It may feel bleak out there this midwinter, but there is nothing like a business win to help boost ‘that’ Christmas Feeling.  ROAD are proud and excited to be working with one of the world’s leading producers of medical diagnostic systems: Esaote.

The firm’s MD for Europe & Benelux at this leading manufacturer of ultrasound devices, Cor van der Flier, explains: “We were impressed with ROAD’s approach to communicating with the stakeholder groups in the NHS, and its understanding of how this might evolve with the emergence of new commissioning groups and the changing health landscape in the UK.”

Louise Stone, a new Director at ROAD, will be heading up the account.  Both she and the rest of the team will be doing what ROAD does best – in this case – boosting Esaote’s profile amongst relevant stakeholders during what promises to be a rapidly changing year for primary care.



ROAD is pleased  to welcome Rachel Cunningham who has joined us as a programme manager working with the medical education and engagement team. Rachel comes to ROAD from Spire Healthcare where she supported consultants and regional hospitals with marketing and communications services.  Rachel Collum also joins ROAD as account executive working with the media team.

Just over a year ago, the 7 year itch struck… My long-term, big-chain gym membership was put on ice in a ‘stress cutting mission’ – or so I dubbed it. It felt good cutting out the guilt earned by paying effectively £30 per visit.  Yet I have been left with a feeling that my long-term health is slipping out of my grip.

And I’m not alone. Last week’s article by Maeve Hosea in Marketing Week revealed that compared to a year ago, 12% fewer UK consumers feel in control of their health, as recorded by The Futures Company.  That’s 5% below the global average. So, are we Brits ‘control freaks’ or are we ‘eating more convenience foods on the run, working longer hours and finding less time to exercise’ as the research suggests? The real issue is highlighted by Radha Patel at The Futures Company: “There is health information out there, but people don’t necessarily know what to do with it.”

PUTTING CONSUMERS IN CONTROL

Patel suggests, “personalised health” will become a big trend in future.  ROAD would counter that, in fact, it’s already here.  We recently helped launch what many would consider the ‘ultimate’ in control – the first over-the-counter paternity testing kit available via Boots.  (Incidentally, the article mentioned above points out that in the USA, DNA is being analysed to create diet regimes based on the individual’s genetic profile.)  Likewise, The Core Wellness Programme was created for the global TENA brand, with messages tailored to the individual subscriber – as with Pfizer’s GoFactor campaign for heamophiliacs. ROAD is currently working with Philips, a true leader in the  healthcare-meets-wellbeing arena, supporting Patel’s view that, “technology that makes personal health become more accessible will continue to lead to change in the future.”

Healthcare brands which can communicate the benefits of their product or service to consumers in as tailored and useful a way as possible – rather than simply giving product or service information – will come out on top. Of course, there are many nuances involved in doing this: Persuading consumers to change their behaviour and so improve their health requires sophisticated research and analysis, plus painstaking message creation.  The joy is that consumers can be persuaded, and the time is now.

So, it’s back to the gym for me…  Something else is going to have to give!

Any busy communications agency deserves to be let loose once in a while –  something ROAD’s MD, Paul Jarman knows well.  So, true to agency tradition, off trooped ROAD to the highly salubrious Chiswick House Festival to hear six scorching hot bands, including Tinie Tempah (presumably playing W4 for the very first time), Noah And The Whale (all the way from Twickenham), the uber-exuberant Plan B, Stereophonics, Eliza Doolittle and Katie B.  Masters of ceremony such as Michael MacIntyre cued the talent, and the evening went from sophisticated garden party to mosh pit mayhem in the space of a single shot of Grey Goose. There were enough lobsters, crabs and prawns to throw a rod at, and house cocktails and celebrities in unlimited supply.  Even the over 40s were dancing.  The rest, as they say, is history. Here are a few happy memories. Till the next one…

Patients with chronic, long-term illnesses require life-long support, management and medication from healthcare providers if they are to live their life to the full. Yet, it’s easy to under-estimate the immense degree of continual self-discipline and ‘faith’ in their treatment required by the patient.

This is bourn out through the statistics, which are strikingly intransigent, and this pattern is similar throughout the developed world, with 20-50% of patients not taking their medicine as prescribed.  These individuals are said to be ‘non-adherent’, and it goes without saying that non-adherence has fairly huge implications all round.

Crucially, evidence shows that the first three months of a patient’s compliancy to medication are critical, as this is the period when behaviour patterns are established.  After the first six months, adherence tends to drop sharply.  So, is pharma doing enough to improve the situation?  For sure, there are both financial and a CSR imperatives at stake.

