What’s in a name?

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Big Ideas

Healthcare comms is evolving, fast.

New technologies call for new experts to join pharmaceutical companies and communication agencies, traditional roles need a facelift, and new job titles arise like there’s no tomorrow.

At Scientific Group, we recently identified the need for two completely new roles. The first: Director of Emerging Technologies (say hi to our very own Simon Newman!). The second … required a bit more thought.

We needed someone to be an ambassador for the Group, understanding our what and why, keeping up with industry trends, building relationships with experts in the industry, and showing them where we can add value. This person needed a thorough understanding of our day-to-day work, the capacity to keep up with the industry’s fast-moving trends, and be able to attend conferences and build relationships with potential partners. What would you call such a role?

We chose to flip the problem on its head: explore what our clients need and how the new role could add value to them.

The evolving needs of pharmaceutical communications

Both new and old themes came to light as we had conversations with pharma leaders about their evolving challenges and needs:

  • AI: Some companies are all about AI, prioritizing an AI-first approach across all departments, while others aren’t quite AI-ready yet.
  • Omnichannel: For some, it is a must. But you’d be surprised how many (very successful) pharma executives have banned the word from their departments!
  • Customer engagement: This even made it into the title of the most recent Reuters event in London, but not everyone agrees that it should be the key focus – is engagement enough?
  • Customer value: By replacing ‘centricity’ with ‘value’, companies demonstrate their commitment to having an honest two-way dialogue with their target audience, with the aim of building a mutually beneficial, professional relationship.
  • Co-creation: Preferred by patients over ‘patient centricity’, patients want a seat at the table and to be treated like equal stakeholders.
  • Medical Affairs evolution: Is the organization fully leveraging the value of Medical Affairs, and are medical colleagues, in turn, ready and skilled enough for their emerging leadership function?
  • Medical–Commercial collaboration: Yes, but watch out for the risks! And who’s going to fully break the silos first and provide proof of concept that their set-up is compliant?
  • Head office–field teams collaboration: Can any organization claim to have true two-way communication with their field teams? Around 77% of content produced for field teams is rarely or never used (April 2023 Veeva Pulse Data) – perhaps there is still some work to do!
  • Global–Local collaboration: How often are global plans and content put on a shelf and local versions created from scratch? While a certain amount of local adaptation is to be expected, are we taking any steps towards co-creation with regions and countries to maximize return on investment (ROI) on global budgets?
  • Compliance as an enabling function: How many Medical and Commercial teams are introducing compliance reviews early and frequently enough to allow them to become an enabling function? Are compliance departments appropriately staffed to allow more than just the churning out of Veeva reviews day in, day out?
  • Procurement roadblocks: Are annual budget cycles and procurement processes aiding or hindering customer value, innovation, and content diversification?
  • Change management: Do the right people have the right skills to lead the organization’s much-needed change management journeys across functions and seniority levels? Is everyone working towards a common goal?

That’s a lot.

And that’s not all!

Many of us were shocked to hear at the recent Reuters Pharma Customer Engagement event that only 2% of HCPs’ time is spent engaging with pharma content (that is all time, not just time spent within working hours).

Now, that’s a wake-up call.

As a trusted partner to a variety of pharmaceutical companies, we see that this intricate web of moving parts trickles through to every aspect of daily work.

Innovation certainly cuts across all of these themes, but it comes with its own set of risks: to be side-tracked by the shiny, new thing … only to find that getting the basics right would have brought much more ROI.

What we believe the industry needs most is…

Strategic innovation!

To us, ‘strategic innovation’ means sustainable, incremental progress towards meaningful goals. It means that we take a client brief and challenge it to help our client ‘peel the onion’ (one of my favorite expressions!) on their audience needs, and shape campaigns that truly change behaviors to deliver improved patient care. It means that we think of customer value first, before communication strategy and channel selection. It means that we involve all stakeholders early and frequently to work as a team. It means that we inspire cross-functional collaboration and support our clients on the transformational journey they are ready to start. Plus, it means that we have fun working together.

And there it was – the new job title!

Director of Strategic Innovation. That’s me!

A 21st-century litmus test

Surprised not to have thought about it before, I thought I’d ask ChatGPT for a definition of ‘strategic innovation’. It says:

Strategic innovation refers to the process of developing and implementing new ideas, approaches, or methods that create a competitive advantage for an organization. It involves identifying opportunities, analyzing market trends, and aligning resources to drive growth and success.

There. I can get behind that.

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Multichannel, omnichannel, optichannel – buzzwords or best practice?

