Now the question is why Cipla is selling this successful brand?
Though they have worked too much to develop this segment which was considered as niche segment. only for last 12 months i-pill earned Rs. 31 crore. ECP market is valued at around Rs 100 crore in India. i-pill has 1/3 rd market share.
Now let's have a quick look how Cipla launches that brand, communication strategy over a period of time, how they grew and why they are looking to leave this segment?
i-pill is an offbeat brand that has just being launched in Indian market. i-pill is an emergency contraceptive pill which prevents unplanned pregnancy. Although emergency contraceptives pills ( EC Pills) were earlier available in the market, its only in 2005 that Government has allowed the sale of this product over the counter ( OTC). i-pill is special because it is the first brand which has been promoted heavily in media after the government has allowed the OTC sale of this drug.
EC pills were also popular as Morning After Pills because this drug is taken the morning after the " Accident " has occurred. Before 2005, the product was available only with a doctor's prescription.
This product category has lot of social significance in the Indian market. Out of more than 50 million conceptions that happen in India , 30% end up in abortions. There are also reports that suggest that 75% of pregnancies are unplanned ( My Goodness !). And an estimated 20,000 deaths happen because of complication during abortion. Hence EC pills offer a safe and effective second chance for those unprotected events and also a second chance for those contraceptive failures.
In 2005 Government has put this product under the Government Reproductive and Child Health Program. That means , there is going to be a reduction in the price of this drug. According to reports, the product price is expected to come down from Rs 40 to Rs 5. Government will also undertake advisory as well as awareness creating campaigns to promote this product category.
Coming back to the brand i-pill, this brand was existing in the ethical market as Pill 72. The company has relaunched pill 72 as i-pill in the OTC market. Although Government is taking steps to promote the product through campaigns, Cipla is not aiming the social class that government is aiming at.
Although it took a little time for me to understand the ad when I saw it the first time, I feel that its a cool ad that captures the essence of the brand. The brand uses the tagline " Get Back to Life" .
The tagline indicates the core idea of the brand which is explained by an advertorial :" Take a pill as soon as you know that things have gone wrong . And you can prevent an unplanned pregnancy . That's it. And do be little careful the next time. Now there goes the alarm.Switch it off and begin a new day".
i think the positioning is very clear that to prevent unwanted pregnancy.
Although worldwide , EC pills has been popular, it also has its share of controversies. Some argue that these pills are abortion pills , encourages unsafe intercourse , immorality and so on and so forth. But Government of India has recognized the importance of this product category.
The launch campaigns were carefully crafted in the family setting with a very relevant message highlighting the efficacy of the product as a solution to avoid unwanted pregnancy.
Then brand launches new advertisement with completely different massage. second time i-pill positioned as alternative to abortion. The setting of the ad has been changed from family to a closeted conversation between two ladies.
In the new ad, the protagonist screams the word 'Abortion ' many times to highlight that ipill is an alternative to abortion.
From very beginning brand was under fire that this is a abortion pill and abortion is crime.that is why brand repositioned it as a safe alternative to abortion, but not a abortion pill. but somewhere in it's second advertisement, bbrand thrown a negative massage that,"if you have screwed up, use i-pill".
Now after developing this particular market for OTC, Cipla sold out i-pill to it's close competitor Piramal Healthcare in Rs 95 crores. The only reason which support the decision to sell out i-pill is they got Rs 95 crores as against annual sale of 31 crore for last 12 month. again from known source it has been found that Cipla is major player in doctor prescribe medicines and they want their position strong in this prescribe market. they want to focus here that is why they sold out i-pill.
Now if I would have been decision maker then i would have never sold i-pill, the power brand. There are reason behind my decision:
1- This particular segment was never existing before. Cipla has the credit to develop this segment.
2- Over a period of time Cipla established i-pill as power brand in the market in terms of awareness, recall etc. today i-pill has one third share in emergency contraceptive pill market.
3- Over a period of time i-pill persuade people to use. Acceptance come over a long period of time and this will help brand to be leader for next many years.
Now let's see what will happen with the brand. But now the brand will be marketed by Pirmal Healthcare. Let us hope for the best.
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