Sharing insights

Marketing Insights for NHS Decision Makers is an innovative example of industry applying expertise to benefit clinicians and managers in today's NHS. Say Communications translated Janssen-Cilag's marketing 'know-how' into an education programme for foundation trusts (FTs) and others. This provided Janssen-Cilag with a platform to engage NHS executives at a time when an understanding of strategic marketing is becoming essential for trusts to survive and thrive. The result was the cultivating and cascading of marketing expertise to managers and clinicians, the opening of new opportunities for pharma to engage and the successful positioning of our client as a 'trusted adviser'.

The programme sought to engage NHS decision makers

Challenge
Patient choice, contestability and a tougher financial climate have changed the face of the NHS. FTs now have the freedom to retain surpluses and reinvest according to their needs, effectively acting as commercial organisations. Managers and clinicians require a new set of skills to navigate in this competitive environment and deliver improved patient outcomes.

Janssen-Cilag identified this gap in professional knowledge as a novel opportunity to engage NHS decision makers with an education programme. Key challenges were to deliver relevant marketing knowledge to clinicians and managers within mental health Trusts (with built-in flexibility to work across other therapy areas at a later stage) while creating opportunities for the Janssen team to engage Trusts at senior levels.

Solution
Say Communications developed the title Marketing Insights for NHS Decision Makers to give Janssen-Cilag a neutral medium that was adaptable across any therapy area, and which could be tailored to different audiences. Universal marketing principles were then adapted from the client's own marketing framework to help develop the core educational content.

These were adapted to the needs and language of FTs using classic brand case studies. They were then piloted with two leading mental health FTs. Using these insights, Say Communications finalised the programme, which comprised four workshops covering 10 strategic marketing steps. The series was underpinned by a template to help Trusts build their own marketing plan.

Results
Since the rollout in 2008, 20 Trusts have approached the client to participate in the programme. To date, this has resulted in 24 hours of quality client contact time with board-level executives. As a result of the programme, Janssen-Cilag's healthcare development team has built new relationships with primary care, voluntary, educational and advocacy organisations. The programme has also opened up many opportunities for the development team to engage with Trust staff at senior and front line levels.

Trusts that participated in the programme have already begun to adopt new approaches to marketing. The programme continues to provide the client with a flexible medium that can work across multiple audiences.

Client verdict
"This is pioneering professional education in action and those organisations who have taken it up loved it. For participating organisations it provides a practical framework to build their marketing capacity and manage competitive pressures. For us it has generated significant volumes of high quality contact time with some of the most influential decision makers in the NHS. As we leave behind the era of traditional sales detailing, this project demonstrates the value of non-clinical education programmes when engaging with today's NHS."
Healthcare development manager for mental health, Janssen-Cilag.

PMEA 2010
Marketing Insights for NHS Decision Makers by Janssen-Cilag, in association with Say Communications, is a finalist in the PMEA 2010. A full list of finalists is available in the Awards section of PMLiVE.
 

Case study details

Client: Janssen-Cilag
Agency: Say Communications
Campaign: Marketing Insights for NHS Decision Makers
Timescale: Throughout 2008