A year of Delivering Differently

We can’t really claim that a review blog in March is “delivering differently”, but this isn’t what you think it is.

This isn’t a recap of how the pandemic proved the power of working remotely.

This isn’t a canter through a year of PR and press releases.

This isn’t intended to be an exhaustive list of our work in 2021. Instead, here we are shining a spotlight on the furthest reaches of our Collective, and how the breadth and depth of our healthcare communications experts are helping our clients make a real Difference.

Charitable wellbeing

For Macmillan, one of the UK’s largest health charities, we’ve been mining trends and innovating to help them bring their fundraising efforts into the realm of health and wellbeing.

The client told us that: “Choosing to harness the collective minds of The Difference Collective has enabled us to understand where to play and how to win in a complex landscape, leaving us with rich insights and genuinely exciting ways to generate vital new income. I would go so far as to say it has been transformative.”

Embedding health literacy

One of the top pharma companies trusted us with bringing health literacy to their marketing teams, followed up with further global training activity. A monumental effort, completed in just a matter of months, led to a sea change in understanding amongst internal teams. A co-created, bespoke health literacy framework means the business is now truly patient-centric in its content development. Training improved knowledge of health literacy principles by 33% from an already decent baseline.

Our client told us: “The team’s passion for and expertise in health literacy is remarkable. In addition, they bring to the table industry expertise, project management, omnichannel digital skills, as well as copywriting and design capabilities that make implementation much more effective and efficient. The team has excellent project managers who have helped us stay on track and kept us updated about the spend and expert availability.”

Maria Potter, one of the project leads, comments: “This was a truly transformative project. Our success came from blending insight with empathy. We have the specialists who grasp the deep science behind health literacy, and we have the insight and creativity to support marketing teams to harness new possibilities.”

If you’re keen to learn more about health literacy, its importance and how to embed it in your communications, one of this project’s experts, Sally Snow, has written this blog on the subject.

Communiqué recognises The Difference Collective’s work during Testing Times

Supporting a brand new 28 site COVID-19 testing programme would be daunting enough, but the pressure was really on when the client was AstraZeneca, one of the heroes of the pandemic. Supporting the internal team meant agility from the outset and led to a range of online and offline communications resources. These more than doubled employee uptake of PCRs in six months, and so impressed the Communique judges it made them proud to work in comms.

Julie Saunders, the Difference member behind this hive of activity, says: “We had a lot to do in a short period of time. What counted was our flexibility and a close partnership with our client, which meant we could deliver employee education on a grand scale and in the most pressurised circumstances.”

The past, present and future of cancer

Staying deep in the science, we helped another of the globe’s biggest pharmaceutical companies to find a coherent path for a growing oncology portfolio. A subtle, nuanced and occasionally head-scratching project but full of creative problem-solving. At times it resembled what Sherlock Holmes would call: ‘quite a three pipe problem.’ The end result was a fully interactive messaging platform weaving together three brands, as well as the heritage and future of a previously under-served form of cancer.

Revolutionary acts with Maxwellia

We couldn’t end without a little PR about PR. In a world of similarity, we’ve been working with a one-off: Maxwellia. Maxwellia is an independent pharmaceutical company, dedicated to widening access to medicines through prescription to pharmacy switching and driving a shift to self-care.

The launch of their oral contraceptive, Lovima, dominated headlines thanks to the combined efforts of a dynamic The Difference Collective team.

We’ll give the last word to Maxwellia’s inspirational founder and CEO, Anna Maxwell: “The Difference Collective represents brilliance. They are an exceptional strategic partner that we trust 100% to help guide and push the boundaries in healthcare communications. Their meticulous strategic planning, impactful tactical recommendations, exquisite attention to detail and financial control have delivered outstanding results.”

All in a day’s year’s work.