Creative strategy in medical communications

The medical communications (med comms) industry is critical in bridging the gap between new medical innovations, healthcare professionals (HCPs) and patients. Without it, HCPs would have less access to education regarding scientific advances that could transform patient care.

However, we are a long way from an optimal approach. An analysis by Veeva found that 20% more content was created throughout 2022 vs 2021, but 77% was rarely or never used in the field.

Furthermore, medical teams have often been siloed within the pharmaceutical industry, garnering a reputation that portrays them as highly scientific, reactive and lacking in creativity.

Times have changed and med comms doesn’t have to mean dry, clinical exchange – it should be slick and creative. Businesses increasingly regard medical affairs as a key strategic pillar. Industry trends show increasing collaboration between commercial and medical to deliver creative communication strategies. But why?

Rapidly evolving treatment landscapes and increasingly complex healthcare systems have led to an unprecedented transformation in educational needs. The advent of omnichannel capabilities has shifted emphasis to integrated and personalised physical, digital and immersive learning. With this comes a significant need to blend strategy and creativity to ensure content remains engaging while not creating fractured messaging or information.

Innovation and adaptability
Learning preferences among HCPs have changed over recent years, with interactive, digital and bite-sized education among the most favoured approaches.

The med comms industry is adapting to these changes by providing strategic solutions that fit seamlessly into demanding schedules and reinforce learning through creative, immersive channels. For example, Medscape provides HCPs with one of the largest online medical learning platforms featuring bite-sized modules personalised to user speciality and on-the-go accessibility. From a practical standpoint, the strategic blend of science and technology has provided HCPs with simulation training designed to replicate real-world clinical scenarios. This form of training is recommended in current clinical guidelines, including The European Guidelines for the Management of Major Bleeding.

Nonetheless, creative implementation of a strategy is not limited to big ideas and novel technology, but rather to finding original ways to address audience demands. While creativity often becomes a synonym for technology, the frequently lost definition of creativity is the ability to produce or use original and unusual ideas. In the rare disease field, where awareness is limited, conventional means of scientific exchange may be more appropriate for forging the foundations of optimal patient care. Although such approaches may appear less ‘creative’ at face value, deviating from the modern-day norm of digital solutions creates an original perspective on medical education. As originality forms the essence of creativity, we must understand the audience’s needs to demonstrate the broad spectrum of creativity.

Engaging diverse audiences in complex concepts
Intricacies around disease pathophysiology, drug mechanisms and clinical trial design/analysis form the backbone of medical affairs. As such, the med comms industry has been associated with dense, jargon-heavy content that is difficult to understand and does not engage audiences. However, this stereotype is not genuinely reflective. The art of effective med comms is the ability to distil complex concepts into digestible content that drives behaviour change. Creative execution of strategy ensures the right messages resonate with the right audience.

Strategic messaging and positioning must be coupled with creative delivery to maximise knowledge retention. Communication, through innovative storytelling and data visualisation, is widely believed to support greater engagement with audiences than lengthy materials littered with complex datasets. This applies to patients and HCPs alike. The narrative often differs in presentation and focus across these groups; however, data visualisation has proved powerful enough to engage at all levels simultaneously and globally. A good example is the ‘Flatten the Curve’ infographic used during the COVID-19 pandemic to translate extensive epidemiology and healthcare resource data into a simple visual that ultimately drove dramatic changes in public behaviour and healthcare policies.

Conclusion
Creative medical communications are not only critical for maximising knowledge retention, but are actively sought after across stakeholder groups. However, creative solutions can only reach and mobilise desired audiences with careful strategic foresight and positioning. Strategy, scientific integrity and creativity must form the foundations of med comms to meet the evolving demands of new audience generations, promote positive behaviour change and improve clinical care.

This thought leadership piece appeared in the November edition of PME. Read the full issue here.

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