McCann Health hosted a lively roundtable debate on the future of pharma branding at the Cannes Lions Health 2015. Working with Campaign and moderated by Medical Marketing & Media; GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca and health scoring company Dacadoo joined McCann Health to look at the challenges around delivering creativity and effectiveness in advertising and marketing.
The report outlines that, operating in one of the most highly regulated sectors; global pharmaceutical companies and their agencies face diverse, emerging challenges that vary by market.
The roundtable discussion brought out some key issues in pharma marketing:
- The lack of effective communications and the need to reach out to a broad range of stakeholders
- The need for greater patient-centricity as a vital component of brand strategy
- Understanding the impact of technology
- Leveraging brands as assets
“We have been looking at what constitutes a brand in pharmaceuticals and identified ‘user experience’ as a fertile ground for novel ways to build pharma brands for patients, as these brands can play meaningful roles in people’s lives”
– John Cahill, Global chief executive officer, McCann Health
Two videos were also published with Campaign, looking at how technology is changing the pharmaceutical industry and patient centricity.