Pharma and medical device companies are consistently faced with navigating bureaucratic hurdles and vested interests when introducing innovation. Practice is usually well established, and change is hard. To create the most compelling clinical and cost-benefit arguments, the quickest and most comprehensive answers come by ‘bringing the outside in’ and treating the problem as a ‘hack’; a sprint to redefine and solve the problem in, and on, the terms of the target audience.
Understanding the Landscape
Tackling healthcare challenges commences with a meticulous mapping of the terrain. By including the full spectrum of key stakeholders; providers, policymakers, patients, and advocacy groups, each with a distinct perspective, interest, and sphere of influence, we quickly find the harsh truths and operational realities, not always immediately apparent.
Hacking the System
Challenging the same group to then hack the clinical and institutional issues, gets us to the smartest and quickest way to integrate a client’s proposition into the healthcare setting.
Armed with a comprehensive understanding of the stakeholder landscape, and the subsequent steps involved in hacking into the system gives some reassurance that marketing and communications investment will be spent in the right place.
Building Bridges
Making the time and effort to facilitate collaboration, and identify common ground, not only amplifies the credibility and legitimacy of advocacy efforts but also maximises the probability of a sustainable, long-term solutions. And in all the strategy and commercial talk there is one voice that should not be forgotten – the patient. Ignore them at your peril. The patient voice is as critical as any other stakeholder, so we take the time to listen.
Meeting and listening to collaborators will not only set you apart as an organisation, but it will also give your go to market strategy the best possible chance of succeeding, but also the least chance of failing.
How to Hack
The process of solving a problem isn’t always linear and no problem is ever the same. Hacking a problem isn’t an advisory board or a Q&A. It’s a workshop or series of workshops that first listen, then prioritise, then solve problems.
If you’ve a category or specific marketing or healthcare communications problem that might benefit from fresh insight and a new dynamic approach to setting an agenda for, get in touch and let’s get the ball rolling.
