| |
 |
 |
The Power of the Celebrity-Patient Voice
A new age of healthcare communications in Asia
By Sharon Cheah, Director of Healthcare, Weber Shandwick in Malaysia & Singapore. |
|
 |
| |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
| Sharon Cheah |
In a region as diverse as Asia—where medical and regulatory restrictions differ considerably from country to country—healthcare communications is a challenge. How do leading multinational pharmaceutical companies strike the balance? How are these companies able to communicate with their target audiences sufficiently whilst ensuring ethical standards are maintained and legality not flouted?
Clinical research, presented by respected medical specialists or `spokesdoctors’, has for the longest time been touted as the most successful means of disease education and credible proof of the efficacy of a specific treatment in the minds of the media and the public in Asia. Pharmaceutical companies have been advised by PR consultants that the best way to get editorial space would be to present disease prevalence and drug efficacy backed by clinical statistics to the media. This is all true. However, as shown in recent years, building a communication effort around clinical studies alone isn’t enough anymore. Not if you aim to make an impact…to educate, to influence and to ultimately change a public’s mindset.
The Asian consumer has become more discerning and is asking more questions, having developed a more holistic view of health and wellness, whilst recognising the various ways of making informed decisions on prevention and treatment of diseases. It is time for communications strategies that connect with consumers not just factually, but emotionally.
Using celebrity and real-life patient case studies to provide clarity on diseases and to depict treatment benefits is a healthcare communications strategy that has taken root in Asia. More and more, pharmaceutical companies are seeing huge successes from campaigns built around the positive testimonials of celebrities and patients.
|
| Pfizer’s “Kick It, Beat It!” campaign leveraged four dynamic local celebrities. |
A case at hand would be Pfizer Consumer Healthcare’s recent smoking cessation campaign in Malaysia, aimed at increasing awareness about Nicotine Replacement Therapy and its product Nicorette amongst young smokers. In recognizing that a whopping 20 percent of Malaysia’s six million cigarette smokers are aged between 12 and 18 years, the company partnered with the Malaysian Ministry of Health, to launch the `Kick It, Beat It!’ 40-Day Smoke Free Challenge.
The campaign leveraged four dynamic local entertainment celebrities who were heavy smokers and genuinely wanting to quit. To capture as many audiences as possible, each were selected because of their different fan base. The celebrity challenge was to kick the habit within 40 days using Nicotine Replacement Therapy sponsored by Pfizer Consumer Healthcare. Throughout the process, the celebrities spoke honestly about the emotive aspects and the efficacy of NRT during their own smoking cessation journeys, making them real-life examples for would-be “quitters”. Each celebrities’ journey was covered through extensive nationwide print, broadcast and online media.
The challenge delivered rapid results, raising Nicorette sales in Malaysia by 22 percent. In addition, the celebrities received numerous e-mails and text messages from the public (with 20 percent of them being inquiries about NRT) and the website saw a 100 percent increase in visits, which achieved the objective of educating smokers about NRT.
The strength of the campaign was not that it used celebrities. Rather, they were the right celebrities, with the ability to evoke public emotion. What was most appealing to the public was the honest and open approach the celebrity “patients” had with their goal. They exposed vulnerability in a way that allowed the public to relate to their own struggles to quit smoking. More than having the public root for them, the celebrities’ journey inspired many young smokers to want to kick the habit themselves.
Healthcare communications in Asia has moved into a new era of embracing the patient voice.
This article was originally published in Media magazine 10 March 2006.
 |
 |
| Toshiya Takata |
Robert Magyar |
By Toshiya Takata, account director and Robert Magyar, senior consultant, Weber Shandwick in Japan.
The public relations industry in Japan is surprisingly small, but business leaders and politicians are starting to realise the value of commissioning communications expertise.
The Japanese media environment is daunting. Japan has more than 120 daily national and regional newspapers, with a total circulation of 70 million copies: the highest per capita figure in the world. The three newspapers with the highest circulation in the world are all Japanese, and Yomiuri Shimbun, the world leader, sells more than 10 million copies every day.
This would suggest a flourishing playground for PR, but despite this fertile ground, Japan's public relations industry is worth under US$400 million per year. This makes it less than one tenth of the size of the US industry, which seems disproportionately small, considering Japan's GDP is nearly half of America's GDP. Japan's advertising market is considerably larger, with around US$50 billion in sales, nearly one third of the size of the US advertising market.
So why is the public relations industry so small in Japan? One popular explanation is that Japanese companies traditionally believe that public relations need to be handled internally, whereas advertising should be taken care of by outside experts. Often, PR related activities such as investor relations, CSR, issues and crisis management, and internal communications are handled within various corporate - financial, environmental, welfare, legal, and personnel - departments, while media relations is dealt with by in-house PR staff. The strict divisions between each department's responsibilities in Japanese business culture often make the signing of a comprehensive service agreement extremely difficult for PR agencies.
