CubeX maps health and wellness opportunity among Indian women

Its report also captures all the trends and new launches in the Indian women health market

Realising the changing dynamics of the Indian OTC market, CubeX has updated its report — ‘Decoding the Better Half of India — Mapping the Health and Wellness Opportunity among Indian Women (V2).’ The new version of the report details this potential market opportunity which many marketers are still missing.

According to United Nations, India’s female working population (age between 15-64 years) is expected to increase by 18 per cent between 2015 and 2030. Growing income will fuel direct demand for health products. Digital technology has further equipped consumers with access to global information.

Adoption of digital technology by women population has augmented the purchase power of these set of consumers. According to a survey conducted by Google in 2014, one-third of total Indian population with Internet access are women. About 32 per cent of younger women who do not use Internet are keen to use it soon and 46 per cent of non-users in the age group of 18-29 years are likely to use Internet soon. This opens up a huge opportunity in digital marketing of OTC products. The survey further revealed that majority of women who use Internet have higher incomes.

The updated report captures all these trends and also the new launches in the Indian women health market, their success stories along with the case studies of global products. Further it encompasses health concerns and needs of women at different age groups, prevalence of women health conditions in India, market dynamics with respect to size and top brands in each category, opportunity areas and profiles of key market players with their marketing strategies for marketers to act beyond their usual marketing activities.

About 51.6 per cent of women in India make their healthcare decisions (IJSS Vol. 2, 2013) and the trend is growing. However, there is still a dearth of appealing promotions and products attracting women consumers. Realising the increasing trend of women making informed medical choices, Revital Woman, Ostocalcium, Voltaren Gel, V Wash, Lactacyd, and Unwanted-21 are few inspirational brands targeting women consumers through multichannel approaches. Furthermore, companies are launching new variants extending the product life cycle, thus sustaining themselves in this competitive market.

Innovative marketing plans engaging women and addressing their concerns precisely has benefitted these brands. Creating a persuasive story and an emotional appeal with rational offering are vital elements in women centric marketing. For instance, V Wash launched in 2010 became a million dollar brand within a short span of time. Communicating intimate concerns of women in an effective manner and launching of variants (like VWash Wipes) with attractive packaging are the success factors of VWash. Further, growing awareness among the female population is driving the market growth of feminine intimate care at a CAGR of 15 per cent (2010 – 2014).

Companies such as GSK, Sanofi, Glenmark, Emami and Sun Pharma (Ranbaxy) have capitalised on this growing opportunity through innovative marketing strategies. Some of these women centric companies have been also profiled in detail in the new version.

(CubeX is the Strategic Consulting and Business Intelligence division of Sorento Healthcare Communications)