Privacy Policy

Updated October 2022

This website, www.wearescientific.com, is operated by AS&K Communications Limited (“we”, “our” or “us”) as the holding company for Group Scientific (known hereas “Scientific Group”). We are committed to safeguarding and preserving the privacy of our visitors. By using and visiting our website and by submitting your personal information to us you agree to us using your personal information as set out in this privacy policy. This Privacy Policy document (the “Policy”) explains what happens to any personal data that you provide to us, or that we collect from you whilst you visit our site and how we use cookies on this website. We respect the privacy of users of our website and recognise that when you choose to provide us with information about yourself, you trust us to act in a responsible manner with that information. This privacy policy contains important information about how we use your personal information.

Scientific Group reserves the right to amend or modify this Privacy Policy Statement at any time and in response to changes in applicable data protection and privacy legislation. All changes will be posted on this page. We encourage you to review our Policy periodically to remain informed of changes that may have occurred.

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In running and maintaining our website we may collect and process the data about you. We may gather the following information about you:

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We use the information that we collect from you to provide our services to you. In addition to this we may use the information for one or more of the following purposes:

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In operating our website it may become necessary to transfer data that we collect from you to other group companies, affiliates and third parties to help us process your personal information for the purposes set out in this policy. Some of these locations may be outside of the European Union. By providing your personal data to us, you agree to this transfer, storing and processing. We do our utmost to ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to make sure that your data is stored securely and that the third parties who receive your personal information are required to keep it confidential..

We are a global company and therefore we may transfer your personal information to countries around the world including the US and other countries outside Europe. We will, where necessary, put in place appropriate safeguards to ensure your information is protected.

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We will not disclose your personal information to any other party other than in accordance with this Privacy Policy and in the circumstances detailed below:

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Third Party Links

On occasion we include links to third parties on this website. Where we provide a link it does not mean that we endorse or approve that site’s policy towards visitor privacy. You should review their privacy policy before sending them any personal data. These websites may use cookies and collect your personal information in accordance with their own privacy policies. This privacy policy does not apply to third party websites and we are not responsible for third party websites.

How long do we keep your information?

We will keep your information for a reasonable period for the purposes set out above.

Contacting Us

Please do not hesitate to contact us regarding any matter relating to this Privacy Policy and to have any inaccuracies in your information corrected via email at info@wearescientific.com or by phone at: +44 (0) 20 7428 2900

Or by post at:

AS&K Communications Limited
Data Protection/Scientific Group
5–6 Underhill Street
London
NW1 7HS
UK

Terms of Use

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Last Updated 6 October 2022  

By accessing this website you agree to be bound by these Terms & conditions (“terms”), please read them carefully. If you do not agree to be bound by these terms you should not access or view this website.

Who we are:
AS&K Communications Ltd. The holding company for Group Scientific (known hereas ‘Scientific Group’)
We are registered in England and Wales under registration number: 05169581
Our trading office is: 5-6 Underhill Street, Camden, London, N1W 7HS, United Kingdom
VAT Registration number: GB 272753585.

  1. The information contained in this website is intended for general information purposes only. Scientific Group has made all reasonable efforts to ensure that the information on this website is accurate at the time of inclusion, however there may be inaccuracies and occasional errors for which Scientific Group apologises.
  2. Scientific Group makes no representations or warranties about the information provided through this website, including any hypertext links to any website or other items used either directly or indirectly from this website. AS&K accepts no liability for any inaccuracies or omissions in this website and any decisions based on information contained in Scientific Group’s websites are the sole responsibility of the visitor.
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In the event that any or any part of the terms contained in these terms & conditions shall be determined by any competent authority to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable to any extent, such term shall to that extent be severed from the remaining terms which shall continue to be valid and enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Please send any enquiries by email: info@wearescientific.com

Contact us by phone: +44 (0) 207 428 2900

Or by post:
Scientific Group – AS&K Communications
5–6 Underhill Street  
London NW1 7HS
United Kingdom

Cookie Policy

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts.

More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

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Below is a detailed list of the cookies we use on our Website. Our Website is scanned with our cookie scanning tool regularly to maintain a list as accurate as possible. We classify cookies in the following categories:
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You can opt-out of each cookie category (except strictly necessary cookies) by clicking on the “cookie settings” button below: Customize Settings

Cookie-List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.
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These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources, so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies, we will not know when you have visited our site.
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Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They can be used by these third parties to build a profile of your interests based on the browsing information they collect from you, which includes uniquely identifying your browser and terminal equipment. If you do not allow these cookies you will still see basic advertising on your browser that is generic and not based on your interests
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