How It Works The Streams
Healthcare Marketing
Coralie Young
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE, Ketchum Pleon
What attracted you to Accelerate?
I was interested in marketing, but didn’t know a great deal about the different disciplines involved. Accelerate seemed like a great opportunity to experience them all, and decide what I was most suited to.
What stream were you on and what companies did you work for?
I was on the healthcare stream and went to Adelphi, RAPP, TBWA/Paling Walters, Ketchum Pleon and Hall and Partners.
What’s the most important think you’ve learnt through being on the programme?
The importance of being flexible and adapting to change, quickly.
What is the best bit about being on the programme?
The opportunity to work with so many different clients, and experience so much of the marketing industry in such a short period of time.
What’s the hardest thing about being on the programme?
Moving on every three months gets very tough – you’ve just settled in and feel like you really know what you’re doing, and it’s time to move on!
Where are you now and how did you get there?
I took a couple of months off to travel when I finished the programme, and then started full time at Ketchum Pleon as a Senior Account Executive.
What piece of advice would you give someone applying to Accelerate?
Don’t go in with a set idea of which stream you would like to be on. Almost everyone comes in thinking they want to do brand – as it’s the area everyone is most familiar with, but all of the streams offer great possibilities.
Please give an example of something you’ve done that you never would have the opportunity to do if you hadn’t been on the programme.
Lots of examples spring to mind – but probably running an international film script writing competition, working with a well known tv director, watching the filming, and attending the film premier, probably stands out as the highlight!
What brands have you worked on?
Lipitor, Viagra, Go Ahead, Astellas Corporate, Cervarix (the cervical cancer vaccine), Avastin.
Describe yourself in 3 words.
Enthusiastic, curious, Northern.
Describe in 3 words what we look for in an Accelerate graduate .
Confidence, spark, ability.
In the fast moving consumer world (think moisturiser or washing up liquid) brands can go from being just an idea, to being on the shelf in a matter of months. In healthcare it can take up to 8 years to launch a brand, which costs pharmaceutical companies millions and requires the integration of many individuals (from the scientists who develop the initial compound, to the representatives who market the drug to physicians). It demands the support of a wide spectrum of agency expertise and the Health stream will expose you to several of the key disciplines required to make that long journey successful: from understanding the market (what’s it really like for patients on chemotherapy) in order to identify how can the next breast cancer drug can make a real difference to patients’ lives, to building better conversations with patients and physicians that really brings that “difference” to life.
Getting a drug to market generally takes at least 8 years and for every successful drug launched, thousands fall by the wayside. For any pharmaceutical company, to ensure success for its products, it is essential that there is an in-depth understanding of the marketplace. The Adelphi Group specialises in global strategic marketing research, disease and market understanding, medical education, events, digital media solutions and health economics.
Part of a leading worldwide direct marketing group, Rapp Healthcare create and maintain one-to-one relationships between consumers and brands. Working on projects for global pharmaceutical companies like Novartis and Pfizer, you will be involved in developing your clients’ relationships with their current and potential customers through direct contact media.
TBWA Paling Walters believe that great communication and branding is not about selling, but about engaging customers in a meaningful and emotive way, ensuring that they want to buy their clients’ brands. This drives TBWA Paling Walters’ search for unique disruptive strategies and the delivery of integrated creative excellence.
Ketchum Pleon is one of the world’s leading public relations agencies. Originally founded in 1923 in Pittsburgh USA. Ketchum now has 52 offices across the world. Ketchum Pleon is an award winning fully serviced communications agency specialising in Healthcare public relations & Medical Education. With more than 50 healthcare communications specialists, Ketchum Pleon offers a wealth of knowledge and experience to drive successful education and awareness campaigns.
Hall & Partners are a market research company specialising in brand and communication research. They research the impact of the communication a brand gives out on consumers, and offer all types of research (qual, quant, local, international, consumer and healthcare) to help understand brand and advertising issues.