Homoeopathy gets a dose of brand war as top guns slug it out

THE Rs 630-crore organised market for homoeopathy is witnessing fierce competition with players such as Baksons, Dr Batra's, SBL and Schwabe India on expansion and marketing overdrive. They're launching specialty clinics, new drug combinations, courting homoeopaths, and fighting a high-decibel ad war. When it comes to specialty homoeopathy clinics, it's essentially the preserve of two players—Dr Batra's and Baksons. While Dr Batra’s caters to 8-9 specialities, including hair-care (tricology), dermatology and respiratory, Baksons largely follows the rule of four across its clinics—respiratory, dermatology, stomach and arthritis. With 51 clinics across 19 cities in India and a presence in Mauritius and the UK, Dr Batra's is definitely on the growth path. "We normally add 10 clinics every year and will soon be present in Abu Dhabi and Dubai," says Dr Mukesh Batra, MD, Dr Batra's. The company has also set up a cyber clinic that offers online consultation and treatment to more than 4.5 lakh online consumers each month from over 86 countries. Dr SPS Bakshi-promoted Baksons is also gearing up to increase its presence from 22 clinics at present. Meanwhile, in manufacturing too players have upped the ante. Although Dr Batra's share in manufacturing is minuscule (since its focus is largely on clinics), it's fast learning that a grip on manufacturing is essential to ramp up clinics. "We're also expanding our range of products where our presence is minimal today," says Dr Batra. Baksons, on the other hand, rides on two factories and 600 distributors. "Today, Baksons has a 30% marketshare in homoeopathy products with a turnover of Rs 45-crore last year," says Dr Bakshi. For the 110-year-old German company, Dr Wilmar Schwabe, which started ops in India 10 years ago, growth in the country is impressive (over 50%), with 2006 sales touching Rs 28-crore. "At this rate, we'll touch Rs 40-crore by the end of this calendar year," says Sangeet Agarwal, GM, Schwabe India. SBL, yet another pan-India homoeopathic drug-maker, is today a Rs 60-crore company with three facilities in Jaipur, Haridwar and Sahibabad. It sells over 10,000 stockkeeping units, with bio-chemics and bio-combinations topping the list. Clinics, products, and now huge spends on advertising and promotions (A&P)—homoeopathy companies are maintaining the splash factor to be oneup in the market, and be one with consumers. With a turnover of Rs 65-crore, Dr Batra's is coughing up as much as Rs 15-crore in A&P. "Over the last two years, we've built up our brand and the competition has gotten fierce too. We have to reserve one-fourth of our revenues to stay top-of-mind," says Dr Batra. Similarly, Baksons, with Rs 45-crore in the bag, is slugging it out with an A&P arsenal of Rs 5 crore. Other players too have taken a leaf out of the competition by eating into their ever-growing pie to create that buzz among consumers. Reining in the 300,000-odd homoeopathy doctors is also part of the promotional costs. As Baksons is eyeing Rs 60-crore by 2007, they're largely relying on doctors to push sales. "We have 1,200 people working with us who cover 30,000 doctors every month. We're giving incentives like foreign trips and discount schemes to doctors based on the business they bring in," sais Dr Bakshi. Meanwhile, Schwabe India is waging another battle. Popular for anticataract eye drops and weight reduction remedies, the company is now promoting sealed packs in small quantities since quality is sacrosanct in the trade. "Normally, homoeopath doctors don't recommend sealed packs since they feel if the patient gets to know the name of the company (that manufactures these drugs), he can directly buy off the pharmacy and there would be no repeat visits. So homoeopaths seldom hand out prescriptions," explains Mr Agarwal. This is where Dr Wilmar Schwabe steps in with 10 ml packs in the market, where the doctor can only dispense to one patient at a time. Usually, homoeopaths have access to 100 ml and even 500 ml packs that last longer. "But slowly, the sale of the 10 ml pack is on the rise as we're educating the market about the contamination that seeps in once the seal is broken," adds Mr Agarwal. Marketers are also moving out of the traditional single remedy homoeopathy to combination drugs—that is, one drug for several ailments. "Traditional homoeopathy addresses single ailments but now with the burgeoning market, there's a shift to provide combinations of drugs. In the market, there are 20% combinations and the rest adhere to the traditional practice," says Rajneesh Chandan, GM, Sales, SBL.

Courtesy: EconomicTimes

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