What Piyush Bhargava teaches about brand purpose

For every 10,000 patients there are only seven, only seven can go in hospitals or that's what the hospitals can accommodate right. So there's a very large need for people to really you know provide healthcare services at home. Your company is in healthcare and wellness category and the TG that you have is 55 plus. So how do you catch these people on digital? Yeah, so essentially you know the decision maker is obviously the kin of the patient right.

It's mostly the son or the daughter who takes care of the decision depending upon the services that the customer or the patient requires. So essentially we are targeting the kin and then obviously there are patients who basically we get through non-traditional or non-digital media right. Which is through either word of mouth or through referral programs or when they visit hospitals. So that's how we kind of target our patients. So your category is very new in India. Though around the world it has been there for many years but in India it is very new.

So what kind of a landscape does this industry have? Yeah, so you know if you look at the market size today it's about 3.2 billion dollars which will go up to 7, 6.5 to 7 billion dollars by 2020. Essentially India is full of unorganized players who are in this sector. They are run by small clinics or bureaus who basically help with attendance or nursing at home. So that's how it has been traditionally.

Now in the last few years some of us have really tried to organize the market which is basically based on clinical protocols, quality of service and results which is basically outcome based. So we are trying to change that landscape and it's a sunrise sector which has been growing. And the proof of the pudding is that we have got a lot of investments as well, right? And there are people who really believe that the market is going to become very, very big.

So essentially today just to give you some math around numbers there are about 8 crore people above 55, you know, who need the services which will bulge into about 20 crores in the next 10 years. So that's the growth in the market that we see and longevity in India has also been increasing. And on top of that when you look at hospitals, right? For every 10,000 patients there are only 7, only 7 can go in hospitals or that's what the hospitals can accommodate, right?

So there's a very large need for people to really, you know, provide healthcare services at home. So what has been your marketing strategy to ensure that your brand gets a better penetration? Yeah, so, you know, this sector has been essentially growing slowly because, you know, in an organized market it's really difficult to, you know, kind of keep talent, right? So what we do are essentially three strategies from a marketing perspective.

One is obviously awareness creation, which we do mostly on digital media, which is Facebook and Google, where we do audience sets and target them. You know, the second one is, you know, we tie up with a lot of hospitals and clinics where, you know, the hospital tie up helps us refer patients, you know, when they get discharged or post, you know, they're released from the hospital.

And the third thing where we actually see ourselves playing a very good role is we get a lot of referrals from existing patients because they're part of communities or, you know, if they have good experiences with us, they really refer us. So it's a combination of these three things that really works for us. So when it comes to advertising platforms, which one do you think is more effective for you? So from a ROI standpoint, we see Google being very, very effective because, you know, we look at really long tail keywords.

For example, physiotherapy for dementia patient at home, that's the kind of key phrase that we buy. And from a targeting perspective where we really need to target geriatrics, Facebook is a good option. Basically, where we create custom audience sets and do real time, you know, matching and targeting. So both of these medium consume about 98% of our additional spends. So what role does content marketing play in ensuring that you reach out to more consumers and you make them aware about your offering?

Yes, so there are essentially two things that we are doing here. One is obviously we are trying to be a little more vernacular in our offerings. And second thing is we do a lot of promotions through videos wherein basically we use WhatsApp as a medium, right, to promote that. We run a very high quality customer engagement center as well, where we tell people to, you know, visit our website, look at the videos that we have put up, so that they understand before they take, you know, services from us, what's the kind of treatment they'll go through,

and what's the kind of results that they can expect. And this business, because it's very, very, you know, high precision, you know, and you have to be extremely careful, works very, very well when, you know, the known patients refer somebody, you know, who want to take our services. So that's what we essentially do. And, you know, and therefore what I'm trying to say is video becomes a very, very essential part of a strategy. So all our blogs on our website are mostly videos.

So what are your learnings from the Indian market, both in terms of operations and marketing strategy? Yeah, so there are essentially three things that we see people care about. One is obviously the discipline and the commitment on timings. Second is they need high quality service. And the third thing is we have seen that the price point at which the demand exists, right, isn't that high. Because, you know, when you really are an organized player, right, you have to follow all sorts of protocols, which increases the pricing.

So these are the three things that we really care about right now. Creating a new industry is a task in itself, like a really huge task in itself. So how do you ensure that it doesn't take a toll on your health? How do you unwind? Yeah, so essentially, you know, I have two kids, right, I have a daughter and a son. So I spend a lot of time with them because you know, you really get stressed. And it's not a fancy industry to be working in. It requires a lot of effort, a lot of precision, and a lot of processes that you need to really get into details.

So my kids and then I'm a big, big time stock market enthusiast. I trade a lot. I literally trade every second or third day, right. So these are the two things that really keep me occupied.