#023 · 19 May 2024

Happy sunny Sunday POPhealth readers,

It’s currently 7:20am, I have a wash load on and everyone else is in the house still dozing. Peace and quiet here, so what better time for me to wrap up this week’s edition? I say wrap up, as I’ve spent every spare moment in the evenings this week getting the items in the newsletter prepped. It’s the best way to manage this little corner of my life amidst everything else.

I’m telling you this because I posted something on LinkedIn on Friday, and it seems to have struck a chord with a lot of people. You see, from the outside raising two kids, having a career, maintaining an active social life (ha), and making time to write, it looks like I’m a person that has my sh*t together.

It’s a lie. 

And, this is what I told a friend who texted me, looking for some honest life advice. They are planning to have children and struggling to figure it all out. Career prospects with kids. Finances. Work/life balance. And yet, when they look around, they just see a bunch of people with their sh*t together.

Yes, there are great days. Yes, there are fine days. But there are enough days that are not OK and downright sh*t for it to be too much. Days where the mask has to come off, and you have to acknowledge it.

I had one of these days this week. My husband is away on an intensive training course for a couple of weeks, so I’m pulling a double shift on the parenting front while working. I have to be away from the office for childcare reasons, which sucks and is totally isolating. I’ve had a phone call every day about my son’s behaviour in school. I got pulled away from a F2F client meeting on Thursday to pick up both of my children. My littlest was sick (and still is). My eldest (who’s only 6 and waiting for a CAHMS assessment) was suspended from school. I cried in the car on the way to pick them up. And once I got everyone home and settled and back to my desk. I told my manager it was too hard.

Saying it out loud helps me. You can’t keep that mask up all the time. 

Today marks the final day of Mental Health Awareness Week 2024 in the UK. If you need a bit of extra help this week or any time of the year, you can find some resources here.

OK that was heavy. I hope that sharing my story helps lifts the burden for someone else.

On a lighter note, shall we dive into this week’s issue?

You better…

Wear the damn shorts

Sweaty Betty is back this spring with the next iteration of its “Wear the damn shorts” campaign which launched last summer. In this latest film, women emotionally share their body hang-ups and look for strength in each other to own their body inhibitions.

Creatively, the film execution is a pretty standard affair, as case study films go. But as part of the wider campaign, it’s an activity that builds another dimension in what Sweaty Betty is trying to achieve. Last summer, the brand caught our attention through poetic words, a quirky delivery, with a bit of oomph and a killer tagline. Empowering stuff. I’m here for it. 

But 9 months on what’s that tagline doing? Instead of the brand telling you, its community is. Sweaty Betty built its business on social media. Its growth comes from the strength of its loyal community and the quality content it proudly shares. Using their voices to tell others to just wear the damn shorts is the right next step in the campaign's evolution. It twists the narrative from tackling body shaming stigma at the brand level to putting it in the hands of women to own their marks, scars, shape and age. Together. Side by side. Thigh by thigh.

How often do we see that brief about tackling misconceptions and stigma associated with a specific condition in healthcare? (hint: its a lot). And I think there is a lesson or two here in Sweaty Betty’s approach. First off, if we’re telling a patient to own stigma, perhaps we should think about who is delivering that message. Is it the brand? Or would patients be better placed to deliver positivity and confidence? Or maybe even a poet? 

Next, have you thought about the campaign tagline. A clear message can be creative or frame a negative  idea in a new way to get to the matter in hand. For Sweaty Betty wear the damn shorts has a clear message about body confidence.

Iconic moves happening over at McDonald’s. The brand has removed the smile from its Happy Meal boxes for the first time, to let kids know that it’s ok if they don’t feel like smiling and help families start conversations about mental health. The stunt is to mark Mental Health Awareness Week (13 - 19 May) in partnership with the BBC Children in Need. Props to the teams over at Ready 10 and Leo Burnett.

🤩 Celeb Spot 🤩

A Caregiver is Born

Hollywood star Bradley Cooper, known for his roles in The Hangover, Guardians of the Galaxy and A Star is Born, is swapping the spotlight to produce a new documentary for PBS; Caregiving. 

Currently in production and is expected to be released in 2025, the documentary will explore systemic issues within the US care system, and the personal toll on people who provide unpaid care for loved ones.

Drawing from his own experience after his father was diagnosed with cancer, Cooper told The Hollywood Reporter:

Until you’re thrown into the world of caregiving, it’s not something people give much thought to. However, perhaps we should, because in the West, the care system is broken. Extortionate costs making it inaccessible for many, inadequate state-funded care with decreasing quality. And the families left to support loved ones face burnout, limited resources, and financial worries, impacting their ability to care.

Caregivers are left behind in society and need this type of celeb-endorsed, high-profile documentary to raise awareness and advocate for changes to the system. And to any healthcare brands and providers  it’s crucial to not only join the conversation but implement urgent changes to support this often-overlooked audience in health.

You can watch the film preview below:

“The relief we can generate can create an emotional connection with a brand that is far beyond any other industry. The only thing is that we have been our worst enemy.” Alberto Hernandez, chief growth officer at Sanofi Consumer Healthcare, talks to the Drum about embracing creativity.