Japan's PR agencies, however, need to realise that their lack of effort in promoting their own industry in Japan is no small reason for the industry's size. For the sector to grow, the Japanese business community needs to be made more aware of the importance of consolidated public relations. The industry also needs to promote its expertise and capabilities with messages that can be easily understood by business executives, focusing on the positive influence that PR can have on sales figures and corporate reputation. Most of all, the presence of capable PR firms in the Japanese market needs to be emphasised and put on display in order to earn further recognition.
The profile of PR in Japan is changing for the better, however, thanks to some recent developments. During 2005, two major independent domestic PR agencies were the first companies in the sector to go public through initial public offerings in February and July respectively. Neither of these companies is a newcomer in the market—both were established in the 1960s and 70s—so why did they go public in the same year?
As well as acquiring cash to build service infrastructures and hire quality consultants, neither company has been shy about admitting that another major factor in the decision to go public was to become more widely recognised. Their higher profile will help them better position themselves in Japan's steadily maturing PR market, and will also be of benefit for the visibility of the PR industry as a whole.
Policitial parties have also started taking notice of the PR industry, and are now hiring communications agencies. In 2003, Japan's largest minority party, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), hired a leading agency as its election communications consultancy. This was the first time that a political party had used a PR firm as a strategic partner, and the move drew a lot of attention.
In the 2003 general election and the Upper House election of 2004, the DPJ did extremely well, succeeding in relaying its messages to voters and unseating key members of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in some important election districts. In January 2005, as the debate over the privatisation of Japan's public postal agency intensified, the LDP countered the DPJ's earlier move by hiring another major PR agency as its communications strategist.
In August, after the Postal Privatization Bill stalled, LDP leader and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi dissolved the Lower House, and called an early general election. The campaign that preceded the September elections intrigued many in the industry, as it was the first confrontation between PR agencies in the political arena. The election ended with a historic landslide victory for the reigning LDP.
Media coverage of the election made much noise about the fact that the party's success was based on conducting what was dubbed, a "theatrical election campaign" and its keen focus on communicating with the voters on the simplest political issues. It is not known how much the PR agency contributed to the overall campaign communication strategies and the victory, but the party is very happy with the help it was given, and is still working with the agency.
These business and political trends contribute to the wider recognition of the role of PR in Japan and are expected to shape the industry in the short term. In October 2005, top five daily national paper Sankei Shimbun ran a front-page article with the headline: "Spot-Lights On: PR companies popular among job-seekers—Election PR leads to more new business opportunities". The article summarized the behind-the-scenes work carried out by PR firms in the election, and the resulting rise in public awareness of PR, as well as the increasing number of young college students who are targeting PR companies as their ideal employers.
These are exciting trends, but greater recognition and understanding of PR in the business world will be necessary before any substantial change takes place in the industry. It is now up to industry leaders to capitalise on the recent positive focus on public relations as a basis for more systematic engagement with Japanese business leaders. Weber Shandwick in Tokyo is among the leading PR agencies that are making efforts to tell Japanese companies how PR can offer solutions to their communications and business challenges.
The geo-political shift between the US and China, the public's heightened interest in the environment and energy, and the ongoing transformation of the Japanese social structure are among the important issues for PR consultancies to consider when engaging consumers and talking to existing or potential business partners. There are an abundance of communications opportunities and challenges for Japanese companies, and there is little doubt that there will be an interesting future for PR agencies that understand the peculiarities of Japanese corporations.
“If you want to do something, you'll find a way to get it done.” This is a saying often said by many, but can be a difficult one to follow. With such packed life schedules, “me-time” can become more and more elusive.
Andrew Pirie, president Asia Pacific of Weber Shandwick, is not unique in that he has an extremely tight schedule. With up to two weeks or more spent travelling each month, one would think that “me time” would be scarce for someone in his shoes, but as Orient found out, Andrew is a strong believer in taking time out and not letting your life revolve around work.
Andrew’s chill-out time is spent on the bike, treadmill and in the swimming pool, with training for triathlons just as high on Andrew’s list of priorities as making a 9:00am meeting.
An article about Andrew’s extra-curricular activities was recently published in The New Paper on Sunday in Singapore. The story covered some of Andrew’s achievements outside the office and how he embarked on such a journey. Click here to read the full article.
Andrew’s Top Training Spots:
 |
The Peak in Hong Kong |
|
Namsan (South Mountain) in Seoul |
|
The Domain in Sydney |
|
|
When asked about his motivation and dedication to training, he explained: “I’m a big believer in work/life balance. For me, it’s about spending time with my family and training for triathlons; for someone else it could be a hobby, or doing additional studying, or playing a team sport.
“Whatever it is, I think it’s important to make time for what is important to you and strike that balance,” he continued. Andrew believes that if you can make time for yourself outside of work, it will be beneficial inside the office as well, making you think clearer, stress less and perform at your peak.
So make time to do the things you love and you will reap the benefits. Who knows, when you’re on that early morning jog, you might just see Andrew cycling by.
 |
| The healthcare team in Frankfurt. |
Torsten Rothaermel talks to Orient about his team.
Frankfurt is known as the financial capital of Germany and the home of the European Central Bank, but the area is less well known as a centre for healthcare agencies and medical trade publishing houses.
