In spite of the condition being the third most common cancer across the country, to date there’s been clear reluctance to focus the public spotlight on it. Be Clear on Cancer has of course been backed by leading charities, such as Beating Bowel Cancer and Bowel Cancer UK, both of which provide exceptional ongoing support to patients and their families.

The launch of the initiative has received extensive press interest but the way in which it’s been welcomed by the media is somewhat ironic. Despite the whole point of the campaign being to raise awareness of the symptoms of the condition, it seems a proportion of editors have shied away from the nitty gritty ‘below-the-belt’ symptoms and left key campaign messages out of their reporting. We do appreciate it’s not exactly what you want to hear blaring out of the radio during your morning ablutions or digest while eating your bowl of cornflakes. However the media are such a powerful communications vehicle, and in this day and age there must be a more palatable way in which to educate the public via these still important traditional routes so that we can talk more frankly and hinder the number of cases soaring?

There’s a raft of disease areas where Pharma, healthcare professionals and charities can really collaborate with the media and work together on the best means to communicate to the masses/stimulate discussion that suffer the same taboo, and each deserve the appropriate air time!

In the meantime, on behalf of all those supporting #BeClearOnCancer, the initial symptoms of bowel cancer include:

• blood in your stools
• a change to your normal bowel habits that persists for more than six weeks
• abdominal pain and/or unexplained weight loss

Embarrassed? Uncomfortable? You shouldn’t be.

Historically, it was the introduction of blockbuster drugs that put the western world at the forefront of the global pharmaceutical market, leading the way in innovation and research. Meanwhile, replicating generic versions of these drugs defined the pharma industry in the developing markets. Today however, the established markets are faced with record patent expirations, a lack of new generation blockbuster medicines despite investment in clinical trials, and ongoing regulatory challenges against an already challenging economic backdrop. In pharmerging markets, rapid growth has been principally generated by spending on generic drugs, contributing to the rise in the generic share of spending.

Success in LEDCs (less economically developed countries) has understandably tempted western companies to look further afield to tap into the opportunities within the generics market, with some companies already involved in full or partial takeover bids in these increasingly influential emerging markets. As well as allowing the integration of the western industry, these acquisitions will undoubtedly provide benefits for the drugmaker concerned, potentially creating a positive feedback loop within the developing economy and exposing important insights to inform global communications and marketing programmes.

Taking a closer look, the lack of breakthrough drugs may not be as much of a concern as it first appears. The expected shift towards personalised medicine could mean a diminishing reliance on the ‘one pill fits all’ model. Whilst the increasing availability of genetic information could also see the reappraisal of certain compounds that previously struggled economically in the blockbuster era. What is absolutely certain from these unfolding changes, is that the healthcare communications industry will play an ever more critical role in explaining these emerging opportunities to both patients and all concerned stakeholders, ultimately ensuring patient needs remain the priority and at the heart of all communications programmes.

According to Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Colour Institute®, “Tangerine Tango combines the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy”.

What does Tangerine Tango mean to you? A single colour has the ability to evoke all of the senses, creating a wealth of thoughts, feelings and visions in the mind of the viewer in seconds. Colour is therefore the mainstay of design across a range of industries, the pharmaceutical industry included.

Communication and marketing within the pharmaceutical industry is more important today than it has ever been and colour is an essential component of brand development and campaign identity.  Think pink and breast cancer immediately springs to mind; think blue think Viagra, and so on…  consider whether tranquil blue or fiery red represent a good night’s sleep and the answer is immediately obvious.

Consequently, pharmaceutical companies are continuing to invest in ever more daring design options to support and enhance their brands.  So, with over 13,500 PANTONE® colours to choose from, which will be critical to the pharmaceutical industry’s next blockbuster brand?  Tangerine Tango perhaps?