Pfizer for All

Cutting out the middle man

Pfizer is the latest pharmaceutical brand to announce a direct-to-consumer (DTC) medicines platform. According to a Financial Times (FT) article, the drug maker filed a trademark application in mid-April for a website and app providing medical information, mail-order pharmacy, and telehealth services to patients in the US under the brand Pfizer for All.

The FT speculates (via inside sources) that Pfizer plans to offer its Covid antiviral, Covid and flu diagnostic kit and migraine medications through the platform. However, Pfizer isn’t the first. Lilly launched its DTC service, LillyDirect, in January 2024. Dubbed a ‘digital healthcare experience’ its service caters to patients in the US living with obesity, migraine and diabetes.

Let’s put the business growth aspect aside for now because the potential is clear, and let’s dive into what else this means - from both a brand and patient experience perspective.

Perhaps I’m stating the obvious, but the role of brand in medicine is becoming increasingly important. In the US, consumers tend to be more brand-conscious with healthcare due to the private system. Your brand becomes the decision of the person living with a condition, not just the recommendation of a healthcare provider. Everything the brand does to manage its reputation, the way it relates to people, and how it differentiates itself matters in the moment they choose to buy direct. 

What I’m excited about, though, is this - patient-centricity. So many briefs landing on my desk say: we need a patient-centric approach to this campaign. And herein lies the problem. Patient centricity does not start and end with a campaign. It’s every touchpoint that person (not patient) has with your brand. With the complexity of the US healthcare system, this is often outside of a healthcare brand's control. So, a DTC approach gives control of the customer journey back to pharma brands.

I’m going to keep a close eye on what transpires here. I’m expecting to see more than a sale. If people are coming to you for their medicine, what else are you bringing to the table in terms of wraparound care, disease management and support?

According to a recent GWI on the dot newsletter, healthcare workers are one of the groups adopting ChatGPT the fastest, with its user base among dentists, doctors, and vets all shooting up in less than a year. And if this is a natural behaviour of HCPs, maybe it is time to dream up that branded AI assistant for your next round of tactics!

Safeguarding children

Or political proxy?

You may have heard about the UK Conservative Party's plans to ban sex education and relationship lessons for children under nine in England. In brief, the revised guidance outlines what topics could be taught to specific age groups, allows parents access to teaching materials, and restricts how teachers address gender identity and sexuality.

Many of us can see this polarising play by the government for what it is, and this Guardian article - Curbs on sex education use pupils as ‘political football’, school leaders say - speaks volumes.

Have you given the proposal much thought? I turned to my favourite child psychologist, Dr Martha, who shared a compelling, science-based response over on Instagram. Her insights might be helpful in understanding ther potential implications of these changes for children’s development and wellbeing. 

dr.martha.psychologist

View more on Instagram

Props to my old team at MadeBrave for their superb disease awareness-raising stunt to mark World IBD Day (today). Affecting over half a million people in the UK, Inflammatory Bowel Disease remains a stigmatised. With many suffering behind closed doors. The attention-grabbing out-of-home collaboration with the Catherine McEwan Foundation features a world-first, billboard-sized QR code made from toilet roll tubes - using OOH as a portal to reach those stuck at home. This idea perfectly captures the challenges faced by people living with IBD. Well done to all involved!

A trick of the brain

Is flavour an illusion?

Finally, and perhaps off-topic, I read such an interesting article that I wanted to share and offer some thoughts… dare I say it… even about marketing!

The National Geographic article, Is flavor really just an illusion, had me from its opening gambit. Because there’s something alluring about the way people write about food:

Interestingly, scientists do not have a unifying definition of flavour. The experience of food is much more complex than the five basic tastes - salty, sour, bitter, sweet, and umami. Flavour seems to be the combination of experiences, from taste and smell to texture and nostalgia, yet we perceive is as coming from the mouth only. This is another great example of how humans have a pretty poor cognitive representation of the world.

But what does this have to do with healthcare marketing? Nothing. And everything. Consumers’ experiences are subjective, influenced by a multitude of factors. Our perception of something doesn’t just come from a message we hear but what we see and what we relate to past experiences. Also, the brain can change and adapt in response to experiences, learning, and environmental stimuli.

With every new piece of advertising or communication piece, make sure you tap into multisensory experiences that challenge and excite people’s brains. You might not always have something new to say about your brand or product, but can you tell it, show it, interact with it , ouch it or just experience it in an entirely different, perhaps unconventional way?

OK that’s your lot. I need to go and enjoy this sunny Sunday because next week is gonna be a busy one. I’ve got lots of projects on the go, and new pitch in the wings, more solo parenting and a special little guy’s 7th birthday to plan!

Before I go, tell me what you are watching, listening to, and reading. I finally picked up Russell Davies’ Do Interesting which has been gathering dust on the bookshelf. I’ve watched Baby Reindeer (found it too intense), The Gentleman (found it too cheesy), X-Men ‘97 is over (sadness) and I continue to love and never miss an episode of the Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe podcast. What’s next… suggestions, please?

How did you find issue #023? If you loved it, please share and recommend POPhealth to a friend or colleague who might find it useful. If you think it could be better, let me know your thoughts on how I can improve the content.

OK then, to the sun.

Until next time

EML ✌️