Devanshi Mayani on the Importance of Consistency and Adaptability in Marketing
In today's fast-paced business landscape, the ability to maintain consistency and adaptability in marketing strategies is key to success. Consistency is vital for building brand trust and recognition. It creates a sense of reliability and stability for the target audience, which is essential for establishing a lasting relationship. Businesses must be flexible and able to pivot quickly in response to changes in the market or consumer behavior.
Devanshi Mayani, Marketing Head at Sun Pharma, understands this concept all too well. In an interview with Pawan Rochwani, Head of Brand & Partnerships at Pepper Content, Mayani discusses the importance of consistency and adaptability in achieving marketing goals.
Here are some excerpts.
1. Please introduce yourself.
I am Devanshi Mayani, and I have been in the marketing field for over 10 years, specializing in pharma marketing. My educational background is in pharmacy, and I have had the opportunity to work in the cardiovascular therapy area with my first organization for seven years. For the past four years, I have been with my current organization, where I have been given amazing opportunities to learn and grow.
I believe in the importance of consistency and adaptability, especially in the field of marketing. Being consistent means having a core strategy or brand story and consistently building on it while creating new ideas that align with the brand personality. I have learned that while brilliant ideas can come up, we have to understand the practicality of executing them and the repercussions they may lead to. Thus, it is essential to be open to feedback and allow it to tweak a little to stay on track with the brand's core personality.
Marketing is not just about selling a product or service, it's about telling a story that resonates with your audience and creates an emotional connection with them.
2. Tell us about your experience in the content marketing industry.
As a pharmaceutical marketer with 10 years of experience, I've learned that consistency and adaptability are crucial to succeeding in this industry. I've been with two organizations throughout my career, which has allowed me to gain a deep understanding of the brands I work with and their core personalities. While it may be tempting to deviate from these core values when coming up with new ideas, it's important to find ways to fit them into the same mold.
3. What do you think are the top 3 pain points for a marketer?
I believe the top three pain points for a marketer are consistency, brand alignment, and being too emotionally attached to ideas. Consistency is crucial for building a brand story and creating new ideas that align with the brand's personality. While it's essential to be creative, we can't deviate too much from the brand's core identity. It's also important to avoid being too emotionally attached to our ideas, which may not be practical or may have negative repercussions. We should be open to feedback and willing to adjust our ideas accordingly.
In addition, the pandemic has brought a new set of challenges for the pharma industry, and digital strategy has become more critical than ever. During the pandemic, we saw the importance of agility and how fast doctors adapted to reach their patients. The focus was on helping the doctors reach out to their patients, ensuring they received proper healthcare, and saving lives. Therefore, even though revenues and business are essential, the ultimate goal is to save patients and receive feedback from doctors, which is a bigger high for us.
In marketing, adaptability is key. You need to be able to pivot quickly and adjust your strategy based on changing market trends, customer needs, and emerging technologies.
4. As a marketer, how would you explain the framework and importance of social media marketing?
Social media marketing is an important tool to have in your marketing strategy because it allows you to connect and engage with your audience in a way that traditional marketing channels do not. However, the importance of social media marketing goes beyond just being present on social media platforms. You need to have a consistent and adaptable strategy that aligns with your brand story and personality. Consistency is key to building a strong brand identity and creating a long-lasting impression on your audience. At the same time, you need to be adaptable to change and open to feedback, so that you can tweak your strategy to ensure that it resonates with your audience. The industry has shown agility and adapted to the changing scenario, which is commendable. Therefore, having a consistent and adaptable social media marketing strategy can help you build a strong brand identity, engage with your audience, and effectively communicate your brand's message.
You need to create new ideas, but you can't really shift from the core personality of the brand.
5. What has been the most defining moment of your journey as a marketer?
As a marketer in the pharma industry for the last 10 years, I've had many defining moments. However, the most significant moment that changed my perspective was during the pandemic. As healthcare professionals, we weren't expecting something like this, and when it hit, we were caught off guard. However, what I saw during this time was the agility of the industry and how fast the doctors adapted to reach their patients. The pandemic taught us the importance of a digital strategy and how impactful it can be, especially when reaching out to patients was more important than selling medicines.
During the pandemic, we realized that it's not all about revenues and business, but it's about helping patients and saving lives. The pandemic taught us the value of human life, and that's what took precedence over everything else. I have to say that it was a proud moment for me to see how the industry and doctors adapted to the situation. We learned how to be more agile, and adaptable, and the importance of being prepared for any unexpected event. As a marketer, it was inspiring to see how we all came together and prioritized what truly mattered, and that was to help people.
6. How, according to you, is the marketing industry going to change with AI?
As someone who has been working in the marketing industry for 10 years, I can say that the field has already undergone significant changes with the integration of artificial intelligence (AI). AI has the potential to bring a new level of precision to marketing campaigns and make them more personalized for the consumer. With AI, we can analyze large data sets to understand consumer behavior and preferences, which can help us develop better marketing strategies and create more targeted advertising campaigns. AI can also help us automate some of the more repetitive tasks associated with marketing, freeing up time for marketers to focus on developing creative campaigns and building relationships with customers.
However, I believe that consistency and adaptability will remain important factors in the marketing industry, even with the increased use of AI. We need to be consistent in building and maintaining a brand identity that resonates with consumers. We need to ensure that our marketing campaigns align with the core values and personality of our brands. At the same time, we must be adaptable to changes in the market and the preferences of consumers.
I believe that AI is going to be a game changer for the marketing industry. However, we cannot rely solely on technology to do the job for us. As marketers, we need to be adaptable to changes in the market and consumer preferences, while also being consistent in building and maintaining our brand identities. By combining the power of AI with our human creativity and intuition, we can create marketing campaigns that truly resonate with our audiences and drive business growth.
Marketing is both an art and a science. It's about creativity, strategy, data, and analytics. To be successful, you need to balance these elements and use them to craft compelling campaigns that drive results.
7. What are some trends that you think might become common in the near future?
I believe that consistency in strategy and building on the brand story should be a priority. You need to create new ideas, but you can't deviate too much from the core personality of the brand. Second, while having brilliant ideas is great, you must also be practical about executing them and understand their repercussions. In our industry, where we are on a mission to help the noblest profession of saving lives, we cannot risk sending out vital content.
Regarding the pandemic, when it first hit, none of us was expecting it to last so long. However, I was amazed at how fast the pharma industry adapted to the situation, especially the doctors, who reached out to their patients using digital channels. This was when we understood the importance of a digital strategy, even though we had it before.
Moving forward, I believe using digital channels will continue to be an essential part of pharma marketing. The pandemic has changed how we approach marketing and created a paradigm shift towards digital. I also think that personalized medicine will become more common, as well as telemedicine and remote monitoring. Patients are seeking more accessible and personalized care, and pharma companies must find ways to provide it. In conclusion, I see a future where the pharma industry will continue to prioritize helping patients, adapt to new technologies, and provide personalized care.
