Pharma marketing in 2026 will be digital-first but trust-led, say industry leaders

The pharmaceutical sector's advertising accounted for Rs. 4,933 crore in overall advertising spends in 2025, representing 4% of total industry expenditure, according to dentsu's latest report. More significantly, digital media is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 17%, reaching Rs. 98,034 crore by 2027 and accounting for 70% of total ad expenditure.

There’s a broader shift in how pharma brands engage with both healthcare professionals and patients. After a year marked by regulatory scrutiny, ethical reckoning, and evolving consumer expectations, 2026 is emerging as a year in which digital channels dominate for the sector.

The question is no longer whether digital will dominate pharma marketing, but how effectively brands will use it. "Digital will continue to be the primary driver of pharma marketing in 2026, but the approach will be more refined," says Gaurav Verma, Head – B2C at PharmEasy (API Holdings). "Performance-led digital channels, vernacular content, expert-led content on social media and contextual engagement will play a bigger role than broad-based advertising."

However, the shift toward digital doesn't mean abandoning traditional channels entirely. Verma notes that while e-health remains an evolving space, PharmEasy is increasingly investing in high-impact ATL initiatives and strategic partnerships to strengthen brand credibility.

Urvee Garg, Director at HAB Pharma, however, notes, "Digital may dominate, but in 2026, dominance without depth no longer works. The real shift is not just towards more digital, but better digital—platforms and content that engage meaningfully. At the same time, traditional media's relevance is far from over. The winning strategy is hybrid: digital for precision and engagement, traditional for trust and scale."

The numbers back this shift. Mankind Pharma's advertising budget soared 25% to Rs. 755 crore in FY25, up from Rs. 600.75 crore the previous year, as reported in their annual results. The company's revenue rose 19% year-on-year to ₹12,207 crore, with campaigns ranging from Manforce Condoms' topical, viral content during elections to Prega News's emotionally driven narratives and WhatsApp-based support communities. Gas-O-Fast and HealthOk campaigns included mass sampling at high-footfall locations such as the Kumbh Mela, expanding both trial and awareness. 

Similarly, Piramal Pharma allocated 11% of its India Consumer Healthcare (ICH) sales to media and promotions in FY25, driving 20% year-on-year growth for brands such as Littles, Lacto Calamine, and Saridon.

These investments indicate that consumer healthcare in India is projected to grow, driven by rising awareness, retail expansion, and self-medication trends, according to industry estimates.

Consumers are becoming proactive, leading to a communication shift

The way pharma brands talk to both doctors and patients is changing fundamentally. Praful Akali, Founder & MD at Medulla Communications, observes that HCP communication is becoming more patient-centric and emotionally resonant. "Doctors are being treated as human beings, resulting in emotional communication rather than dry, scientific communication," he explains. "In-clinic communication to doctors uses engaging and emotional videos to create a connect."

This shift extends beyond how brands speak to doctors. Patients themselves are demanding more. Consumer behaviour in healthcare is becoming proactive and informed, with people actively seeking information on preventive healthcare rather than simply reacting to illness. Verma emphasises that compared to 2025, pharma marketing in 2026 will shift from awareness-led communication to value-led engagement, with a focus on relevance, personalisation, and education rather than volume-driven messaging.

The transformation is visible in patient awareness campaigns as well. Akali shares, “Patient awareness campaigns are becoming more authentic with real patient stories and conversations. They are going deeper from superficial communication to patient education, networking and support.” Some pharma companies are even building respiratory wellness centres, focusing not just on treatment but on disease prevention, becoming part of the full patient journey from prevention to cure.

This evolution marks a departure from the formulaic approach that has dominated Indian pharma advertising for decades. The industry has long relied on white-coated endorsers speaking earnestly into cameras in clinical settings. Campaigns like Cipla's ‘Inhalers Hain Sahi’ highlighted how addressing stigma with clarity and empathy could break this mould, while Abbott's work on iron deficiency in women used real insights to spark awareness rather than simply pushing products.

Garg comments, "The biggest shift in consumer behaviour is clear, blind trust is over. Patients and healthcare professionals are no longer passive recipients of prescriptions or brand claims—they research, compare, question, and hold brands accountable."

She adds that pharma marketing in 2026 can no longer rely solely on medical jargon or distribution strength. Success now depends on clarity, education, transparency, and outcome-led storytelling. 

India's most celebrated healthcare campaigns have proven this approach works. For example, the 2016 Cannes Gold Lion-winning ‘Last Words’ campaign for the Indian Association of Palliative Care created genuine emotional resonance while maintaining ethical standards, tapping into universal human emotions rather than medical jargon. 

More recently, Lowe Lintas's ‘DawAI Reader’ for Alkem won a Silver Lion at Cannes 2025 by using AI technology to solve the practical problem of deciphering doctors' handwriting on prescriptions.