Certainly, the diversity and sophistication of digital and data tools now available to business means there is simply no excuse for pharma not to be in direct contact with patients.  The advantages? Better educated, supported, engaged and motivated audiences, whose new attitudes and behaviours result in improved personal and commercial outcomes

There are three main options for non-adherence in terms of intervention:-

-         Behavioural approaches

-         Education / providing information

-         Involvement from healthcare professionals

Leading a horse to water is just the first step

The key with all of the above is insuring PSPs reach their audience in a meaningful way. Understanding why a patient stops taking their medication is crucial, but so too is creating a meaning for them to take it.  There is no point leading a horse to water if you don’t let him know that the water is safe, suggest the best way of approaching the water’s edge, how long to drink for, and explain why drinking water is good for him, plus tell his owner know he’ll need reminding again tomorrow. And so on.

What makes for a meaningful PSP?

Understanding what the patient needs is the foundation for any inspirational patient support programme, and requires deep ethnographic research into the targetted patients.  Thinking from an ‘end-user’ perspective will help shape the way PSP will impact upon both patient and healthcare provider.  Successful PSPs also motivate healthcare professionals:  If they understand and believe in what you advocate, they will do all they can to help you reach the patient.

How to ensure your patient support programme is successful

There are four main factors:

1.  Clearly define the change you want to make

2. Define the level of HCP support that can reasonably be expected

3. Engagement: Drive visitors to the initiative site, monitor whether e-communications are read, seek completion of relevant surveys

4. Measure changes in compliance and patient well-being

5. Measure satisfaction via positive perception of the programme and recommendation to others

A note of caution: PSPs can act as a ‘lifeline’ for patients when they most need it, but there’s a fine line between ‘offering’ support and ‘instructing’ patients on how best to live their lives.  Tone, content and information are all vital to reaching the audience in a meaningful way.  Listening to, reacting to and engaging with your patients are actions which need to be fully integrated if a PSP is to be successful in the long term.  It’s important to keep asking, “Is this a two-way conversation, or a ‘push’ only?”

Non-adherence is something which is part ‘human nature’ and part ‘lack of support’. It is an issue which needs addressing urgently: Helping to insure good outcomes and quality of life in patients is something pharmas need to feel proud of.

An article in this month’s PME (Pharmaceutical Marketing Europe) stopped ROAD in its tracks.  It’s a profile of Roch Doliveux, the CEO of Belgium-based biopharmaceuticals group, UCB, which specialises in neurology and immunology drugs.  Why was the piece so arresting?  In a nutshell, it was the group’s commitment to putting patients at the centre of UCB’s activities.  To pharmaceutical firms, ‘Customer’ usually translates as ‘Healthcare Professional’ i.e. hospital, GP, nurse.  It does not equate to ‘Patient’.  Yet, Doliveux maintains that putting patient needs at the centre of activities means market share and profits will follow automatically.  He admits this strategy may not work for all, but explains his firm has learnt from successful companies in consumer-facing industries, citing BMW and Apple as examples.

So, as the French (and Belgians) say, ‘Vive La Difference’.  But is this strategy simply a case of ‘change for change’s sake’?  For sure, Doliveux is critical of the ‘bad old days’ when psychiatrists wanted a cure for schizophrenia, and went about developing lab rats with the condition, rather than starting with the patient.  (He trained as a vet.) At first glance, some of Doliveux’s comments might seem idealistic. Yet, as the wounds inflicted by  spending cuts start to be un-bandaged and examined, and prognoses pronounced, strategies are changing.  Changes in thinking are required now for an industry which faces large-scale patent expiries, cutbacks in R&D, and ablated fiscal spending.  Not to mention the huge need for drugs to treat the ageing baby boomer generation which is information-savvy, and actively seeking optimum solutions and service to match.

Earlier this year, Pfizer put haemophilia patients at the heart of its strategy via the Go!Factor patient support programme, produced with ROAD.  Go!Factor provides advice for heamophilia patients (all male) and their families, at key stages of life – including those tricky-to-reach adolescents.  Hard to broach subjects – sex and alcohol for instance – are tackled head-on, being even higher on the list of concerns for the teenage male who can bruise or bleed easily.  Comparing their ‘Top 10 Wishes’ with those of non-sufferers is a moving exercise: 1. A life without needles or pain  2. Nice car  3. Good job… – versus – 1. Sports car,  2.Hot girlfriend  3. Lots of money…

Returning to UCB, its mission statement is bold and brave: “UCB aspires to be the patient-centric global biopharmaceutical leader, transforming the lives of people living with serious diseases.”  This, as Doliveux admits, is both an enabler and “a huge responsibility.”  However, responsibilities can be shared: Understanding and acting upon patient needs and sensitivities successfully, is precisely where ROAD can help.