Niche by niche...

"It is this incessant desire on part of people that has inspired Paras to dedicate itself to issues that might appear to be trivial, but in reality, are quite significant in life. The range of such issues is extensive. To identify them, one simply needs to be sensitive towards such problems. And make the right solutions available. At Paras, the process behind finding every such solution is backed by extensive consumer research, often carried out in an obsessive manner".

This is how the Paras pharma website describes their customer orientation. In the recent past, this is one Marketer who have truly lived up to the Marketing theory that good Marketing is about customer orientation and identifying the needs and wants among the customers and seeing the gaps available and fit in with suitable products. Niche by niche, slowly but surely, Paras is everywhere, amazing the marketing community with its vivid product range, astonishing the mutinational goliaths with the number and types of gaps that existed in the market place and awe-inspiring the customer with such variety. Be it Moov or Setwet, be it Livon or Krack or be it the afterbaths..... Paras has made Kotler smile with its customer orientation, giving what the customer wants , not what they somehow make in their factory and want the customer to somehow buy.

Paras Pharma founded in 1980 is where new ideas take shape regularly. Each of these ideas are tested, extensively researched and once approved, produced. The process of shaping up these ideas into full-fledged products involves hi-tech facilities and huge production capacity with manufacturing plants situated at Kalol, near Ahmedabad and now at Baddi in Himachal.The phenominal growth of Moov as the major brand in the Rs 400 crore pain-relieving rubefacients market throwing out Smithcline beecham's Iodex and forcing it to change its decades-old avtaar of the gooey black pain balm in its unattractive black bottle packaging to the natty, happening Iodex Power Cream is simply marvellous. The company has grown to that levels that media reports were agog with news of Pfizer and Godrej among others trying to get stake in the ever growing Paras.

The success recipe for Paras is simple. Their brands are the solution for perceived needs and requirements of the common man.They concentrate on ' specialising in exact solutions',Finding 'solutions better than the existing ones' and 'focussing on the small consumer whom has a strong sense of value for money'. And more importantly they communicate this strong points, with constant and consistent communication through big spends on TVC's , in a category where customer loyality is near to fickle or non existent. “Paras is the classic case of a company which has been one of the most aggressive advertisers on the small screen in several products despite the fact that this can be a major risk in case the brand fails.” The success of Paras products also clearly illustrates how even OTC brands can be built and sustained through advertising “provided it is based on market research, product development and evaluation and a deep understanding of consumer behaviour.”

Paras brands sound simple, beleivable and they look like one of us.. a neighbour next door.

I am yet to come across an agency personnel from Mudra or Triton, who have been with a Paras brand, but I have a feeling that they must be a lucky lot.... to be able to work with an enlightened client....

It is simple, the recognition that the ability to learn faster than your competetors , may be sometimes the only sustainable comptetitive advantage you have.