Source: www.Pantone.com

The Government’s response has been to fully accept the report’s suggestions, as many tie in with the general programme of reforms set out in the Health and Social Care Bill. However, much like many of the proposals we saw outlined in the Bill and put into practice over the past year, other groups have been less enthusiastic. For example, Dr Clare Gerada, chair of the RCGP, has voiced concerns at the lack of evidence base for public health proposals, and that questioning patients at every opportunity may even be detrimental to the patient/physician relationship.

This is the first report of what will likely be many throughout 2012 both supporting reform and condemning it in equal measure. But what changes within the NHS can be expected in the coming year? Here are a few points that the Virgo HEALTH team will be looking out for…

First and foremost, the Health and Social Care Bill will receive Royal Assent, with most proposals likely to be still intact. Even so, there are lingering questions over Andrew Lansley’s position within the Cabinet. Will he continue to serve as Secretary of State into 2013? In all likelihood, yes – but nothing is certain.
As the Government progresses with the reforms throughout 2012, we will see the further dismantlement of current NHS structures and consolidation of new bodies such as the NHS Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups in their place. However, there will continue to be plenty of debate over the composition and size of these groups, and the role traditional commissioners from PCT and SHA backgrounds can play in them. 2012 should therefore provide more answers as to the future these managers have within the new NHS.

The DH published figures at the end of December confirming that it was on track to deliver the savings required for the year 2011/12 as set out in the Budget, recording savings of £2.5 billion in the first 6 months of the efficiency challenge. Many argue that the easy cuts have been already been made, and that the NHS will be facing an increasingly difficult challenge to try and find further savings. We will see whether the figure of £6 billion for the year is achieved in the summer, and towards the end of the year, whether it is still on track to hit its final target.

Finally, ‘no decision about me, without me’ as an underpinning principle behind the reforms will begin to come to the fore. Can we expect to see patients taking more interest in their care, as more choice is provided, and information becomes available? Andrew Lansley has stated this week that ‘blacklisting’ of NHS drugs needs to be ended to stop the current ‘postcode lottery’, but also to avoid the threat of legal action from patients who know their rights.

We are sure you will be following developments in the NHS like us, during a year which will undoubtedly be crucial for the success of the reforms and economic future of the NHS.

Research has found that about 20 per cent of users return to an app after the first day they downloaded it but that the average app has a less than five per cent chance of being used for more than 30 days. Furthermore, around 20 per cent of the free apps available in the Android Market have not even clocked 100 downloads.

This is why creativity and engagement is key. Identifying a niche that will entertain, educate or ease the life of the consumer is vital to its success. But in this increasingly crowded marketplace, both creativity and engagement are crucial to differentiate and activate demand but it can come in different forms – from a quirky idea to impressive use of technology.

Take for example, the augmented reality (AR) app called Lungs designed to show smokers the damage caused by cigarettes. Users can control settings to reflect their own experience based on factors such as their age and how many cigarettes they smoke each day; these all impact on both the visual representation and ‘time taken for lungs to recover’ statistic.

Or how about the BeerGut Fitness app, the calorie check book that will assist you in avoiding the dreaded beer gut telling you whether you’ve earned a drink or need to exercise?

With NHS waiting lists growing daily and falling disposable income making private healthcare more unaffordable, combined with an increasingly informed patient base, the market is ripe for the countless new apps and devices actively targeting consumers keen on preventing, examining, improving and managing their health. So the question remains, is this a route more healthcare companies should be focusing in on in 2012?
In a world where audiences are publicly disclosing increasing amounts of personal information about their lives on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks, health apps are becoming more relevant and increasingly invaluable to companies wishing to have a social media presence. However, it is clear that without a healthy dose of engaging creativity many of these apps are destined to fall by the wayside.

* (Source: MobiHealthNews, September 2011).

The remedy? Step forward Simon Kelner, former editor of The Independent and now chief executive of the Journalism Foundation. The Foundation, which launched this week, was borne out of discussions between Kelner and his immediate boss, Evengy Lebedev (who along with his father, Alexander Lebedev, are financial backers of the organisation). The Journalism Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation aimed at supporting “free, fair and independent journalism” on a global basis.

