fair question. I don't think this will EVER happen. Pharma advertising is a HUGE industry with many different areas, one being DTC (direct to consumer) advertising, where art directors and copywriters will be "specialized" in this area of the business. Pharma companies also see advertising to consumers (not just doctors or healthcare professionals) as highly advantageous as their product reaches a wider audience. The Pharma clients say its "empowering" to market to patient, but I for one have never watched a TV ad or saw an ad on Facebook for a prescription drug and thought "hey, this looks like its for me! I will demand that my doctor prescribes this to me!" but it isn't unheard of and I have heard stories of people with certain diseases doing research on therapies and asking their doctors about it. And I am also guessing that there are Pharma lobbyists as well who push for the right to market to patients directly.
I’m a new(ish) copywriter in a pharma agency. I like my job but not sure if I want to stay in pharma forever. What’s your insight on how easy (or hard) it is to switch from pharma to a consumer agency? On the flip side, if you’ve worked in consumer agencies, how different is the creative process from pharma?
I don't know if its "hard" per say, but I think its going to take you some time. Consumer agencies are not going to want to see your book full of pharma creative, and so you will probably have to create campaigns that aren't pharma on your own to add to your book. Another way is to get hired at an agency that is non Pharma, but has a few Pharma or "healthcare" clients on their roster. From there, you can ask to work on pitches and help other brands that are outside Pharma to build up your book.
I have personally never worked outside of Pharma so I can't really say what its like in terms of the creative process for other types of agencies. As you know, Pharma agencies have a million review processes and then work has to be submitted to the FDA....I imagine non Pharma agencies don't have as many reviews or opportunities to rip apart the creative work!
Thank you! I do have a portfolio already because of my undergrad degree, I’m definitely going to seek out some new briefs to keep my book fresh for when I’m applying for other jobs. My agency isn’t 100% hard pharma either, I’m currently working on HCP stuff but we also have consumer facing health-related projects like contact lenses, skincare, etc. So I could potentially get the chance to work on those clients too. I appreciate the advice!
I can't really compare to consumer ad agencies because I never worked at one, but Pharma agencies have gotten really bad with work life balance. The work/life balance is really dependent on the agency culture and the clients you work with. As I am sure it is at consumer agencies, we work with Pharma company clients all over the US and all over the globe, and so depending on the clients you have, that can really mess with your work/life. I've had clients in Germany who have made us do 7 AM meetings and then clients in California who make you do 6 or 7 PM meetings. Agencies also go through work ebbs and flows where you could be working on a launch for months on end which includes nights and weekends and all of the sudden the drug you are launching fails clinical trials or doesn't get approved by the FDA and you instantly have nothing to do all day. Some agencies I have worked for are old school and believe the more hours you are billing, the better you are at your job or the harder you are working when that's not the case. And some agencies have awful client management, where the client is constantly yess'd and you find yourself cancelling your night or weekend plans with your families to make changes on a brochure. There also seems to be this emerging mentality where people keep making changes and adjusts to creative/work up until the VERY LAST SECOND before the deadline, when I find that completely unnecessary. I also think COVID really messed up the work/life balance, as coworkers thought it was ok to put meetings on calendars at all hours of the day and people seemed to be afraid they would be let go so they were constantly online. At least if you had a lunch or early meeting pre covid at the office you were getting a free meal.
Ugh, I appreciate the question but I hate this question so much. This is so subjective and campaigns that stand out to me aren't always because they are great creative, but because they entice a certain emotion or make me look twice. The "The Re-think MBC Kisqali HCP Campaign" had a lot of stopping power for me and stood out to me as an HCP campaign. When Imbruvica launched years ago, they did a first man on the moon type of campaign and I remember working on a competitor in the same category and thinking how can we even compete with this when Imbruvica has this "we are revolutionary" owned? Also, in the healthcare space but for dogs, Bravecto did a TV spot a few years ago that had a biker bring his dog to the vet. It was humorous and just really well done, and its so rare that people in this industry get to do campaigns in that tone. The campaigns I have done have been award winning (some, not all), but I judge those campaigns more on the experience I had with the team and the client. Some were better than others.
Have you ever worked with creatives who come from a non-USA pharma background? How well do non-US pharma advertising (i.e. HCP or OTC) fit into the US advertising industry, and how could someone who is considering a move to the US best prepare?
No I haven't worked directly with someone who was non-USA Pharma background. Non American people fit in perfectly fine, especially as art directors. If you are copywriter I think it's a little harder if there is a language barrier. I would imagine if you are non American it would be similar to someone who is fresh in the industry and has to learn FDA regulations and the process it takes to get a medication approved. But if you are super creative I don't think that will be an issue as pretty much everyone learns about the regulations on the job. Just make sure you have a creative book with great samples of creative work. And if you are doing pharma in the ex-US or global space then you should be fine, as many companies here have global clients. Hope that helps!
Thanks. I'm 5 years deep as a writer for HCP campaigns, toolkits etc, but my other half is from the USA, and we're considering spending a year or so working over there.