Scrutiny, compliance, and the trust imperative

Amid a communication shift, the regulatory landscape has become significantly more demanding. The Advertising Standards Council of India's (ASCI) Half-Yearly Complaints Report for 2025-26 revealed that digital media accounted for 97% of total advertising violations. Between April and September 2025, ASCI reviewed 6,841 complaints and investigated 6,117 advertisements, with 98% requiring modification. Healthcare emerged as the third most violative sector with 332 ads under scrutiny, with 82% of cases violating the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act (1954).

The report also highlighted concerning trends in influencer marketing. ASCI investigated 1,173 influencer advertisements, with 98% requiring modification. Nearly 59% promoted products were disallowed by law, and 76% of India's top digital stars were found violating disclosure norms required by ASCI and the Central Consumer Protection Authority.

The casual tone adopted by some established pharma brands has raised questions about responsible communication. 

Against this backdrop, pharma marketers are rethinking their approach. "At PharmEasy, we prioritise medically accurate, transparent messaging over promotional claims, and focus on patient education rather than persuasion," says Verma. "Influencer collaborations are becoming more selective and responsibility-driven, with clear disclosures and an emphasis on credible, expert voices."

Akali sees the regulatory tightening as ultimately beneficial. He wants to first say that the Uniform Code for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP) has had a very positive impact on agencies and patients both, as pharma companies are now investing in meaningful marketing strategy and communication, and in patient support. 

“As pharma brands rely on good marketing communication instead of HCP incentivisation, it allows agencies to create pull-based digital communication to doctors, reaching more doctors digitally to create efficiency and impact.”

Garg frames the regulatory environment as a necessary correction. 

"Stricter enforcement of the UCPMP and judicial scrutiny are forcing the industry to confront practices it long normalised. This is not a disruption—it's a correction. In 2026, pharma marketing will have to move from inducement to influence, from promotion to purpose."

Public health campaigns have historically shown how effective ethical communication can be. The polio eradication campaign's simple ‘Do Boond Zindagi Ke’ message, with Amitabh Bachchan as ambassador, became a phenomenon that contributed to India being declared polio-free by WHO in 2014. The campaign succeeded through consistent messaging across multiple touchpoints, focusing on behaviour change rather than product promotion.

Verma notes that as patient-facing communication has become increasingly data-driven, privacy remains non-negotiable, with all insights anonymised, securely handled, and used only to improve user experience and health outcomes.

AI as enabler, not shortcut

While communication is becoming increasingly data-driven and personalised, artificial intelligence is emerging as a critical tool in pharma marketing. 

PharmEasy's Swasth.AI initiative leverages AI to generate actionable health insights from large volumes of aggregated lab test data. "In 2026, AI will be a critical enabler in pharma marketing, primarily by helping healthcare platforms deliver more personalised, timely, and relevant experiences to patients, doctors, and caregivers," says Verma. 

He expects AI to play a key role in automating insights, optimising campaigns for better engagement, and predicting user behaviour more accurately.

However, Verma is careful to note that in healthcare, trust, ethics, and regulatory compliance remain central, so marketers will continue to rely on human oversight to ensure AI-driven recommendations are responsible, accurate, and patient-centric.

Garg offers a more cautious perspective and notes that AI is no longer a buzzword but a filter. “AI can significantly enhance targeting, personalisation, and content efficiency, but pharma is not FMCG. Over-automation without medical oversight is a risk, not a benefit."

She emphasises that successful brands will treat AI as an enabler of intelligence, not a shortcut to scale, ensuring human judgment, ethics, and compliance remain non-negotiable. The pharma industry remains slower to adopt AI compared to consumer-focused sectors precisely because the stakes are higher and decisions have a direct impact on human life.

Akali's agency has built AI-based platforms that serve practical purposes. One creates a social media team for doctors, generating customised content and allowing them to share it with their network at the click of a button. 

"The key influencer marketing trend is authenticity, and there is no more authentic social media influencer in healthcare than a doctor," he notes. "Doctors are keen to exert their influence and reach more consumers. Consumers are keen to learn from doctors."

This intersection of technology and authenticity represents perhaps the most pragmatic approach to AI in pharma marketing: using it to amplify credible voices rather than replace human judgment. Medulla has also partnered with experiential agency Tribes to launch a super-specialist Rxperience agency that conducts clinic and pharmacy activations in addition to HCP-focused events, blending technology with real-world patient engagement.

As the industry increases its investment in advertising this year, it is marked by scrutiny of those very advertisements. The resolution lies not in choosing between creativity and compliance, or between digital and traditional, but in recognising that trust with transparency, education, and genuine patient-centricity has become the most valuable currency in healthcare marketing.