Brand TrustTM to drive healthcare sector’s growth

India, 14^th February 2012: Delivering health to India’s 1.2 billion people efficiently has always had many viewpoints, and in a healthcare deficient market like India almost every solution is useful. The sector may contribute 6% of the GDP, and be one of the largest employers in the country, but healthcare is much more than just a number. Insights on healthcare from ‘The Brand Trust Report^TM, India Study, 2012’ (BTR) researched and published by Trust Research Advisory (TRA) reveal its growth drivers to be based on Brand Trust. The study completed its research on the trust held in brands on the basis of its proprietary 61-component Trust Matrix^TM. The healthcare sector features 40 brands among 1000 listed in the report. The research studied 17000 brands from 15 Indian cities.

N. Chandramouli, CEO, Trust Research Advisory, elaborated on the healthcare and trust connection and said, “Trust in healthcare is essential as healthcare depends on the intrinsic trust the service or product generates. So-much-so that the quality of cure is directly correlated with the trust it offers. In healthcare, brands have no option but to invest in building trust, and this directly accrues as product or service benefits. Brand Trust^TM is a mix of several aspects that includes Security, Empathy, Sincerity, and Competence among others, and these trust ingredients are necessary to help improve the health of the patient.”

“The study of the healthcare sector reveals that the category evokes a low category trust. This is probably due to a lack of focus by these brands on the softer aspects. However, this sector is so sensitive to trust erosion, that the only sustainable way for brands is to sharply focus on Brand Trust  by building the three aspects of trust – Building capacity to trust, Showcase of Intent, and Competence”, Chandramouli added

Dabur, the world’s largest ayurvedic and natural health company, is India’s most trusted brand in the healthcare. This is followed by Johnson & Johnson ranked 2^nd, Himalaya at 3^rd and Ranbaxy ranked 4^th. Among ayurveda brands, Dabur is followed by Himalaya, Ayur and Baidyanath. In the 6 brands that feature in the Balms sub-category, Vicks leads the list, followed by Moov and Iodex. Among the 14 pharmaceutical brands, Ranbaxy leads the list followed by Cipla, GSK and Lupin.  Ranbaxy has edged out Cipla which was last year’s most trusted in the pharma sub-sector.

The Brand Trust Report^TM is priced at Rs. 10,000/- and is available in major stores and at the offices of Trust Research Advisory.

To view the Healthcare Category-wise Rankings,  please visit the link below :

http://www.trustadvisory.info/listings_HealtCare.html

A Better Life

Healthcare is an essential service expected in any country and its efficacy depends a lot on the trust placed on the system. No doubt, Brand Trust is also impacted by the quality of delivery, but the reverse is true only for very few categories like healthcare. The more trust in the healthcare system, the better will be the outcome.

Slow but sure outcomes can be brought about by building Composites of Brand Trust like Empathy, Non-Threatening Ambience, Sincerity and Competence. Despite the high importance these intangibles have in the healthcare industry, this category has the second smallest representation among India’s top 300 Brand Trust list.   Quite astonishingly, the category’s brand Trust Index is among the lowest, though normal logic would dictate that if a category’s Brand Trust impacts its fortunes, it would get sufficient focus and be in the higher trust bracket.

Despite the importance of Brand Trust in this category, only 5healthcare brands make it among the toppers.  Of these, only one Apollo, is a healthcare delivery entity and the other four are either pharmaceutical companies or medical product manufacturers.

While individual brands move their own agenda, it is important for the category to come together to build Brand Trust in healthcare as a whole. With resources invested towards building Category Trust, healthcare consumers, companies and the investors will benefit directly.