Stuart Mayell, Associate Media Director at Cohn & Wolfe
Wednesday 28 October
A quick stroll back through Kensington and we're back on the tube, jumping off again at Russell Square for our second and last visit of Day 1. At the other end of the PR spectrum from Halpern, we're off to see Cohn & Wolfe, one of the world's largest agencies with offices and affiliate agencies all around the globe. We're going to see Stuart Mayell, Associate Media Director, to hear about his role in healthcare public relations.
Cohn & Wolfe's impressive offices are located in Tavistock Square, close to the British Medical Association (and the Generator Hostel!). We're ushered into a minimalist space emboldened with bright pink glass walls and (much to everyone's delight) massive beanbags, biscuits and fizzy pop.
The affable yet authoritative Stuart takes us through the elements of healthcare PR with an informative presentation showing how a challenging subject area brings out the creative side of practitioners. Talk of international travel and the problems of working within a highly regulated environment dominate the session. After a brief Q&A session, that's it for the day and the students make their way back to the hostel for some much needed rest and reflection.
PR's next shining lights? The UCF party at Cohn & Wolfe
Natalie's thoughts on Cohn & Wolfe:
As we arrived in the sleek offices of Cohn & Wolfe, Stuart Mayell, media director, offered us drinks as we relaxed into the rocking chairs. He then proceeded to race in all directions, returning with soda and biscuits. Pleased that we were all refreshed, he commenced with his presentation.
Cohn & Wolfe spans the length of the globe and back again, with 107 whole or part owned companies. The company's ‘heritage lies in traditional media, branding and being creative.’
Natalie's thoughts on Cohn & Wolfe:
As we arrived in the sleek offices of Cohn & Wolfe, Stuart Mayell, media director, offered us drinks as we relaxed into the rocking chairs. He then proceeded to race in all directions, returning with soda and biscuits. Pleased that we were all refreshed, he commenced with his presentation.
Cohn & Wolfe spans the length of the globe and back again, with 107 whole or part owned companies. The company's ‘heritage lies in traditional media, branding and being creative.’
Mayell explained to us that the key to enduring client relationships is to continually produce good results. An obvious statement one would think, but the continuous process is the vital part of this equation.
Healthcare PR needs to indulge in strategic planning of media activity; also counseling clients on issues and crises, influencing publications, KOL (Key Opinion Leader) development and advisory boards.
One of the basic assignments of Cohn & Wolfe is to publicise medical research. I had the assumption that research was naturally appealing to journalists but in the dominion of the media the dominance of print space is awarded to the social and the elite. Unfortunately healthcare has neither, so how does Cohn & Wolfe gain its successful worldwide reputation?
Healthcare PR needs to indulge in strategic planning of media activity; also counseling clients on issues and crises, influencing publications, KOL (Key Opinion Leader) development and advisory boards.
One of the basic assignments of Cohn & Wolfe is to publicise medical research. I had the assumption that research was naturally appealing to journalists but in the dominion of the media the dominance of print space is awarded to the social and the elite. Unfortunately healthcare has neither, so how does Cohn & Wolfe gain its successful worldwide reputation?
As with all media, it is not necessarily what you know, although it helps, but rather who you know. For example, research on children with epilepsy through the simple use of the Atkins diet will be much more tempting if the press officer for Great Ormond Street Hospital had the brand name put to it.
Even celebrities are a difficult task for Healthcare PR: you cannot put any celebrity onto a case study. Even when you find a famous personality suffering from an illness or using a particular pharmacy medication you still need to discover the correct outlet to expose them to the right audience. Then there needs to be a case study of a 'regular' person so that the message is absorbed as something that affects everybody, not just an 'elite' condition.
Another mission of Healthcare PR, is to keep up to date with every health story in the media to make sure that they are not mis-quoted and medications/research statistics have been interpreted correctly, as these details can be matters of life and death.
Even celebrities are a difficult task for Healthcare PR: you cannot put any celebrity onto a case study. Even when you find a famous personality suffering from an illness or using a particular pharmacy medication you still need to discover the correct outlet to expose them to the right audience. Then there needs to be a case study of a 'regular' person so that the message is absorbed as something that affects everybody, not just an 'elite' condition.
Another mission of Healthcare PR, is to keep up to date with every health story in the media to make sure that they are not mis-quoted and medications/research statistics have been interpreted correctly, as these details can be matters of life and death.
No comments:
Post a Comment