One of the things I enjoyed most about this year’s PM Society PMi Awards was the sheer breadth of the community in the room.
The evening was, of course, about celebrating brilliant work and the people behind it – but looking around at the sponsors, finalists and conversations taking place, it also felt like a useful snapshot of how quickly our industry is changing.
Alongside the familiar mix of pharmaceutical companies and agencies were organisations such as Doceree, ADVANCE AI, Accenture Song Life, M3, Sermo, Precision AQ, G-Med, DP Factori, Digitas Health London, Space & Time Health and others whose businesses are increasingly built around data, platforms, technology and insight. Their growing presence matters. These organisations are becoming part of the infrastructure through which we understand audiences, plan campaigns, engage healthcare professionals and learn what is happening in something much closer to real time.
That does not mean technology is replacing creativity, agencies or human judgement – quite the opposite. The exciting opportunity is what happens when we bring them together. Better data should help us ask better questions, understand people more deeply and make better decisions. The point is not more data. The point is better clarity. And increasingly, generic approaches simply do not make sense when different HCPs, patients, payers and healthcare systems experience very different pressures and barriers.
This feels particularly important as pharmaceutical marketing becomes more closely connected with medical affairs, market access and commercial strategy. Success is less about simply communicating more and increasingly about understanding where the real opportunity lies – the right treatment, for the right population, in the right market, supported by evidence and engagement that are genuinely useful. Healthcare professionals are already working in incredibly pressured, time-poor environments. Our job should be to make their lives easier, not add another layer of noise.
That is why the PMi Awards feel particularly relevant right now. They celebrate innovation, but they also bring together a community that is learning how to work differently. Pharma, agencies, consultancies, data businesses and technology platforms all have something to contribute – and, increasingly, something to learn from one another.
A huge thank you to all of this year’s sponsors, entrants, judges and attendees for making the evening what it was. The best part of awards nights is always the celebration, but perhaps the most valuable part is the conversation they start afterwards.
Stephen Page, PM Society Board Member