newfound self-discovery. He changed the tagline, the visual, the color, or almost everything he could see.

We are relaunching Normal he said. In the relaunch meet and in the medico-marketing promotional material he named the brand as New Normal.

The relaunch was done on a grand scale. The field managers were taken to Singapore for the relaunch meeting and New Normal was launched with great fanfare at Hotel Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

The new logo was revealed, but the field managers weren’t impressed. The new medico-marketing tool was textbookish.

Back home, New Normal was given a cold shoulder by the new segment of the doctors. New Normal isn’t for my patients. And at the same time, the efforts on the core doctors: the pediatric neurologists and psychiatrists, got diluted.

The digital marketing team failed in social listening.

Within a few months, the prescription flow for New Normal from the pediatric neurologists and psychiatrists was halved and the new prescriptions from the new doctors were in trickles and did not offset the loss of prescriptions from pediatric neurologists and psychiatrists

Within 18 months Rakesh Roy was looking for a change of job.

Who failed? Who was to be blamed? Naina Pradhan for not writing the Brand Document, or Rakesh Roy for the new strategy?

Neither!

The entire fault was with the CEO Saidas Iyenger.

He wasn’t aware that a Brand Document wasn’t prepared for Normal and Rakesh Roy was clueless about the thoughts behind the Brand Plan of Normal. CEO Saidas Iyenger could have insisted on Naina Pradhan to get the Brand Document in place. Had he done that, he could have been firm that first Rakesh must study the Brand Document in depth before making any changes. But the Brand Document wasn’t existent.

Rakesh Roy virtually threw away the history and legacy of Normal. You can't just discard that just to show your creativity and wisdom. The new branding effort should have kept New Normal fresh without losing its heritage.

So what is a Brand Document?

When you buy a new car or scooter, it comes with an ‘Owner’s Manual’. An owner's manual is also called an instruction manual or a user guide. It is an instructional booklet that is supplied with technologically advanced products such as vehicles, home appliances, and computer peripherals. The ‘Owner’s Manual’ remains with you forever.

So why not have an ‘Owner’s Manual’ for your own brand. Brand guidelines, also called a brand document, are essentially an instruction manual and rule book on how to communicate your brand. By documenting the decisions made during the development of your brand plan, a brand manager can ensure brand consistency while moving forward.

When the brand changes hands, your successor will understand why you cared for your brand so much and will be able to nurture the brand from where you left.

Regardless of what your nomenclature is, a Brand Document, Brand Guide, a Brand Style Guide, Brand Book, the Brand Document is a tool to give your brand consistency and flexibility over a long time frame. 

Name, logo, mascot, colors, typeface, and the 'Why' behind it are documented.

Documentation of the thoughts is very important as it gives the successor the thoughts which went into it. He can build on those thoughts and carry the brand forward. And eloquently express the deep emotional relations with the brand.

Articulate the brand identity in your Brand Document elaborating each of these elements (which follow a little later in this write-up). These are the pillars of your brand identity.

When you prepare the brand document, articulate your beliefs, your feelings your emotions which went into your thought process in creating them. Document your thoughts behind a particular typeface, or a color. Why and how the brand mascot has been created.

Documentation is imperative to understand the original thinking of a brand. Your successor should know why a particular segmentation and positioning has been decided.

In fact, your Brand Document must contain anything and everything about your brand. 

But unlike ‘Owner’s Manual’ which is referred only when your car breaks down, your Brand Document should be referred at least once a week.

What are the essential elements of a brand document, the pillars?

·       An overview of your brand’s history, personality, and key values. And the ‘Why’ behind it.

·       Brands Vision. And the ‘Why’ behind it. This will energize the field. 

·       The brand character and personality and the ‘Why’ behind it.

·       The brand's segmentation, benefits, USP, value proposition, positioning statement, and positioning message and the ‘Why’ behind it.

·       The brand's strategy, tactics, including the communication strategy and the ‘Why’ behind it.

·       Color palette – showing your primary and secondary color palettes with color breakdowns for print, screen, and web and the ‘Why’ behind it.

·       Typeface i.e. typography and the ‘Why’ behind it. Show the specific font that you use and details of the font family and default fonts for web use and the ‘Why’ behind it.

·       The brand Logo and the mascot usage – where and how to use them, including minimum sizes, spacing, and what not to do with it. And the ‘Why’ behind it.

·       Image style/photography – examples of image style and photographs that work with the brand. And the ‘Why’ behind it.

·       The tagline and the And the ‘Why’ behind it.

·       The supporting graphics And the ‘Why’ behind it.

·       The packaging and packaging style and the ‘Why’ behind it.

·       Business card and letterhead design – examples of how the logo and font are used for standard company literature. And the ‘Why’ behind it.

Final Thought

Why should the Pharma CEO insist on a Brand Document?

When it comes to building a memorable brand, consistency is everything. In a world where the attrition rate of brand managers is very high - over 60% - the Pharma CEO should discipline his brand managers to create and maintain a brand document. And he should be the ultimate custodian of the brand so the consistency is maintained.

The Brand Document is like the Constitution of India. Its contents are sacrosanct and any deviation would need prior permission. The Brand Document can be a physical or digital booklet filled with examples of what to do and what not to do. Had Saidas Iyenger taken the time to insist on a Brand Document, it could have ensured that the brand image of Normal stayed consistent after the departure of Naina Pradhan.