A POW-erful Connection

From the Session:
Real Human Connection – A Healthcare Marketer’s New Superpower

Presenters:

Chemelle Evans, Vice President, Snow Companies – Moderator

Eric Cline, Director Marketing, US Neuroscience Business Unit, Shire

Dakar De La Cruz, Senior Brand Manager, Epilepsy Patients Initiatives, UCB

Lise Hall, Associate Director of Consumer Marketing, Lung Cancer Franchise, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals

In today’s world, it feels like everything and everybody is “social” and “connected.” But what does “being connected” mean when it comes to healthcare?

It means something POW-erful, says Eric Cline, Director Marketing, US Neuroscience Business Unit, Shire. “Time often prevents a healthcare provider from building empathy with a patient and that can lead to a more transactional process and missed opportunities for patients to express themselves.”

Shire nurtures that human connection by bringing patient ambassadors on board at the right time and right place. “These are champions for the misunderstood, and we hear their voices,” Cline says.

Dakar De La Cruz, Senior Brand Manager, Epilepsy Patients Initiatives, UCB, explains how initiatives often include patient participation. “It’s a level of authenticity. And it’s unique, in that it’s not so much about a marketing campaign but it’s about real patients, real stories, actual experiences, and actual results with our products.”

In addition to giving patients a voice, De La Cruz describes how connecting with patients also encourages the sales force — giving them a higher level of passion and an admirable reason to take pride in what they do.

We started a community in December 2015 and in less than a year, we’re more than 100,000-strong…”

No discussion of super-powered connections would be complete without clicking into Facebook. Here’s a success story shared by Lise Hall, Associate Director of Consumer Marketing, Lung Cancer Franchise, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. “We found that people with lung cancer need a way to connect, and what better way than Facebook? We started a community in December 2015 and in less than a year, we’re more than 100,000-strong. That speaks to a strong need.”

The ways for a pharma company to connect with patients are innumerable — and when done with compassion and empathy, the results can be super.