Vikas Bansi decodes the 3 strategic pillars driving Himalaya’s OTX business model

Himalaya Wellness Company’s foray into the OTX market represents a significant shift towards preventive care, reflecting the growing awareness and demand for natural and herbal solutions among consumers. As the custodian of immunity, Himalaya has recognised the need to provide accessible and effective solutions that align with these changing consumer preferences.

Himalaya is aiming to achieve its vision by embracing in-clinic effectiveness, trade distribution expansions, and brand building acceleration through 360-degree consumer marketing initiatives and digital activations. They have re-structured their portfolio to focus on the wellness segment while continuing to build their Rx and personal care products.

In conversation with Adgully, Vikas Bansi, Head of OTX Business, Himalaya Wellness Company, highlights the growing importance of preventive care in the current healthcare landscape, growth of the company’s over-the-counter business, marketing and campaign strategies, and more.

How do you perceive the shift from prescription-based healthcare to over-the-counter (OTX) products by the wellness industry in the Indian market? What factors have contributed to this shift?

The healthcare landscape in India is evolving, and there is an increasing focus on preventive and primary healthcare. Over-the-Counter (OTC) products, such as vitamins, dietary supplements, and herbal remedies, cater to this shift and empower individuals to take charge of their health.

Some key factors that have led the shift from prescription-based healthcare to OTC in the Indian wellness industry are:

• Enhanced health-consciousness and a proactive approach toward wellness, especially post-COVID-19.
• Overall digital amplification, where access to basic and trending information on health and wellness has increased multifold.
• 360-degree marketing by pharmaceutical and wellness companies promoting their OTC products, which has helped educate customers about self-care benefits.
• Easy access to wellness products via offline and online distribution models, thereby making healthcare products/services easily available to a large section of the population.

In the current healthcare landscape, preventive care has gained significance, especially with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. How does the OTX business address this growing need for preventive healthcare in India?

OTX products provide customers with easy access to a wide range of preventive healthcare products like vitamins, dietary supplements, probiotics, and other wellness products that can support overall health and well-being. These products help individuals maintain a healthy lifestyle and potentially help with risk management of certain diseases.

In addition, there are also products which help customers promptly address minor symptoms and discomfort suffered from common ailments such as digestive issues, cough and cold, thus preventing the issue from escalating. This also contributes to preventive healthcare.

The awareness campaigns undertaken by OTC brands serve to educate customers about the potential impact of neglecting their health, adopting healthy habits, along with highlighting product benefits and usage for maintaining good health. Customers can hence, make more informed decisions about their health.

OTC business also offers a range of health monitoring tools through which customers can keep track of their health parameters and detect issues early on.

By providing these tools directly to customers, OTX businesses empower individuals to take a proactive approach to their health and encourage self-monitoring and regular check-ups.

Himalaya has made a strategic transition into the OTX business. Could you elaborate on the innovative business models the company has explored to establish its presence in this market?

The Himalaya OTX business model is based on three strategic pillars – Ethical (healthcare professionals and in-clinic coverage), Trade (Distribution), and Consumer Marketing.

To establish our presence in the market, we are leveraging all three pillars by enhancing our doctor coverage to focus on the science behind our products, activating consumer marketing to build awareness and trials, and expanding retail and online distribution to make our products available across India.

Today, we reach out to over 75,000 doctors exclusively for our OTC range of products. Our primary approach with them is always to establish the science behind our portfolio, given that we operate in the Consumer Healthcare space. Making our products accessible to customers via offline and online retail distribution also plays a critical role in making this model successful. And finally, ensuring that we position our brands via sharp and consistent communication with our target audience helps us drive awareness and build consumer experience.

What are the key benefits of having a thriving and holistic OTC ecosystem in India? How does it contribute to the overall healthcare system and consumer well-being?

A robust OTC ecosystem ensures easy access to a wide range of healthcare products. This accessibility allows individuals to address minor health concerns promptly and conveniently and helps prevent disease escalation, thereby reducing the burden on the country’s healthcare system.

