Insights – The Essential Ingredient of a Brand Plan

First, what’s a good definition of an insight??

Insight is not something which is very easy or simple to explain.

Data or information are linear and unbending in nature.

1 + 1 = 2, or rather, has to be 2, cannot be any other number then 2.

You know this and you don’t need to speak to doctors or patients to know this.

Insight on the other hand can make 1+1 = 3 or 1+1 = 4 or even 1+1 = 7!

Insight is neither information nor data.

Insights are something which you already know, but somehow, went unrecognized or got clean out of your mind, but once again brought to light, when you as a brand manager or even as a field sales manager, speak to doctors and patients.

And this rediscovery of the truth you already knew is your insight.

You slap on your forehead and say, "Oh! How stupid! I already knew this".

Case Studies

Team PharmaState Academy very recently interviewed 32 patients for the World Pharma Brand Managers Day – 2023, Patients were both from Bangladesh and India.

Case A

An elderly lady with rheumatoid arthritis was interviewed.

The revelation came when this lady said: “My home doesn’t have and cannot even afford a western style toilet. The mornings are terrible as I find it extremely difficult I cannot squat Indian styla while passing stools and this makes my mornings awful.”

This is an insight because you already knew this but did not occur to you, till you spoke to the patient.

Think of a strategy from this input generated.

Case B

This is about a lower-middle class lady whose husband runs a small business in supplying lunch tiffin’s to a nearby office-commercial areas. Besides, ?she also helps her husband in preparing meals.

“I am a patient of psoriasis, and the flare-up occurs on my palms and hand. This is visible to all. Sadly, the moment the customer sees me and my palms and hands, they stop ordering from my husband. That’s terrible because psoriasis is not contagious. Many customers have deserted us.”

This pain point of the lady is a very valuable insight. ?

Insights tell you the core truths and work as the foundation on which you build brands. Insights can have a tremendous impact when you craft your brand strategy. When you generate insights, you do not have to rely too much on your intuitions. It’s a scientific way to amalgam a forward-looking segmentation-targeting-positioning with a better understanding of what’s inside the minds of doctors and patients.

?Building brands isn’t getting easier. Leverage the insights will help you break the clutter. The opportunities from insights are infinite while crafting your brand strategy.

Now 1 + 1 = ∞

Vivek Hattangadi