From Joe Baumann, Account Supervisor, Palio

The start of summer generally brings a new energy into the workplace – the sun is out past work hours, colleagues are taking vacations, and weekends are spent relaxing outdoors. The start of summer also brings business planning for the next year. And, of course, along with business planning comes the dreaded tactical plan.

As we all know, the way we reach our target market is changing. Tactical plans are shaped differently than they were 5 years ago. More focus is being put on non personal efforts – most importantly on emerging digital technology. Time is certainly being spent educating Agency brand managers on these new tactical and strategic initiatives. But who is taking the time to educate clients’ Medical, Regulatory, and Legal teams?

Just as the way we reach customers is changing, the regulatory environment is evolving as well. The general feeling is that DDMAC is becoming stricter, so added pressure is being put on client Medical, Regulatory, and Legal teams. This is contributing to an environment in which risk is increased with the idea of trying something new.

Something that can help with these challenges is to involve the entire Client team from start to finish with your important communications planning efforts. Traditionally, these teams are only brought in after the Agency develops materials. They are somewhat blindsided by a new tactic or channel to reach the target audience. Why not educate them along with your Agency brand managers? Not only will you gain a better understanding of regulations, but you’ll be creating a stronger working partnership between the Agency and the extended Client team.

At the very least, hold a concept review to get an idea of how a new space or technology can be utilized, instead of putting a developed piece in front of your team for comments. For a concept review, I’ve found it best to include the following in one document for review:

• Marketing Objective
• Description of the channel and tactic
• Target audience
• Examples of where it has been executed in the past (if possible)

In my experience, these steps create a collaborative effort where the Med/Reg/Legal team will begin to champion the idea instead of figuring out ways to shoot it down. This won’t always guarantee you’ll be able to execute on your plan, but it should eliminate an atmosphere of “Us vs Them” and hopefully turn potential foes into friends.

This business planning season, I encourage you to challenge your brand managers to reach out to the extended team prior to Agency development.