How Prega News conquered a market that didn’t even exist

Prega News holds more than 80 per cent of pregnancy test kit market in India
It took them minute-level planning and even more efficient execution to get to this level
Now they are creating a market in rural India by involving NGOs and Asha workers among others

Capturing the market is not an easy task. It gets more difficult when there is no such market in the first place. The problem is exacerbated when there is extreme potential, but the social stigma is not even allowing the market to take shape. That is why the conquest of the Pregnancy kit market by Prega News deserves more than just applause.

India’s tryst with women autonomy

In 1970, an average Indian lived upto 46.1 years on the planet Earth. Add to that socialism-infested industrial sector, lack of economic opportunity, and prevalence of life-threatening diseases created a fear factor among the masses. People wanted more and more security for their old age and hence produced more children, because they knew that few would perish en route. The burden of all this was on the shoulders of Indian women. They virtually had no autonomy when it came to their consent about bearing a child.

By the middle of the 1990s, the trend of producing more kids continued. But, as economic liberalization took shape, women finally got some degree of autonomy. Now economic opportunities for women increased and hence they could afford to delay motherhood. But, unlike today, contraceptives were not readily available, hence accidental pregnancies used to happen. It is here that women had to face the biggest dilemma of their life. Even when the biological symptoms indicated, there were no private sources to confirm whether one was pregnant or not.

They had to go for a pregnancy test to the gynecologist accompanied by their spouse or another family member. Moreover, in case the test turned out to be positive, she had literally no option to decide about the future. The social pressure was so intense that abortion was almost never an option, except in cases where pregnancy harmed the mother’s life. Problems were even tougher for an unmarried career-oriented woman.

Arrival of Prega News

It is here that Mankind Pharma decided to jump in. Mankind Pharma was established in 1986. It established a supply chain in most of the country, especially in metro and Tier-II cities. Mankind Pharma decided to become the Sakhi (friend) of ladies and introduced a Pregnancy test kit. It was named Prega News. The name itself told people that it would tell whether a woman is pregnant or not. Moreover, it was a remarkable improvement from traditional facilities available in the market.

While existing methods gave pregnancy results in 24-48 hours, Prega News drastically decreased that time to only 5 minutes. While existing methods involved accompanying relatives and registration, henceforth compromising women’s privacy, Prega News could be used in the privacy of their homes. It gave women much-needed psychological relief from more than 24-hour long anxieties. Now, depending on the result, women could think in peace about whether they want to carry on with their motherhood or prioritise their career.

Smart marketing

The marketing of a pregnancy test kit was a big problem. The sheer doubtfulness about the product’s efficiency could easily cast a shadow around it. Prega News took it slow. They did not go on a steroid-fuelled aggressive marketing. Mankind Pharma initially allotted a small amount to fix the products through national newspapers and magazines read by women.

To make the product more accessible, the company launched Prega News in the ‘Over The Counter’ category. This particular categorisation communicated to women that rushing to Gynaecologists for every pregnancy-related problem is not always needed. They did not need a prescription for the test.

TV Commercial started in 2010

Soon, the product started to catch momentum. By 2010, Mankind had confirmed that people were liking its products. They now felt confident regarding going big on marketing. One year before the economy was about to get a boost from tourism related to World Cup 2011, Mankind Pharma roped in Neha Marda. At that time Neha was a TV star of the popular daily soap opera ‘Balika Vadhu’. Women of India connected with her whether Urban or Rural.

In their ads, Mankind Pharma kept it simple and just told women about two aspects of the product. Number one, it gave quick results, and number 2, it was 99 per cent accurate. The advertisements involved women’s sentiments and doubts about their pregnancy and this catapulted the trust factor of the test kits.

Actresses joined in the bandwagon

Soon, the product became a hit and now more and more celebrities joined in. Kareena Kapoor Khan, Anushka Sharma, Shilpa Shetty, and Kajal Aggarwal are some of the major film actresses who have appeared in Prega News commercials in the past. In a lot of these commercials, Prega News took advantage of the eliteness associated with these career women.

The big celebrities were often seen educating their household maids about the importance of planned parenthood and other stuff benefiting them. This was done to cater to uneducated or even mildly educated women such as daily wage worker women.

