MEDIBUDDY: FORGING CONSUMER CONNECTIONS WITH PURPOSEFUL MARKETING

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Q] What were the insights that went behind conceiving the campaign #EverySingleBreath? How challenging was it to focus on asthma at a time when COVID is the main focus?
It’s not a one-off campaign in terms of the conversation on asthma, but we are endeavouring to create an inclusive society as a brand. Our campaigns on Women’s Day, World Health Day and the current one are a reflection of our aim of bringing society together and making it more inclusive. It’s our insight for all of these micro moment campaigns that we do and will be doing in the future. The communication getting lost in the current situation was discussed by us as well but it is important, as a brand, to ride on these WHO days to drive awareness. The messaging needs to be different and the timing has to match so that it breaks the clutter. Yes, I agree the situation is grim for everyone but these other ailments are important too, and we should not take our eyes away from these issues.

Q] What is your marketing mix for this campaign? What will the role of digital be in your marketing mix?
Digital takes a very high share of our marketing spends and by Digital, I mean every aspect or channel that one can evaluate both in terms of new users and repeat usage. Our reliance stems from the fact that the fulfillment of the product in our consumer journey happens digitally. There is no doubt that are going to keep the approach digital-first, but when we are looking at building top of line or top of the funnel KPIs, like awareness, then we have a good mix where we also use traditional mediums.

Q] Medibuddy announced a slew of initiatives when the second wave hit, what was the response?
I’d like to draw a comparison between the first wave and the second. People were initially not aware of the symptoms, when they started showing and whom they should talk to. We launched our free COVID helpline, and we even made our online consultations through the app for COVID-related cases free. There are a lot of misconceptions now because there has been an overload of information. People are actually looking at a lot of sources, which are often not verified and it becomes important for us to provide the right kind of information. We launched the bed availability tracker near your location, which is working well. People are finding value in it. Our RT-PCR health checks too have been welcomed by a lot of organisations working with us.

Q] There are published reports about the massive growth in user base that telemedicine platforms have witnessed during this pandemic. How do you plan to sustain this growth, and what will your core focus areas be, going forward?
Healthcare infrastructure requires a technology solution right now because it is under so much pressure. I believe the category is going to become the primary entry to the healthcare infrastructure as we know it. Healthcare has not been synonymous with a subscription programme and we’re trying to build Medibuddy Gold Programme because it provides users with a lot of infrastructure. It is now possible to have conversations with an MD or an expert doctor in any specialised field so we will be building on our MediBuddy Gold Programme and that will be our main focus through this year.

Q] Earlier this year, you also focused on the issue of polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD) through an awareness campaign. How important is purpose-based marketing for your brand?
When we talk about healthcare as a category, it’s important for us to create awareness. Purpose-based marketing therefore is the most important facet of our entire strategy. We are going to be doing this in the coming years because it’s important to make people aware of taking care of themselves. We also did the ‘Bachhon Se Seekho’ campaign, which was appreciated. It was a very beautiful take in terms of messaging and it reminded people of the important things that we can learn from anyone.

Q] You also partnered with platforms like Quint and Smartworks recently – what is the role that these partnerships play? Will we see more of such partnerships in the future?
Quint and similar digital-publisher partnerships are being explored and done from one point of view, which is bringing authenticity and the trust factor. We have done this in the past, we will keep doing a lot more posts after PCOD. We’ll be doing a series on diabetes, on looking after senior citizens in your family and also on busting myths about healthcare or health issues. We will also be coming up with more information on working with like-minded brands in terms of providing the right health care opportunity for their employees and for their own consumers. We are also working with more than 370 brand partners who are like-minded in terms of providing digital healthcare to their consumers.

ABOUT THE BRAND

MediBuddy is an Indian digital healthcare platform and a partner to several enterprise customers in the country, enabling millions of users to access a wide range of sponsored healthcare services. MediBuddy members have access to inpatient, outpatient, wellness, fitness, and preventive care services offered by its network of healthcare providers. With diverse offerings for all stakeholders of the healthcare industry through a ‘phygital’ approach, the company makes discovering, accessing, utilising, and monitoring healthcare seamless, real-time, and virtually paperless.