Empathy is the core to winning trust: Narayana Health’s Abhishek Misra

Abhishek Misra, country head–brand & marketing at Narayana Health, believes the answer lies in something timeless: keeping the customer at the core.

Edited excerpts of an interview with Misra:

Q. What lessons have you taken from your previous stints in consumer-facing businesses to your role in a healthcare company?

I had the good fortune to work with a bunch of startups and founders, such as Ola, Livspace, and Games 24×7. Looking back on my journey in consumer-tech, three lessons have stood out as universal truths.

First, data-powered personalization isn’t optional. Consumers want brands to understand their unique needs and preferences, and they want it to reflect in every interaction they have with a brand. Whether suggesting products, delivering service or resolving issues—context is king.

Second, rapid, iterative feedback loops are essential for constantly refining experiences. In consumer-tech, every click, swipe, or query is an opportunity for learning and for brands to tweak features and processes.

Third, empathy is critical. All the automation and analysis in the world mean little unless they enable truly human, helpful communication. Thoughtful, well-timed messages and proactive support can build trust, loyalty, and positive sentiment, creating advocates for the brand.

At the end of the day, everything revolves around the customer or the consumer. In healthcare, they are not always the same. But I keep this principle at the heart of how I do things. Of course, there may be bias, but the idea is to think like a regular person. That is the core for any profitable business.

Q. Much of the conversation among ordinary people is about trust, or the lack of it, in private healthcare. How do you deal with this?

Most marketing folks want that piece of the trust pie. If you look at it, all remarketing- and subscription-based businesses are being purely run on trust, irrespective of business category. For example, you want to have the very best grocery delivered to you [from online retailers], and you want to be safe when traveling from one place to another [using app-based taxis].

So, is only healthcare being looked at from the lens of not being trusted? I don’t think so. Trust is not just something that healthcare owns. But yes, the stakes become very high, because at the end of the day, we’re talking about human lives over here.

Q. Yes, but surely winning customer trust is a bigger priority for a hospital than other consumer-facing businesses?

Well, if something happens to your near and dear ones, people are not forgiving at all. It can go very far in some cases.

However, we are the ones who put doctors on a pedestal, as a society. They never ask us to do so. They just learn a trade and get better at it, and then save lives in the process. If you are put on a pedestal, you may pay a heavy price for practicing your trade.

Now, major hiccups are something that will end up happening in any major service-based business. If something happens to you in a hospital, then you may go out of your way to tell people not to go there. That [review] can spread like wildfire. So, something like this becomes very crucial for us to solve, and that is where empathy has a very big role to play.

Q. So how do you apply this concept of empathy to design campaigns for Narayana Health?

In recent times, the ‘Pinocchio’ campaign used the powerful metaphor of Pinocchio’s growing nose to highlight how lying about your health and ignoring small health issues can escalate into bigger problems.

With this relatable storytelling, we are aiming to resonate with people from all walks of life, encouraging them to be honest with themselves about their health and seek care early before conditions come at a critical stage.

Beyond these, campaigns like ‘Think Before You Order’ and the ‘Chai-Sutta’ anti-tobacco campaign, we continue to meet people where they are—nudging mindful health choices in daily life without preaching, but with empathy and cultural sensitivity.