Adgully Exclusive | Serious about Healthcare marketing: Indus Health Plus's Amol Naikawadi

Indus Health Plus, a leading name in healthcare, was established in the year 2000. The Pune-based company, in its 10th year has expanded across the country with leading medical concerns in Pune, Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur, Goa, Nagar, Solapur, Karad, Latur and Jalgaon.

Moreover the Indian healthcare industry, unlike other industries, stands untouched by recession. There had been a steady growth in this sector and revenues from the healthcare sector accounts for 5.2% of the GDP, making it the third largest growing sector in India, and further the healthcare sector is projected to grow to nearly 1,80,000 crores by year 2012 and a Compounded Annual Growth rate (CAGR) of 15-17 percent for at least the next 7-10 years.

Though the preventive health care industry is fairly new as an independent service, Indus Health Plus holds high brand awareness in the markets. In Maharashtra, the company enjoys a leadership position in this segment owing to its outsized customer base. The firm which believes in providing health services "in a successful manner and at an affordable cost" has transformed the lives of nearly 2 lakh families.

Indus Health Plus offers a varied bouquet of services. Some of the service offered are Laboratory Work-Up, Chest X-Ray, Electro Cardiogram (ECG), 2D Echo Cardiography (Doppler study of the heart), Total Body Fat Percentage, Gynecology Consultation, Pap Smear / TVG, USG, Ultra Sonography of Abdomen & pelvis, Pulmonary (Lung) Function Test, Screening Audiometry Test, CT Screening of Intracranial Vessels (Brain), CT Brain ' Contrast and Counseling by Physician.

Adgully spoke to Amol Naikawadi, Joint Managing Director, Indus Health Plus, to find out more about the growing healthcare industry, which is educating and creating awareness about a healthy life.

Talking about the gradual evolution of marketing in healthcare space, Naikawadi, says, "Healthcare as an industry has not been marketed as such on a large scale. Most of the FMCG companies today use health as a platform to market their products. The basics of building awareness for healthcare solutions and promoting its benefits will never change. It is about understanding your target market and adapting to their culture to spread your message and cause."

Moreover he feels that the evolution has been through understanding the new communication mediums, identifying the increase in niche media within the existing media and understanding the highly fragmented new consumer.

"The new consumer base is highly knowledgeable and fragmented in terms of their needs and responses. The ability for an organization to adapt to each fragmented target market is an evolution which was bound to happen in a booming economy. The growth in marketing of the healthcare products is present, but at its nascent stages. Overall the health industry is at a rise with many corporate hospitals being set up," he adds.

Moreover to create increased awareness scale, Indus Health Plus also participates in various health exhibitions and similar platforms across various cities to create awareness of the healthcare industry and to wake up people towards the concept of preventive healthcare. "Our client awareness is primarily through huge referrals and hence we have been able to reach out to more than 2 lakh customers. We have also organized special initiatives with the RTO for checkups of the commuters on the road, so as to monitor basic tests such as eye testing, blood pressure etc. Regular seminars are also held across the city to address the various segments and encourage them to wake up to the concept of preventive healthcare," Naikawadi says. | By Prabha Hegde [prabha(at)adgully.com]