DOLO re DOLO
How DOLO 650 became the favourite snack of Indians?
Amidst the pandemic chaos in India, there was an unexpected hero silently rising to fame. It wasn't a celebrity or a groundbreaking invention—it was your trusted fever tablet, DOLO 650.
The sale of this simple tablet skyrocketed so much that around 3.5 billion units were sold, enough to stack them into towers as tall as the Burj Khalifa!
DOLO today has become the go-to choice for people and doctors alike. It's almost automatic to reach for it when you have a fever or need pain relief. But it's not some magical pill that guarantees faster recovery. In fact, it's just another success story that you need to hear.
Many people believe there's a simple reason behind this surge in popularity:
When a drug becomes 'generic,' doctors often prescribe a different brand version than what patients are used to. For example, if a doctor prescribes something as common as Crocin, patients might think they could have taken it themselves. So, there's a need for a new brand or a fancier version of paracetamol to stand out. But there's more to it than just this change in seasonality—it's also a stroke of marketing genius.
The rise of DOLO
The Clever Play of Microlabs
Let’s dive into the world of medicine to get a better understanding first.
It is said that every medicine has an optimum concentration where its efficiency peaks, and its efficiency for concentrations lower or higher may not be the best.
For any drug, when this is identified, it is released and manufactured by companies.
For fever-like conditions, paracetamol is the drug that alleviates pain and brings down temperature. Crocin, Calpol, and similarly, Dolo are different brand names given by pharma companies that sell the same salt under their copyright.
So essentially, the only difference between 500mg and 650mg is that if you take 650mg tablets, you’ll have to retake it after a longer interval compared to 500mg. So when Microlabs launched the 650mg variant, people came under the illusion that it's way better and faster since it's more, so they'll get cured earlier.
Memorable Brand Name
Some people also attribute Dolo’s success to its short name compared to other cold and flu medications on the market. Also, Dolo in Hindi means ‘take twice,’ which makes it easy for patients to remember the dosage.
Patient-Compatible Product Shape
A small attribute to success can be given to design. Unlike other paracetamol tablet brands, which are either circular or capsule-shaped, Dolo 650’s scored tablet has a unique soft suboval shape.
This shape makes it easier for patients to swallow the whole tablet, even though it has 150mg more than regular paracetamol tablets. This has also been a unique value proposition to convince doctors to prescribe Dolo 650
.
The Power of Social Media
The omnipresence of DOLO in houses, pharmacies across the country was so much that it led to the rise of memes. People were actively engaging in memes because everyone was at home, scrolling through social media. The people who weren't aware started to know about it now.
However, a slight twist emerged in the story when Microlabs faced controversy in 2022. The surge in DOLO sales prompted suspicions of the company offering bribes totaling around 1000 crores to various doctors. Allegations surfaced that "unethical" benefits, including gifts, entertainment, sponsored international travel, hospitality, and more, were provided to doctors to promote and prescribe the drug.
While the pharmaceutical company has labeled this practice as sales promotion and dismissed the claims as baseless.
Despite the allegations, DOLO has firmly established itself as a household name. Yet, the question remains: how long can it maintain this reputation and growth?
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