Recasting pharma as a top tech talent destination | Novartis
As a leading pharmaceutical company, Novartis’ mission is to reimagine medicine in order to improve and extend people’s lives. This commitment builds on the powerful opportunities that exist when pairing science and technology and involves strategic partnerships with tech leaders including Amazon, Tencent and Microsoft, as well as in-house investments in pioneering technologies. Such a commitment could only be fulfilled with the best tech talent, but Big Tech drove the conversation, leaving little space for pharma.
Novartis called on FleishmanHillard to help turn the conversation around. It was time to shatter preconceptions and highlight Novartis as the destination for tech talent wanting to use their skills to tackle some of the most pressing healthcare challenges of our time. We commissioned research to understand the perceptions of the healthcare and pharma industry held by those working in tech – particularly in the wake of the pandemic. The research findings were supplemented by additional insights from Novartis’ partners across science, business, and academia.
The ‘A Powerful Pairing’ report, drafted in partnership by FleishmanHillard and Novartis, emphasised tech talent’s burgeoning interest in the pharmaceutical industry; the huge opportunities there; and drove the message that this community already had immense expertise invaluable to the digital transformation of pharma. It included real examples of how technology enables incredible advancements in healthcare. The result was a strong call to action to the technology community with the report’s narrative designed to connect with and inspire talent as well as the wider ecosystem of potential tech partners.
The report was launched by Novartis CEO, Vas Narasimhan, at one of the world’s biggest and fastest-growing tech conferences, Collision, and supplemented by coverage across media such as FastCo and WIRED, which ensured the narrative was seen and heard by Novartis’ new target audience. Extensive LinkedIn activity made certain that the message spread across networks to reach tech talent.
The fully integrated campaign encompassed media, social activations, events, internal comms and recruitment activities. Most importantly, results included an influx of high calibre new candidates to Novartis’ Global Talent Acquisition team who ultimately joining the business.
So far, this campaign has been awarded ‘Best Branded Journalism at the 2021 EMEA SABRE Awards and B2B Campaign of the Year at the UK Content Awards 2021.
