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‘Tis the Season to Give…and Give Back

This time of the year, people around the world are connected by the common thread of gift giving. Though our countries, religions and cultures have unique traditions and celebrations, we are united in the spirit of sharing. This holiday season, we invite you to experience some of our favourite global traditions, brought to you with the insights of GLOBALHealthPR partners worldwide!

 

United Kingdom

In the UK, gifts are traditionally delivered by Father Christmas overnight on Christmas Eve. We hang up stockings near the fireplace so when Father Christmas comes down the chimney he can fill our stockings with presents. We also leave a sherry and mince pie for him, and a carrot for his reindeer. Christmas Day is about giving and receiving presents from friends and family and eating as much food as is humanly possible, followed by the Queen’s speech and a snooze.

Neil Crump: Aurora Communications

 

Singapore

In Singapore, only those who celebrate Christmas will exchange gifts with each other during the Holidays. For Chinese New Year, Ang Pows, red packets containing cash, are the traditional gift of choice. We give them to children, the elderly and the unmarried. You have to make sure the cash in in Ang Pow adds up to an even number like $4, $8 or $10 for good luck.

 Patsy Phay: Mileage

 

Spain

In Spain our most popular giving tradition is about the Three Wise Men (Los Reyes Magos) who came from the East to visit Jesus, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  We receive gifts from the Three Wise Men on the 6^th of January. However, if you have not been good the past year, you receive coal instead of a present. In every house we prepare some food and traditional sweets for the Wise Men, and the kids leave out potatoes, bread and water for their camels.

Juan Luis Recio Diaz: Berbés Asociados

 

Poland

 

We celebrate the big day on the 24^th of December. Families come together for a big feast that starts when the first stars begin to show. When the children are not paying attention, someone will vanish from the house to dress up as Santa. ‘Santa’ rings a bell to announce his arrival with presents and then hands gifts out to everybody, in exchange for the singing of a song. ‘Santa’ is of course invited for the feast and some vodka. For many years on, kids remember how they either: Did not recognise Santa was their favourite uncle; or recognised their uncle by his old shoes.

Andrzej Kropiwnicki: Alfa Communications  

 

Portugal

In Portugal one of our oldest Christmas giving traditions is to burn a stump on night of the 24^th. Some people do this in the privacy of their homes with family, while public churchyards host big bonfires for the whole community. Everyone gathers around the fire and sings traditional Portuguese songs while waiting for the children to go to sleep, and the arrival of Father Christmas with their gifts.

Jorge Azevedo: Guess What

 

Mexico

What makes our giving tradition Mexican is the piñata. Piñatas are filled with candy and small gifts, and we take turns trying to break them open with a bat or broom stick while blindfolded. When someone finally cracks a piñata open, the candy and presents fall to the floor and the kids launch themselves to the ground trying to grab as many sweets and presents as possible. Though piñatas are often present at birthday parties, the tradition is most strongly associated with Christmas.

Paola de La Barreda and Nallely Moreno: PRP

 

Argentina

 

In Argentina we open gifts on December 24^th, precisely at 12:00 a.m. along with a family toast. Everybody shares a good panettone (a sweetbread with dried fruit), and we throw firecrackers in celebration. The children also receive gifts on January 6^th, from the Three Wise Men. The kids leave their shoes outside the night of the 5^th, with some water and grass for the Wise Men’s camels, and wake up to find presents left by their shoes. At the same time as Christmas we start our summer and school vacations, so common gifts for kids include toys for the beach or the swimming pool.

Eugenia de la Fuente: Paradigma

 

India

In India, we love giving celebrations. All religious festivals are celebrated here, but the most common one is Diwali. The key ingredients for any celebration of Diwali are a lot of lights, yummy food, goodies and gifts to give to each other. We host family gatherings and friends come and visit to share sweets and dry fruits, as well as seasonal specialties depending on the region. And of course, the celebration is not complete without fireworks to light up the night sky.

Priti Mohile: MediaMedic

 

Germany

 

Our best-known giving tradition is that our children, and of course well-behaved grownups, put their polished shoes in front of the door on the eve of December 6^th. Later that night, St. Nicolas arrives to fill the shoes with candy and small gifts. The next morning we decorate the Christmas tree and go to church. After church, we celebrate Christmas with family, sharing gifts, music and a traditional Christmas dinner. Favourite menu items include trout or another fish, potato salad and sausages or duck.