Weber Shandwick in Germany quietly re-booted its healthcare practice in 2005 in Frankfurt, and has since grown from a one man show to a rather noisy practice with ten team members. Within a year the healthcare team had won several accounts, including key pharmaceutical clients such as Pfizer Germany.
Everyone finds it exciting to be part of such a fast-growing practice where they have to work as a team to take the next step, and everyone has an opportunity to put forward their own ideas about how the practice should develop.
As well as the office motto—“there is no working day without laughter”—practice managing director Torsten’s motto is “never, ever give up”. To test his commitment to this idea, we signed him up for the JPMorgan Corporate Chase Challenge, a business team run through the city of Frankfurt, even though he hates running.
We’ve also found ways of being healthy and working out while working hard: we sprint to the photocopier, elevators are out of the question, and if you spot someone speeding through Frankfurt to get salad for lunch, it’s likely to be one of us.
A breathtaking practice needs breathtaking methods, but with the apple wine you only find in Frankfurt, fun colleagues, and time to exhale in the bistros and coffee-shops near the office, we always have time to welcome visitors.
To learn more about our team in Frankfurt, please contact Torsten Rothaermel at trothaermel@webershandwick.com. |
Christina Rowe talks to Orient about her team.
Flanked by the serenity of Lake Ontario on one side and the bustling city on the other, Weber Shandwick's Toronto office is always buzzing with activity.
Our office is known and admired for its impressive consumer client roster featuring some of the world’s biggest brands including McDonald’s, The Home Depot, Johnson & Johnson and more.
Sandwiched between two energetic consumer teams is the busy healthcare practice whose team members are currently working on handling the media relations and accreditation for the World Congress on Osteoporosis. This is in addition to their regular work with pharma clients Novo Nordisk and Novartis. With the recent win of global tech client BEA systems, Toronto has a new offering, a growing technology practice.
In the news, the office has just this week welcomed a new general manager, recently won a slew of awards including two international IABC Awards, a local IABC award and a Health Care Public Relations Association Award and picked up some business with the Canadian Football League.
 |
| Weber Shandwick in Toronto has a kindergarten art day. |
Weber Shandwick in Toronto's staff certainly knows how to have a good time. In teams of five to six, staff members take turns organising a social event each quarter. Past events include a groovy 1970’s themed pop-culture session, a kindergarten art day and a lesson in making hand puppets. The quarterly events are a great way to take a break in the day and build staff camaraderie.
Despite everyone's hectic schedules, Weber Shandwick in Toronto staff members are a friendly and compassionate bunch. It's common to see team members from across accounts helping each other in times of need.
To learn more about our team in Toronto please contact Christina Rowe at crowe@webershandwick.com
|
 |
| The Bangalore Team (L-R): Saloni Arora, Kripa Williams, Anita Mathews, Teena Agarwal, Namrata Maheshwari and Shefali Kotnala. |
Melissa Arulappan talks to Orient about her team.
Lingerie, car shows and beer houses: Welcome to the colourful world of Corporate Voice | Weber Shandwick (CV|WS) in Bangalore.
CV|WS is Weber Shandwick’s affiliate agency in India with offices in Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi. Headquartered and established for twenty years, the Bangalore office is headed by vice president, Melissa Arulappan. The team in Bangalore is a diverse group and offer PR services for consumer, technology, and industrial clients. Their major clients include RCI (timeshare holidays); Scandent (an IT and BPO service provider); Finacle (a banking software product); and Progeon (a BPO company) both of whom are from the Infosys stable.
A recent “touchdown” for the team was their work at the prestigious Indian Auto Expo for client Mico (Bosch’s subsidiary in India). Melissa commented on her team’s achievements surrounding the event, “Mico deals with ‘less sexy’ auto products such as diesel injection pumps, spark plugs, auto filters, etcetera. It was a challenge to generate interest in Bosch’s participation at the expo when the focus of all attention was on fancy new cars and bikes….we developed a media strategy based on a ‘first to market’ concept and advised Mico to hold a media conference at their exhibition stall a day before the event inauguration. This resulted in a 60 percent share of voice in coverage of the event.”
One of the biggest challenges the team has faced was when they were asked to launch Enamor, a lingerie brand, in India. “Lingerie is not something that is talked about openly in Indian society,” said Melissa. “Even within the media, there were some publications that would not, as a policy, feature lingerie pictures.”
The team in Bangalore customised Enamor’s campaign to observe the cultural sensitivities that vary in each region of India. Despite the taboo subject, the campaign was a success for the Bangalore team.
The group likes to celebrate their achievements with “high calorie events,” says Melissa. If you swing by the famous pubs ‘Corner House’ or ‘Beer Sessions’ (Bangalore is know as the beer capital of India), you might bump into the Bangalore team kicking back.
“A great part about the team is their youthfulness—the average age is late twenties—and their enthusiasm. They are uninhibited and never too shy to say no!” said Melissa.
For more information contact Melissa Arulappan on melissa@corvoshandwick.co.in
|
|
