Does your brand plan include integrated communication planning? 🖇️
“Integrated communication planning” is a phrase we use a lot in pharma. But what we often see is that messages being conveyed through different channels fail to integrate and create a single brand persona or image that correlates with a real-world patient.
Integrated communication planning is not about doing everything everywhere. It is about making sure that every interaction—across medical and commercial—sounds like it came from the same brain.
So let us see what it actually looks like, with a simple antibiotic example.
Imagine a new ICU antibiotic for suspected or confirmed MDR Gram-negative infections.
What happens when communication is not integrated?
🟣 Reps talk about the minimum inhibitory concentration
🟣 MSL talks about the mechanism of action
🟣 CMEs focus on resistance trends
🟣 Congress booths highlight efficacy endpoints of the drug
All messages are correct, but fail to create a patient profile that can be associated with the brand
🪢True integration starts with one core clinical message: Early empirical therapy for ICU patients with suspected or confirmed MDR Gram-negative infections and planned de-escalation
How the same story connects across touchpoints when the communication is integrated:
👨💼Sales rep: In which patients should this antibiotic be used empirically, and how to de-escalate
👩🏻🏫 MSL communication: Results of empirical use of the antibiotic in trials of high-risk ICU patients with suspected/confirmed MDR Gram-negative infections. (This should include objective baseline data that can help clinical decision-making)
🗣️ CME flow: Trends of MDR Gram-negative infections in high-risk ICU patients, outcomes of early empirical coverage with the new antibiotic, comparative data with other antibiotics for the same indication, and protocol for stewardship-led assessment and de-escalation
📰 Newsletter: Recent data of MDR Gram-negative infections in high-risk ICU patients, updated guidelines, decision points for reassessment and de-escalation, updated resistance surveillance data, practical considerations for empiric decision-making etc.
📱 Digital medical content: Short real-world case scenarios, algorithms for empiric therapy, and de-escalation
🏟️Congress booths/symposia: Trial data in high-risk ICU subgroups, real-world experience, stewardship outcomes, and how early appropriate therapy influenced clinical endpoints
Integrated communication planning means that all communication related to a brand sounds as if it belongs to the same clinical conversation and creates a patient’s image in the mind. And this needs to be a part of the brand plan itself.
MedicoMindsPro 