The initial result from the foundation is the launch of two initiatives to show the scope of its work. The first involves practical training courses for journalists in Tunisia, teaching local journalists how to report in a free and open society. The second sees the Journalism Foundation supporting a local website in Stoke-on-Trent, in an attempt to increase interest in local politics and demonstrate how journalism can be built up from the grassroots through digital media.

Sir Max Hastings, former Daily Telegraph editor, has commented: “This is a time when bad and corrupt journalism is receiving extraordinary exposure in Britain, which makes the promotion of good, brave and campaigning journalism all the more important”. However, from a critical perspective, it’s hard not to ponder how much of an impact the Foundation will really have on public perception of the media in the short term. In our opinion, it is rather premature to be pushing for positive promotion of the media, before the root of corrupt journalism has yet to be completely resolved. Only time will tell…

So are charities needing to become more creative in how they attract donations? Certainly, the recent collaboration between Dulux and UNICEF, which invited people to own a colour, is a brilliant example of a fresh and more importantly engaging approach to fundraising which we mentioned in a recent blog.

In a bid to make it easy for people to donate, we are seeing more and more charities turning to social media sites which can be linked directly to sponsorship platforms such as JustGiving, which help supporters to collect funds and eliminate the hassle of filling out sponsor forms.  In fact, this has helped 13 million people raise over £930 million for more than 12000 charities since 2001. Unsurprisingly, Facebook and Twitter have been most successful in driving these donations – in September 2011 it was reported that over 27% of all JustGiving’s on line donations were driven directly through Facebook and the highest value donations were received through Twitter.

So the question is in tough times are charities the first to suffer or is creativity and engagement the key to success? Well, last month’s high profile ‘Children in Need’ campaign seems to refute this having raised a record-breaking £26 million.  The question is was it the content that drove the rise in donations or was it the integration of donations via social media and texting alongside the traditional that broadened the scope and made it all so much easier to give.  ‘Meaningful’, multi-channel, or a combination of both, is that the way to improve charities fortunes?

Other industries that have recently come under similar scrutiny include the media and financial sectors. The current Leveson inquiry is examining journalistic practice and story sourcing and the roles of the media and police in the wake of the phone hacking scandal. The inquiry hopes to investigate the nature of contacts between the press and politicians and the press and the police. It is certainly clear that the regulatory regime for media conduct has fallen short at times but the extent of this failure is yet to be fully determined.

Whilst questions abound of the extent and scope of independent Vs self regulation, the pharma industry is forging ahead with clear and transparent practices and ethics set out and robust frameworks for interactions with healthcare professionals, leading experts and government officials put in place. With the ethics of the British media and financial worlds currently under question, it may be time for other industries to step up to the mark pharma has set?

Back in July we blogged on the launch of Google+. We highlighted how it could offer an opportunity to reconsider how we share our lives online and offer the potential to take a different path altogether. Since then the social network has opened up to the masses and only last week rolled out company pages across the social network . To this end, any business, group or entity can create a profile. Sound familiar?

Skepticism aside (for now), we’ve been reassured that the site offers some new “unique features” thereby enticing company presence. Save the Children, BBC News, the Daily Mail (and good old Madge!) are some that have already delved in and among the first to create profiles. In this light, what does this mean for brand’s social media strategies? Do they need to expand and integrate all things Google within their programmes or can they choose to ignore, but at risk of missing an increasingly influential trick?

Over the coming months, it’ll be interesting to see if there’s collective movement across industries from key competitors, such as Facebook, or if marketing leads will allow brands to co-exist and evolve across an increasing number of channels.

Google’s global conquest is well underway but with a proportion of companies (pharma especially) only just getting into the swing of things with pre-existing social networks such as Facebook, are we ready to take on a full-blown affair with +1? Discuss…

We’ve blogged before on why regional papers are important, both in terms of health communications and beyond. Dialogue with these audiences is as important as any other.