Spectrum

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CVS Health Collage

Jessica Klepac is Director of Design for GLOBALHealthPR US Partner and Chair, Spectrum.

I’m not a smoker, but as a designer I can appreciate brilliant marketing. So I had to grab “The Last Pack” when I was in a CVS pharmacy last weekend.

I’m sure you’ve heard by now that as of September 1, you can no longer buy cigarettes at CVS. And in addition to removing cigarettes from its shelves, the company adopted a new name – CVS Health. I read the news and saw the story online, but until I walked into a CVS I did not realize the extent to which the company embraced the “health” part of its new name. CVS quit cigarettes and is trying to help customers quit, too, with a pretty creative campaign.

As soon as I walked into the store I was greeted by signs that read, “Ready To Quit?” and “Let’s Quit Together.” After quickly grabbing the few items I needed, I stood in line and took in the whole store. Everywhere I turned, CVS was sending me a message, letting me know they had my back if I was ready to quit smoking. Again, not a smoker, but it sure did impress me. [Read more…] about This Makes Me Want to Quit Smoking. And I Don’t Even Smoke!

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In today’s post, John J. Seng, GLOBALHealthPR Chair and Spectrum Founder & CEO, discusses the recent actions of CVS, the first major US pharmacy retailer to stop selling tobacco products.

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CVS Health

I was happy to read just now that HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell saluted CVS Health today for stamping out cigarette sales as of today, one month earlier than the company pledge of October 1.

Her statement is short enough to reprint here:

We applaud CVS Health for becoming tobacco-free and ending the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products at its 7,700 CVS/pharmacy locations. CVS accomplished their goal one month ahead of their deadline of October 1.

We also commend CVS Health on the launch of their national and personalized smoking cessation program.

CVS Heath’s tobacco free policy is an unprecedented step in the retail industry, and will have an impact in bringing our country closer to achieving a tobacco-free generation, a call to action that we announced in January.

We hope others will follow CVS Health’s lead in this important new step to curtail tobacco use.

“We hope others will follow CVS Health’s lead…” Hmmm, as I read that last sentence, I thought of another major retailer, err, wholesale warehouse concern which still has the chance to follow and do the right thing when it comes to reducing heart disease and cancer in the US: Costco Wholesale. [Read more…] about The New “CVS Health” Gets It

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Today’s blog comes to us from Jonathan Wilson, President of GLOBALHealthPR US Partner and Chair, Spectrum.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is rethinking its rules on what kind of information pharma companies can share with physicians regarding off-label use of their products. That’s good news for the practice of medicine.

At the moment, pharma company employees can talk about a drug only in the context of the condition indicated in its FDA-approved label. Anything they say about another, unapproved use of the drug is considered “misbranding” according to federal law, and subjects the company to civil and criminal prosecution. [Read more…] about Scientific Exchange Calls for Some Talk of “Off-Label” Use

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At least not Down Under. Today’s post comes to us from John Seng, Founder and CEO of GLOBALHealthPR US Partner and Chair, Spectrum.

Traveling down the south coast of Australia following our GLOBALHealthPR annual meeting several weeks ago, I stopped in at a NewsPower store in Bateman’s Bay to look for a souvenir or two for family members, plus to satisfy a little curiosity about what Aussies read today.Extra-Extra-1-300x169-300x169

 

[Read more…] about EXTRA! EXTRA! Print Not Dead!

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eturnerWhile in Hamburg with our partners at fischerAppelt, I was able to catch a few sessions at Hamburg’s social media week. The most interesting session was focused on the neurobiology of social media, presented by Stefanie Kuhnhen of Grabarz & Partner and Markus von der Lühe of Adknowledge. The presenters conducted focus groups with digital natives (those 13-16 years old) and leveraged neurobiology research to explore why we engage with digital engagement the way we do. [Read more…] about The Future of Social Networking

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Greetings from Germany!

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While normally based at Spectrum in Washington, DC, I’m happy to find myself sitting in the bright, sunny offices of our GLOBALHealthPR partner fischerAppelt. Understanding and leveraging the similarities and differences between communication cultures around the world is critical to global communications success.

[Read more…] about Crossing Oceans to Build Collaboration