Introducing pharma perspectives

The challenges facing healthcare marketers today are as broad and complex as ever, accordingly the role that effective and efficient communications play in this marketing challenge has never been more critical. 

For communication to be at its most effective, all parties involved in its conception and broadcast need to pull together, ease the path for each other and ultimately share the same goals. 

While the challenges we collectively face in healthcare marketing are constantly and rapidly in flux, what is never in doubt is that a combination of the best thinking from both industry and agency will always yield the best results. Given that there is a manifold increase in pressures from the market and other external factors each year, it makes more and more sense for all parties to work seamlessly together to conquer them and remove any barriers that may appear in the path towards collaboration and alignment. 

This need for industry executives and agency staff to work in harmony to conquer the emerging healthcare challenges is what sits behind 'Pharma Perspectives', the Healthcare Communications Council's (HCC) new collaboration with PME magazine from PMLiVE publishers PMGroup.

Pharma perspectives
Beginning in the July/August issue of PME - and subsequently posted on PMLiVE - leading industry figures and senior agency names from across the European pharma landscape will discuss a critical topic impacting the healthcare marketing and communications field. They will highlight their own particular views and considerations drawing out areas of commonality between the two parties - those crucial sweet spots where the two parties can work together to help magnify a competitive advantage.

Undoubtedly the quarterly head-to-head interviews will also draw out some key areas of difference, where each party has a different view on a topic or a different requirement from the same marketing or business challenge. Such differences will also prove highly valuable for all marketers - from either side of the table - allowing as they will, richer and more meaningful discussion on how these differences can be overcome or minimised to avoid them needlessly getting in the way of the most effective and successful marketing outcome.

But the series of articles will also help bring together these two important parties in successful communications outcomes, and assist each one in fully understanding the similar, and different, perspectives of the other.

What matters to you?
To get things up and running we have identified a number of areas to explore in the first instalments of the series:

• The value of a great creative: How do agency and industry leaders recognise and value it, and is the current commercial model used to pay for great creative ideas the right one?
• The future of the 'pitch': Is there a better model to identify the perfect partner? Understanding the role of the procurement process. What is the ideal model of collaboration for marketing departments, procurement teams and agencies?
• Identifying and promoting future talent: How can all parties work together to attract and retain the brightest talent to take healthcare marcoms forward?

We welcome thoughts from readers on topics to explore in this important new series and collaboration and you can send your ideas to editor@pmlive.com.