Tina Winter: fischerAppelt

 

United States

Some American families open just one gift on Christmas Eve, and everybody knows what’s in the box – Christmas pajamas! This gets everyone ready for bed and looking spiffy for Christmas morning. That night, after the kids have gone to sleep, Santa Claus sneaks down the chimney and leaves presents under the tree for the good boys and girls. In the morning everyone meets up at the tree, looking fly in our Christmas PJ’s, and shares gifts with friends and family.

Mary Ellen Hackett: Spectrum

 

We hope you enjoyed learning about how we celebrate the giving season.

Best wishes, and have the happiest of holidays from GLOBALHealthPR!

 

 

 

 

Images:

United Kingdom: Brent Flanders via flickr.com

Singapore: Cheon Fong Liew via flickr.com

Spain: Amira A via flickr.com

Poland: KCRA.com

Portugal: Brian Colson via flickr.com

Mexico: Diógene via flickr.com

Argentina: NicolEttone via flickr.com

India: gags9999 via flickr.com

Germany: David Wolfe

United States: EvilErin via flickr.com

 

 

 

 

 

We are very happy to announce that our US Partner and Global hub, Spectrum, has officially opened their new Atlanta office. The new location is in the recently opened Ponce City Market, in the historic Sears and Roebuck building. The SpectrumATL office is strategically positioned in an emerging biotechnology hotspot nearby companies and institutions such as Coca-Cola, the American Cancer Society, Emory University and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new office will be headed by Spectrum Senior Vice President and Partner Amanda Sellers, a Georgia native. The new office opens up many new opportunities, and an entirely new talent market. “We know talented teams draw dynamic clients, and Spectrum is thrilled to be able to tap into this vibrant scientific community,” Sellers said.

Strategic hires, expanded offerings and a commitment to client service have fueled Spectrum’s growth over the past two years, and led to the opening of their New York City office in March.  The Atlanta office will reflect the “One Spectrum” ideology that drives the agency’s culture, bringing together the best in marketing communications talent and expertise regardless of geography to deliver the best thinking for clients.

Recently, I had the opportunity to spend two weeks in the USA as part of the great GLOBALHealthPR Exchange Program. After learning all about Spectrum’s work and the American health PR market, I can say that although there is an ocean between the US and Portugal and we speak different languages, the work we do is pretty similar.

There are many aspects that both Spectrum and Guess What have in common. The context may differ but the challenges are the same. It’s almost like working at the ER. The pace is fast, the requests are urgent, the demand is constant. We live in an increasingly globalized world that spins at the frenetic pace of social networks where you can share information instantly, so it’s natural that this happens. The clients of both companies are also similar: mostly multinational pharmaceutical companies, biotechs, and consumer-goods brands.

The main differences are essentially social and cultural, or related to market dimensions. The US market is more aggressive, and the work has to be conducted with a level of detail that is not demanded by the Portuguese market. The workday also has very few breaks; in Portugal we are passionate about our lunch break! In Portugal, Facebook is king and lord of all social networks, but in the US the most popular social network is Twitter. In the US, the relationships between PR professionals and journalists are often distant and directed by strict ethical guidelines.

 

Our American colleagues were very surprised to learn that in Portugal it is relatively normal for journalists and PR professionals to address each other through their Facebook pages, social networks that the Americans keep more personal. And we Portuguese were impressed by the interaction with and monitoring of patient blogs, where patients write about their illnesses and treatments, which is still  uncommon in the Portuguese market.

 

On the other hand, the characteristics of the Portuguese market allow us to work in a far more “out of the box” way. Indeed, the economic crisis has forced us to be even more original and effective with smaller budgets because “necessity is the mother of invention”.

 

Given these differences and these similarities, we can say that the GHPR partnership not only makes sense but it is the model of the future for PR and communications. As time goes by, we will have to work more and more with and for other markets, and we will always need the experience of those who work and live in these markets.  Communication lives out of social and cultural contexts that we can only know well when we live within them.

