Tight timelines, legal requirements, and competitive brand positioning are all integral to the job description of a pharmaceutical marketer. Product launches can be derailed and brand reputations harmed by delays in medical content or subpar deliverables.
How can you ensure your medical communication agency doesn’t act as a roadblock, but rather as a growth partner? These tried-and-true methods will ensure that you receive timely, high-quality medico-marketing materials that align with your brand goals.
- Begin with a comprehensive and unambiguous brief. An intense brief produces excellent results. Make use of a uniform briefing template throughout your company. Include:
- Target HCP persona
- Brand background
- Key messaging and tone
- Deliverables list
- Timeline including launch/event date
- Scientific references
- Create a specified procedure. Predictability is guaranteed by structure. A good agency will have a strong internal SOP that addresses:
- A review of medical
- Imaginative visualisation
- Guidelines for copywriting
- Loops for feedback and approval
- Timeline structure recommendation: Days 1–2: First concept/mock; Days 3–5: First draft; Days 6–8: Internal review; Days 9–10: Final delivery
- Align both teams early. Aligning expectations among the following can help to prevent last-minute chaos. Shared trackers (like Trello, Zoho, and Asana) and weekly calls facilitate deliverable management. These can include:
- Brand team
- Medical affairs
- Compliance/legal
- The agency team (medical writers, visualizers, and account managers)
- Establish quality standards. Give instances of “good” and “bad” collateral. Without a definition, quality is arbitrary. Ensure the agency is aware of your:
- Standards for scientific accuracy
- Creative tone
- Visual signals and brand identity
- Industry standards for compliance (e.g., FDA, OPPI, MCI)
- Include accountability in the framework. For transparency, make use of programs like ClickUp, Google Sheets, or dashboards tailored to your agency. Establish:
- Milestone tracking dashboards
- Update round limits (maximum 2)
- SLA documentation (duration of turnaround)
- Final Thought: From supplier to valuable partner. More than just a supplier, your med comm agency is an extension of your company’s identity. A partnership that grows with your marketing vision may be established with clarity, process, alignment, quality control, and accountability.