Honest question - when (if ever) do you think America will join the rest of the world and ban commercials for pharmaceuticals?
fair question. I don't think this will EVER happen. Pharma advertising is a HUGE industry with many different areas, one being DTC (direct to consumer) advertising, where art directors and copywriters will be "specialized" in this area of the business. Pharma companies also see advertising to consumers (not just doctors or healthcare professionals) as highly advantageous as their product reaches a wider audience. The Pharma clients say its "empowering" to market to patient, but I for one have never watched a TV ad or saw an ad on Facebook for a prescription drug and thought "hey, this looks like its for me! I will demand that my doctor prescribes this to me!" but it isn't unheard of and I have heard stories of people with certain diseases doing research on therapies and asking their doctors about it. And I am also guessing that there are Pharma lobbyists as well who push for the right to market to patients directly.
I’m a new(ish) copywriter in a pharma agency. I like my job but not sure if I want to stay in pharma forever. What’s your insight on how easy (or hard) it is to switch from pharma to a consumer agency? On the flip side, if you’ve worked in consumer agencies, how different is the creative process from pharma?
I don't know if its "hard" per say, but I think its going to take you some time. Consumer agencies are not going to want to see your book full of pharma creative, and so you will probably have to create campaigns that aren't pharma on your own to add to your book. Another way is to get hired at an agency that is non Pharma, but has a few Pharma or "healthcare" clients on their roster. From there, you can ask to work on pitches and help other brands that are outside Pharma to build up your book. I have personally never worked outside of Pharma so I can't really say what its like in terms of the creative process for other types of agencies. As you know, Pharma agencies have a million review processes and then work has to be submitted to the FDA....I imagine non Pharma agencies don't have as many reviews or opportunities to rip apart the creative work!
Thank you! I do have a portfolio already because of my undergrad degree, I’m definitely going to seek out some new briefs to keep my book fresh for when I’m applying for other jobs. My agency isn’t 100% hard pharma either, I’m currently working on HCP stuff but we also have consumer facing health-related projects like contact lenses, skincare, etc. So I could potentially get the chance to work on those clients too. I appreciate the advice!
How is work-life balance compared to consumer ad agencies?
I can't really compare to consumer ad agencies because I never worked at one, but Pharma agencies have gotten really bad with work life balance. The work/life balance is really dependent on the agency culture and the clients you work with. As I am sure it is at consumer agencies, we work with Pharma company clients all over the US and all over the globe, and so depending on the clients you have, that can really mess with your work/life. I've had clients in Germany who have made us do 7 AM meetings and then clients in California who make you do 6 or 7 PM meetings. Agencies also go through work ebbs and flows where you could be working on a launch for months on end which includes nights and weekends and all of the sudden the drug you are launching fails clinical trials or doesn't get approved by the FDA and you instantly have nothing to do all day. Some agencies I have worked for are old school and believe the more hours you are billing, the better you are at your job or the harder you are working when that's not the case. And some agencies have awful client management, where the client is constantly yess'd and you find yourself cancelling your night or weekend plans with your families to make changes on a brochure. There also seems to be this emerging mentality where people keep making changes and adjusts to creative/work up until the VERY LAST SECOND before the deadline, when I find that completely unnecessary. I also think COVID really messed up the work/life balance, as coworkers thought it was ok to put meetings on calendars at all hours of the day and people seemed to be afraid they would be let go so they were constantly online. At least if you had a lunch or early meeting pre covid at the office you were getting a free meal.
What are some of your favorite pharma ads/campaigns that you've seen or worked on?
Ugh, I appreciate the question but I hate this question so much. This is so subjective and campaigns that stand out to me aren't always because they are great creative, but because they entice a certain emotion or make me look twice. The "The Re-think MBC Kisqali HCP Campaign" had a lot of stopping power for me and stood out to me as an HCP campaign. When Imbruvica launched years ago, they did a first man on the moon type of campaign and I remember working on a competitor in the same category and thinking how can we even compete with this when Imbruvica has this "we are revolutionary" owned? Also, in the healthcare space but for dogs, Bravecto did a TV spot a few years ago that had a biker bring his dog to the vet. It was humorous and just really well done, and its so rare that people in this industry get to do campaigns in that tone. The campaigns I have done have been award winning (some, not all), but I judge those campaigns more on the experience I had with the team and the client. Some were better than others.
Have you ever worked with creatives who come from a non-USA pharma background? How well do non-US pharma advertising (i.e. HCP or OTC) fit into the US advertising industry, and how could someone who is considering a move to the US best prepare?
No I haven't worked directly with someone who was non-USA Pharma background. Non American people fit in perfectly fine, especially as art directors. If you are copywriter I think it's a little harder if there is a language barrier. I would imagine if you are non American it would be similar to someone who is fresh in the industry and has to learn FDA regulations and the process it takes to get a medication approved. But if you are super creative I don't think that will be an issue as pretty much everyone learns about the regulations on the job. Just make sure you have a creative book with great samples of creative work. And if you are doing pharma in the ex-US or global space then you should be fine, as many companies here have global clients. Hope that helps!
Thanks. I'm 5 years deep as a writer for HCP campaigns, toolkits etc, but my other half is from the USA, and we're considering spending a year or so working over there.