 

Furthermore, it was a great privilege to be part of the GHPR exchange program. It’s an excellent way of meeting a new professional reality, new people, and a new country. And I’m really grateful to all the Spectrum team in Washington that went far beyond my best expectations to make me feel welcome.

 

Susana Viana is Senior Communication Consultant at GLOBALHealthPR Portugal Partner, Guess What. Her account is based on an original article that appeared in Portugal’s Meios e Publicidade.

We are excited to share that our Australian partner, VIVA! Communications, was awarded first place in the Health Organisations category at the prestigious PRIA Golden Target awards last Wednesday, 7 October, in Sydney.  VIVA! was responsible for three of the 11 shortlisted finalists for the Health Organisations award and their winning campaign, “Plea for Life” saw them partner with the aHUS patient support group to help secure Federal funding for lifesaving treatments for aHUS, a fatal, ultra-rare blood disorder. We look forward to their continued excellence and are proud to call VIVA! Communications a partner at GLOBALHealthPR.

Head to VIVA’s blog for full coverage for full coverage of their success at the Golden Target Awards!

As the seasons shift and the days get shorter (or longer in the Southern Hemisphere!) we look back and reflect on the successes of the past few months. One of these major successes for the GLOBALHealthPR partnership took place last May when partners from all member agencies were present in London for our Annual General Meeting (AGM). This year’s meeting, themed Reaching New Heights, was organized by our tremendous hosts at GHPR UK partner and European hub, Aurora.

For three days, partners presented case studies, analyzed client practices, brainstormed innovative ideas, and discussed creative solutions to unify the GHPR strategy. Discussions covered everything from the rollout of new initiatives to best-practice sharing sessions led by GHPR Partners. The combined efforts of this global team continues to propel GHPR to the top of its class.

Have a look inside GLOBALHealthPR and our 2015 AGM in the video above!

 

There’s no better feeling when you run a client services agency than to identify a need and be able to deliver a solution. We get to do that today, with the introduction of Reimbursography, GLOBALHealthPR’s global strategic communications programme that leverages country-specific access insights to shape the value context for reimbursement success.

GLOBALHealthPR clients discover some of the world’s most innovative treatments for life-threatening conditions, saving and improving lives around the globe. They invest billions of dollars in the science and in the people who develop treatments for cancer, infectious and cardiovascular diseases, and more. Yet when their drugs make it through regulatory approvals, they face huge hurdles in global market access and reimbursement. A treatment’s value to the patient, to the community, to the healthcare system as a whole, is reduced to a discussion – usually an overwhelmingly contentious one – about the cost of the prescription.

But price is not really the issue here. It’s about recognition – by all decision makers – of the value that a new treatment brings to the market. To achieve that recognition, you need to build and tell a compelling and credible value story.

In our inaugural Reimbursography white paper, “Pharma Market Access Success: Shifting the Dialogue from Price to Value Through Strategic Communications,” we demonstrate how communications creates the right environment for value recognition.

Market Demand for a New Approach

At GLOBALHealthPR we see an opportunity to redefine market access communications, building the story early in the drug development process and sustaining it throughout the product lifecycle. Clients have increasingly turned to us for help with market access challenges. In the countries where we live and work, GLOBALHealthPR partners have seen restrictions attached to reimbursement agreements and reluctance of companies to even launch a product in some markets. Reimbursography reflects our collective capabilities to substantiate and communicate the value of an innovative treatment for funding, access, coverage and reimbursement in markets around the world.

 

What Makes GLOBALHealthPR Stand Out When it Comes to Market Access Communications

• We are a connected global network that works effectively and efficiently in key geographies around the world. Check out our high-level market access and reimbursement insights for key markets in our Reimbursography guides.
• Our partnership includes expertise in health communications, PhD scientists, best-in-class market access consultants and trusted counselors with in-country experience and relationship
• We engage clients to conduct a value analysis and bring together company cross-functional leaders and key market access stakeholders for an open dialog about value, to ultimately arrive at a customised value communications playbook.

Download the white paper and get in touch with GLOBALHealthPR to learn how Reimbursography can help tell your product’s story to showcase its value to the marketplace.