PR case study- Beyond media relations (Novartis)

Novartis Institute of tropical diseases
www.nitd.novartis.com/


The dengue epidemic is headlining all the dailies and news station for weeks now. it has reached somewhat of an alarming level. Not since SARS have we seen the MOH, NEA and the government taking such rigorous measures to contain the disease which seem to be worsening by the day.

Public education of prevention and treatment is also at its all-time high. I even see photocopies of news articles pasted all over my residential compound reminding us to take special care to prevent the breeding of the darned mozzies. I've received a rather thick package of what i believe (i kinda threw it away without reading) to be similar information in my mailbox sent out by the NEA, there are TVCs, radio announcements, and all forms of public disbursments related to this problem.

If you had bothered to read beyond skimming through the news, you'd have noticed that everytime an expert opinion is sought and quoted, besides the spokesmen for the authorities, the 'dengue experts' tend to be from the Novartis Institute of tropical diseases.

Set up as a public-private partnership with EDB, the NITD focuses on finding new drugs for tropical diseases and have set their sights on dengue and tuberculosis research. so far, they have some publications to show for its efforts, although there hasn't been any significant breakthroughs yet, it is said that a vaccine is on the horizon.

well, if there is a company i would like to be employed with right now, its got to be Novartis. i mean, who wouldn't like to be associated with a hero? I'm sure that when it planned the NITD as a corporate citizenship project, building a positive company image was a top priority.

With all the bad rep that pharma worldwide is getting, it does make perfect sense to portray oneself as a 'caring', 'give-back-to-the-society' pharma. it is a definitive differentiating factor across the industry. although most other companies have tried to employ such tactics, it is often too contrived and consumers are apt at detecting hypocrisy.

so what you may ask? that's a global initiative, not that it would have any bearings on the local business side of things. but i beg to differ. positive consumer sentiments is not easy to achieve. it may be opportunistic PR, but the amazing goodwill that has been generated is not to be scoffed at. as of now, almost every singaporean (who reads the news- i know plenty in pharma that don't!) will know of Novartis as the company that invests heavily into R&D and are experts on diseases that matters in this part of the world, and this could include doctors who may prescribe other novartis' products.

thing is, the NITD has now become a leading authority on dengue and would have the ability to influence policy making pertaining to the disease. and if a vaccine should avail some time soon, NITD would have scored on both commercial and PR fronts!

Most local pharmas engage PR agencies as part of their marketing campaigns (tends to be brand specific) and usually requests for as much media hits as possible. this forms the bread and butter of the firms and they are quite able to deliver on it. however, if i am going to be spend a good portion of my a&p in PR, i would write my own press releases to maximise my budget and exploit their competence to consult them beyond media relations (what is it? i may blog but i don't give out free advise!) PR now has evolved beyond the media to become an essential business tool, its about time pharma evolves from its old-skool form of marketing too.