It also improves health literacy across a large section of the population and gives individuals the opportunity to take charge of their health and practice self-care through informed decisions.

Overall, India’s thriving and holistic OTC ecosystem enhances consumer well-being, promotes self-care and preventive measures, and supplements the primary healthcare system.

There is an increasing consumer preference for organic and natural products in India. How do Himalaya’s OTC products align with these preferences, and how does the brand leverage its expertise in organic formulations?

Himalaya Wellness Company’s products align with the growing consumer preference for all things natural. The company has built its reputation on formulating products using high-quality herbal and natural ingredients. Himalaya’s expertise in traditional Ayurveda, combined with modern science, enables the company to offer a wide range of health and personal care products that are highly efficacious and without side effects.

To offer customers the best quality, Himalaya is committed to ethical and sustainable sourcing of all ingredients.

Quality and proven results are essential factors for customers when choosing OTC products. How does Himalaya ensure the delivery of high-quality products that offer proven efficacy?

Himalaya invests in extensive Research and Development (R&D) and utilises standardised herbal extracts while developing product formulations. The brand combines traditional Ayurvedic knowledge with modern scientific advancements to create effective and safe OTC products. Himalaya’s scientific approach, supported by clinical studies, helps validate the efficacy and safety of our offerings.

The company also maintains stringent quality control measures throughout the manufacturing process. We adhere to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and have state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities complying with international quality standards. These practices ensure consistent quality and purity in our products.

In addition, Himalaya places great emphasis on sourcing high-quality ingredients. The brand works closely with farmers, cultivators, and suppliers to ensure the integrity and purity of the ingredients used in our products. We have established partnerships and initiatives for sustainable sourcing, traceability, and fair-trade practices.

Himalaya demonstrates our commitment to delivering high-quality OTC products with proven efficacy through these measures, helping instill confidence in customers about the effectiveness and reliability of our offerings.

Himalaya’s consumer marketing initiatives and digital activations aim to connect with and empower customers across various touchpoints. Could you describe some of the brand’s 360-degree consumer marketing initiatives and how they enhance the consumer experience?

A recent successful brand campaign for Himalaya Ashvagandha can best demonstrate the way we leverage our three critical pillars.

For the ‘Ab stress nahi – de-stress kijiye’ campaign, a 360-degree approach was deployed, where the three critical pillars – Consumer, Trade, and Ethical – were activated to build awareness about lifestyle stressors and their impact on health, along with the increasing need for a natural intervention for stress management.

The brand primarily raised awareness among customers through digital, influencer, and radio campaigns. A series of three advertisements were created, each targeting a different consumer cohort: a middle-aged man, a working woman, and a youngster. The ads highlight the after-effects of stress, where the protagonists experience sleeplessness, tiredness, and anger, respectively, when exposed to certain stressors regularly. The communication is reinforced by the doctor talking about the benefits of Himalaya Ashvagandha in helping manage stress better.

The awareness campaign was further amplified by maximising reach via L-band ads on leading national and regional news channels.

In addition, key influencers of the purchase decision journey – doctors and retailers – were targeted through extensive sampling to drive familiarity with the product and trials.

Taking the campaign one step ahead, continuous media education and over 35 round table meets on “stress management” were also conducted nationwide to engage with doctors and other relevant stakeholders to drive education and awareness on the subject.

Himalaya has been expanding its trade distribution network to ensure wider availability of its OTC products. What efforts has the company made to strengthen its trade distribution network, and what impact has it had on the accessibility of Himalaya’s OTX products in India?

Himalaya’s OTX division has set up the trade distribution network in the past six months with an aim to expand our retail presence among chemists, grocers, and supermarkets.

We have adapted technology extensively in this setup, and our aspiration is to make our brands available in approximately 200,000 retail outlets. With the expansion of our network, Himalaya OTC brands are available in multiple channels, across General Trade, Organised Retail, e-commerce, D2C, and Himalaya retail stores in India.