The first Benchmarking Survey of pharmaceutical industry views on healthcare PR carried out by the Healthcare Communications Association (HCA) reveals that industry predicts a positive outlook for healthcare PR - with the expectation that the use of PR will increase in the future, through increased corporate awareness and buy-in to the value of PR, with resulting budget increases.

Seventy-seven percent of the companies taking part in the survey stated they are increasing their use of PR. However, the respondents to the survey feel that currently the overall value of PR is under-rated compared to the wider communications mix.

The survey was conducted at the time of the HSC Inquiry and the planned revision of the ABPI Code of Practice.  Sixty-nine percent of respondents felt that these environmental factors will have an impact on healthcare PR practice in the form of increased diligence from industry with external scrutiny on companies.

PR training was identified as a real need, not just for staff in industry who deal with agencies on a day-to-day basis but also senior decision-makers and medical departments.  This was also borne out in terms of defining what healthcare PR involves.  Despite its broad role being recognised, the traditional area of media relations is still the most commonly mentioned activity, being cited by 79% of respondents.

“This survey has confirmed the need for more investment into providing education on best practice PR, particularly in light of recent industry scrutiny, to a wide audience in the industry and has helped us identify how to broaden our current training programme”, said Fiona Hall, chair of the HCA Benchmarking Subcommittee. 

Sixty-seven percent of respondents to the survey felt that they could improve their approach to agency selection, suggesting improved pre-selection of agencies, clearer briefings and an improved pitch process, for example reducing the requirements for pitching, focusing on one area to provide ease of comparison across the agencies.

Once an agency is on board, the survey showed that industry is looking for a relationship based on trust, openness and honesty, with open communication and information sharing.  In terms of difficulties in working with agencies the survey indicated a lack of clarity in fee structures and billing and in some cases industry find it difficult to deal with large staff turnover in agencies and lack of access to senior staff once programme underway.

The theme of Return on Investment (ROI) was identified throughout the survey as having a potential effect on the future of PR, with requests for rigorous assessments to demonstrate the real value that PR can provide.

“The HCA is very focused on ROI at present and it is hoped that tools will be available in the near future, and this survey”, said Julia Cook, chair of the HCA.

About the Survey

For the past 3 years the HCA has been successfully carrying out a benchmarking survey of PR agencies, which has become a much respected and valued annual service.  As a result, our industry members had expressed significant interest in conducting a similar survey to gain greater insights into the evolving PR activities and needs of industry.

This is the first industry survey to be conducted and it is planned to repeat this annually to continually monitor the industry views.

The respondents of the survey represent a range of company sizes, mainly working in the UK, but including some from global organisations, and covering a spread of PR/communications, marketing/commercial and procurement function, thus giving a good representation of those involved in conducting and commissioning PR activities.  22 separate divisions of 17 companies are represented in this survey.  15 respondents work in communications functions, 13 in marketing/commercial and 2 in procurement/purchasing.