In the previous issue, we looked at healthcare PR as we approach the interactive marketing odyssey of 2001. Thanks to the Internet, the public's hunger for health information
and advances in healthcare and biomedical sciences, PR is at the nexus of the healthcare communications universe.
In this role, PR can bridge two distinct cultures: the research-based, marketing-savvy healthcare giants, and the daring, nimble companies involved in the Internet and other
emerging technologies. As healthcare PR professionals, we must brainstorm and establish new relationships that will build credibility and propel our clients' companies and brands
to greater heights online and offline.
Here, we explore how interactive PR initiatives are advancing the business goals of companies like Schering-Plough and Pfizer and how PR agencies are increasingly expected to
spearhead relationship-building ideas with an interactive focus.
I believe 2001 will be the year the healthcare industry truly "gets" the Web. Successful healthcare companies will rely on PR agencies that are responsive to their needs and
can forge strategic partnerships with key healthcare constituents worldwide.
Relationships = Credibility
In the quest for credibility in healthcare communications, relationships are key, and the avenues for building these new relationships are virtually limitless . We have found
quite a few ways to help clients forge new relationships to build brand or corporate credibility through:
Diversity Marketing: Schering-Plough's "Clean Up Your Park" program for Claritin - the first comprehensive Spanish-language PR campaign on the management of
seasonal allergies - united local schools, families, and officials to create an allergy-free environment in a Hispanic community in Los Angeles.
Interactive Marketing: Wyeth-Ayerst's Sonata "Learn to Capture
the Moon" Tour educated consumers about the importance of sleep and encouraged
them to talk to their doctors about sleep problems and treatments. The traveling
exhibit included an arcade-style "car" that simulates the effects of drowsiness
on one's ability to drive, and a "sleep makeover" kit to teach consumers how
to get a better night's rest.
Community Outreach: Hoffmann-LaRoche's Tamiflu patient-recruitment campaign combined media outreach, advertising, and other direct-to-consumer methods to enlist
patients in clinical trials for the then investigative flu pill. Local chapters of school nurse organizations and groups representing at-risk patients joined site investigators
to become information resources for media and prospective trial candidates.
Third-party Advocacy: Pfizer's Viagra advocacy relations program used peer-to-peer medical education to convey the medical significance of erectile dysfunction
(ED) to a network of physicians and allied healthcare professionals. In learning about ED treatment, some medical professionals became advocates for the use of Viagra, helping to
create a favorable environment for the drug's approval.
Patient Advocacy: Pharmacia's Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) campaign shed light on the human issues surrounding smoking cessation and reduction. One
component, a video titled "The Faces Behind the Smoke," included testimonials of NRT product users and interviews with smokers describing their interest in quitting and their
desire for understanding from a society that generally vilifies them for their habit.
The Agency Challenge
While relationship building forms the foundation for healthcare PR in the 21st century, the architects of the healthcare PR agency of the future must be our clients. Because
the marketing landscape is changing so rapidly, client needs (and their requests of us) are evolving equally fast. Rather than retrofitting traditional PR capabilities to
constantly respond to ever-changing communications challenges, agencies must develop capabilities dictated by client need. A good place to start is by expanding marketing
offerings that go beyond traditional PR - but still possess a PR sensibility - to provide program continuity and full service.
At Edelman, our capabilities have expanded to respond to the needs of healthcare clients. In 1995, we formed BioScience Communications in response to clients' requests for
medical education for physicians and allied healthcare professionals.
Our new advertising agency, BLUE, provides clients with issues-related advertising, advertorials, and other paid placements driven by PR content. And our StrategyOne division
provides a comprehensive range of research services to clients.
As PR becomes more central in the healthcare communications universe, we must move at the speed of light to stay at the cutting edge by using every tool available - from
technology to talent to tenacity - to help clients achieve their marketing goals.
Nancy Turett is president of Edelman Health. She can be reached at 212/704-8195
or [email protected].