Trickle down effect

To make products more accessible to underprivileged women, Mankind did not prioritise profits for the first few years. While other companies were busy providing incentives to doctors, Prega News targeted Pharmacists as a one-stop solution. Initially, pharmacists were happy that they were getting high margins, so they stocked Prega News in high numbers. The availability of kits further increased the demand. Later, pharmacists had no problems when Mankind Pharma decreased their commissions, since the consumer base was now broadened.

In the post-2015 phase of its development, Prega News also associated with women-centric social media handles like Momspresso, Baby Destination, and Anand Mahindra sponsored She The People among others. Soon, not only did the company create a new market of its own, but it also gained a first mover advantage.

Company will keep flourishing

Today, Prega News dominates more than 80 per cent of the pregnancy kit market, which by the way is an underperforming market. The all-India penetration of the pregnancy kit market is only 17 per cent. Prega News aims to take this percentage to 26 by the end of 2026. For this they are now targeting rural India. Even in this segment, they have a first mover advantage. 95 per cent of television advertisements catered around pregnancy kits are dominated by Prega News.

Rural market is different

But, capturing the rural market is not an easy target. For instance, the human development index is low as compared to Indian cities. Average rural household income of rural India barely touches 50 per cent of the urban one. Add to that unemployment and supply-chain crisis impacting the earning potential.

These people do not save much for their future. Even the government knows it and that is why when factories were temporarily shut down during Covid, the Modi government resorted to food distribution in order to ensure that whatever savings they have is not spent in collecting food.

Aapda mein avsar (Opportunity in Crisis)

But there is a temperamental difference between an entrepreneur and a common individual. When an entrepreneur looks at a barren land, he looks for the source of water. On the other hand, when common folk look at it, more often than not, he is filled with disgust and pity.

Mankind Pharma owners have found the avsar (opportunity) in this aapda (crisis) as well. Rural families having been inflicted with extreme poverty during Covid times are slowly realising the positive aspects of multiple earners in the family. It is here that the need for planned parenthood has arisen.

Fulfilling the potential of human development in village

Though NGOs, Asha workers and other organisations have penetrated into the last miles of the country, their work is still incomplete. Women in rural areas have been able to access better reproductive care, but planning the phase is still an uncharted territory for them. Primarily because, after a period of time, these organisations and individuals got complacent and focused on maintaining the status quo. In this context status quo means ensuring that a new born baby and mother are taken care of till the child turns 6.

This is the part of the reason why Prega News is involving NGOs to create awareness about planned parenthood. Now, camps are being organised where Asha workers, Anganbadi, Gynecologists, and a host of others visit the camp and explain positive aspects. To get more legitimacy among the family members, various kinds of innovations are being done in ad making.

Campaign rests on actresses and influencer Moms

For instance, regional film actresses like Srabanti Chaterjee, Kajal Agarwal, Priyamani, Mansi Parekh among others are shooting their Prega News ads by looking and acting more relatable to average women. Lot of these contents are in vernacular language. Even high end celebrities like Soha Ali Khan and Neha Dhupia are also engaged with Prega News as influencer moms.

But, the influencer mom category is not only limited to Bollywood moms. Now-a-days women in Tier II and Tier III cities are active consumers of content produced by other moms in their free time. Few months back, the brand decided to pull in 21 such lucky women who have achieved a healthy balance between being a mom and an influencer. These include Surbhi Sharma, Nimisha Arora, Rashmi Thakur, and Varsha Balani among others.

Neat and clean campaigns

Astoundingly, the content reached 6.5 lakh people by February and by the time you are reading it, the reach must have clocked more than 2 million people. It is these influencers who gave the brand inspiration to release a path-breaking advertisement, breaking the established feminist cult theory that a woman has to leave your family in order to do a job. Except for some fringe feminists with activism as only goal in life, the ad drew vast praise from all corners of the society.

It is here that the secret behind the success of Prega News lies. They do not rely on abusing men and women of society for their notions around the issue. They understand the reason behind it and try to sort out the differences. Last but not the least, one of the primary features of their acceptability is that they did not allow wokes to dominate their marketing strategy.