Emcure taps into celebrities for its weight loss drug, as marketing playbooks change

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Emcure Pharmaceuticals is tapping influencers and celebrities on social media, in addition to raising awareness among doctors, for its semaglutide brand, Poviztra, as it seeks to capitalise on its head start in the lucrative weight-loss market. The company launched Poviztra in an exclusive partnership with innovator Novo Nordisk in December.

Emcure’s approach spells a changing marketing playbook for drugmakers when it comes to GLP-1s, which go beyond doctors, similar to innovators and health companies' approach in western markets. As the generic market opens up next month, experts expect others to employ similar strategies to gain a foothold in an intensely competitive market. “We expect that there will be a large portion of usage which will kind of be through a customer pool in terms of going and speaking to the doctor," Samit Mehta, executive director of operations at Emcure, told Mint in an interview.

“In that context, [we are] getting the education out there, using influencers, etc. who have been through similar kinds of issues," Mehta said. Emcure launched a campaign called Winning Over Obesity in December, partnering with celebrities like M.S.

Dhoni and Neha Dhupia, as well as social media influencer-doctors like Dr Tanaya Narendra (dr cuterus on Instagram) to raise awareness about obesity. The idea is to create a robust patient support system, with a helpline, as well as nutritional counselling and usage guidance, Mehta added. “What is very important to us is the market-shaping activities that are happening in terms of educating both the medical fraternity as well as [consumers]… there's a lot of consumer awareness already for this product," Vikas Thapar, president of corporate