By Abhishek Misra With Harsh Desai
In a recent conversation, Abhishek Misra, Country Head of Brand & Marketing at Narayana Health, described how transitioning from lifestyle and tech marketing to healthcare required a profound change in mindset, one that shifted the focus from “selling aspirations” to “earning trust.” He explained that while consumer brands often market innovation, status, or desirability, hospital marketing must persuade individuals to entrust their health and lives to the institution. “The stakes are human, not transactional,” he said, underscoring that in healthcare, every communication, whether an advertisement, a social media post, or a consultation note, carries the weight of deeply personal decisions.
Small and Consistent Truths/ No Jargon, No Sugarcoating
Abhishek emphasized that in a sector where hope and fear coexist, storytelling cannot rely on glossy imagery or lofty promises alone. Instead, Narayana Health’s campaigns are co-created with patients and caregivers, weaving real accounts of struggle, resilience, and recovery into each narrative. By purposefully avoiding medical jargon and sugarcoating, the hospital brings authenticity to the fore, highlighting moments such as families’ first hesitant steps in recovery wards or the quiet reassurance that follows a successful procedure. These human-centred stories become the emotional glue that bonds the brand to its audiences, fostering both empathy and credibility.
For Abhishek, trust is built not through grand, one-off campaigns but through “small and consistent truths.” He described how marketing teams work hand in hand with medical staff to ensure that every piece of communication mirrors the lived realities of patients. For instance, when the brand commits to prompt emergency care in its advertisements, the hospital ensures its operating procedures and front-desk teams are continuously apprised of best practices to prevent long wait times. This commitment to aligning promise with performance, whether communicating treatment protocols transparently or updating families in real time in challenging circumstances, reinforces the perception that Narayana Health upholds the caregiving approach in the most humane way.
Health That Connects Communities
A pivotal insight emerged from Abhishek’s observation of caregivers’ day-to-day interactions. Drawing inspiration from his surgeon father’s lesson that “in this field you earn blessings,” he introduced a series of caregiver focused initiatives: ranging from an “Ask a Doctor” digital series that busts myths and offers comfort, to inverted billboards highlighting preventive healthcare, and the “Think Before You Order” social campaign that links dietary choices to overall health. These efforts celebrate the human side of care and reinforce the brand’s role as a compassionate partner in each patient’s healing journey.
Recognizing that healthcare decisions often unfold over weeks or months rather than days, Abhishek reframed marketing as an ongoing conversation rather than a series of discrete touchpoints. Beyond initial treatment ads, the hospital arranges health camps and melas for neighbourhood check ups, dispatches doctors to outskirt locations for consultations where medical access is limited, and regularly interacts with communities through various initiatives across the year. These continuous engagements keep Narayana Health top of mind throughout long care journeys.
Balancing Hope and Honesty
With lives literally on the line, every element, from ad copy to website chatbots, must balance hope with honesty. Abhishek stressed that creative guidelines prevent overpromising, framing clinical advances within a compassionate context that instils confidence with hope. Through this disciplined, empathy driven approach, Narayana Health has built a marketing model that doesn’t just inform but genuinely cares, transforming patient trust into enduring brand loyalty.
Trust and consistency are pillars not just in healthcare marketing, but across industries.
Read how Thomas Cook reimagined its legacy by putting the customer at the heart of its marketing.
