In its ongoing bid to highlight the good work it does, Astellas Pharma launched a new corporate TV ad featuring its own employees from around the world and adding patient value to the message.
Astellas’ corporate campaign is one of several in the industry currently that highlight the good work pharma companies do. Using employees is a tried-and-true approach for pharma companies to humanize what they do and create empathy. Pfizer’s current corporate effort, for instance, shows its scientists and others taking a drug from just an idea all the way through to a patient’s medicine cabinet. And Merck’s online and social campaign “Humans for Health” is a deep dive into its employees’ passions around their work.
The new 30-second commercial, part of Astellas' ongoing run with CNN, shows Astellas scientists and others at work and play, talking about their focus to work together to improve people’s lives. It ends with the line, “Turning innovative science into value for patients.”
While that line has been part of Astellas’ vision for years, according to an Astellas spokesperson, it’s new wording for the corporate CNN campaign. Last year, the commercial featured Astellas’ CEO and also its chief medical officer in a longer one-minute ad that focused on innovation and the company's responsibility to its patients.
The idea of patient value jives with current medical, political and cultural healthcare conversations in which value is a key theme. That’s in part because of the anticipated move to more outcomes-based healthcare where value is a core measurement. However, patient value has also gained traction, particularly in pharma, thanks to ongoing drug pricing criticism. Incorporating value into the pricing equation has become strategic.
Astellas has partnered with CNN since 2011 on the global brand effort. The current campaign is an extension of last year's “CNN Heroes” work and will air on CNN in the U.S. and on CNN International through March 2017. Astellas will also run a digital and social media campaign in conjunction.
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