Whereas the issue of branding has long been of paramount importance in many areas of consumer marketing, the potency and potential of the brand within the pharmaceutical arena has historically been underestimated and under exploited.

In this paper, originally presented to the British Pharmaceutical Market Research group in 1989 and subsequently updated in 1997, we explore the potential significance of branding.

In the consumer world the real power of a brand lies in its ability to evoke an uncritical and unreasoned consumer response. The real power of BMW or Coke as brands is that they allow consumers to avoid making choices?they make the choice obvious.

In the pharmaceutical territory drugs face competitive pressure both from other branded products in the same therapy area and, as their life cycle progresses, from the availability of generic competition. Building a brand identity at an emotional level which targets and anticipates hidden and potential needs as well as current practical requirements must be a key goal in the battle of the brands.