Excellence in Communicating and Using Data

Summary of work

In a crowded field it can be hard to cut through the noise. Congress data is no exception. Scientific developments have remained impenetrable to all but the experts – abstracts are complex, difficult to access and lacking context, making it hard to resonate with journalists. Finding relevance for data became even harder during the global pandemic. With COVID-19 taking priority coverage, Novartis’ Immunology, Hepatology & Dermatology Franchise wasn’t the top focus for journalists, but as a Novartis/Golin partnership, we needed to find a way to set Novartis apart from its competition and a fresh way to reach our audience.

Based on robust analysis and insight, we created the first ever Novartis Plain Language Media Summaries (PLMS), an accessible and engaging format driven by our comms team, creative specialists and scientific experts that broke data down into bite-size chunks, replaced jargon with everyday language, removing barriers to engagement with our story. The PLMS helped facilitate media coverage, with the result that patients and healthcare providers became more informed and educated about the latest developments in the field. The results speak for themselves – over twelve times higher engagement than average on Novartis.com, broader media coverage, organisational change within Novartis and recognition from peers.

Judges' comments

Novartis Plain Language had solid results for such a small budget. The information was very much about page views and impressions, which were strong. There was good tactical execution throughout and it had effective use of data driven insights. Overall, it was a simple strategy, with good results and well-articulated.