June 19th, 2012 - The Ogilvy group in Brussels is very proud to announce that it has been awarded the Belgian’s Pharmacists Association’s PR communication budget for 2012, while its subsidiary Ogilvy Healthcare has won the competition to develop a public awareness campaign aimed at promoting the role of pharmacists in Belgium. This mixed marketing campaign will be supported by many actors from the pharmaceutical industry and is expected to be launched in the last quarter of this year.
The partnership between Ogilvy PR/Healthcare and the APB has already borne fruit. Among the list of successes, one noteworthy campaign is the one on 26 April, when Belgian pharmacies were encouraged to switch off their illuminated signs in protest against the government’s austerity measures. As well as their effect on the profession, these measures were also affecting the quality of the service provided to patients. The APB decided that the time had come to take action to demonstrate the general mood of discontent among pharmacists, without penalising patients. The campaign included strategic recommendations, the development of a campaign medium, in the form of a poster (sent to 6,000 pharmacies in Belgium), and the production of 600,000 patients’ brochures. Ogilvy PR was also responsible for press relations.
A vast majority of pharmacists adhered to the campaign in Belgium which generated impressive media coverage throughout the country. The day after the protest, the Belgian health minister Laurette Onkelinx already announced a slight modification to one of the new regulation aimed at pharmacists.
This protest would not have been possible without the APB’s professionalism and the coordinated efforts of the agency/client teams during the preparation and implementation of the campaign.
This partnership with the Belgian Pharmacists Association confirms the effectiveness of Ogilvy group’s strategy of offering highly relevant services focusing on health or medical issues to associations and interest groups, as well as to any other healthcare brand (OTC or prescription), using the combined strengths of Ogilvy Healthcare and the other disciplines available within the group.
