FACT SHEET: Third Parties
Pharmaceutical-company communications are under ever-increasing scrutiny for clarity, balance and usefulness to the consumer. At the same time, many third-party organizations, such as professional medical or patient-advocacy associations, are looking to raise their own profiles and expand services to their memberships. Therefore, collaborating with the right third-party group on a disease-awareness or health-education campaign can be a triple-win situation: a benefit to the client, the group and the patients.
These non-commercial third-party groups are often run or advised by a key opinion leader or patient advocate. Their participation can bring knowledge, credibility and passion to a topic, as well as an existing network of communications to patients and/or professionals.
MCS has worked with nearly 50 third-party organizations -- non-traditional associations as well as professional and patient-advocacy groups, research institutions and government bodies - to develop programs that both benefit the patient population and achieve the client's objectives in a creative, unique way.
Non-traditional Partnerships
MCS connects clients to organizations that are not typically considered health-care advocacy groups, but whose membership is a precise match to the clients' target audiences:
- MCS initiated a partnership with the American Counseling Association, the nation's largest non-profit organization for professional counselors, on behalf of BenzaClin®, Dermik Laboratories' topical acne therapy. The program encouraged teenagers and their parents to consult a dermatologist for treatment of serious acne to help restore self-esteem. The successful campaign won Dermik and MCS the prestigious American Academy of Dermatology Gold Triangle Award for Recognizing Excellence in Public Education of Dermatology Issues for seven consecutive years.
- MCS brokered the first partnership between the American Automobile Association (AAA) and a pharmaceutical company with a patient-education initiative on behalf of Detrol® LA. As part of a series of campaigns showing the impact of overactive bladder on lifestyle issues such as travel, career, sleep and intimacy, MCS forged landmark partnerships between Pharmacia, the Michigan AAA chapter and the American Society of Travel Agents, ultimately increasing sales in the market by 20 percent.
- For Dermik's Penlac, MCS collaborated with the Road Runners Club of America, the nation's largest grassroots running organization, on a nationwide campaign to educate runners about foot care. The program focused on the "Toe Truck," which traveled to running events across the country, offering free foot screenings and foot care information to runners. In the first six months, media coverage of this branded campaign reached an audience of more than 7.2 million.
