PhRMA

The Case

PhRMA supplies Americans with vital health information about affordable, life-saving drugs.

When the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) initially hired Deveney Communication, the full-service public relations firm was one of many PR agencies. Each agency represented individual states scattered across the country and was responsible for increasing awareness at the state level of the trade group and how it provides much-needed medications to those who are ill. PhRMA initially selected Deveney to secure media coverage only in Louisiana. After only a few months of working on these two states, PhRMA was impressed enough to tap Deveney to lead the campaign on a national level, coordinating all statewide efforts.

The Strategy

Deveney significantly advanced PhRMA’s image and organizational objectives in each state through:

  • Strategic Analysis and Planning
  • Media relations
  • Message development
  • Issues management
  • Materials development
  • The Deveney Communication National Health PR Network

Deveney secured national media coverage conservatively valued at $35 million, an amount equivalent to buying about 227 full page, full-color ads in the health care section of The New York Times, which would fill the entire Tuesday NYT “Science Times” section for 23 weeks.

Deveney knew how important this campaign’s messages were. This campaign needed to secure coverage across the country in targeted communities on a weekly basis. To achieve this goal, Deveney targeted PhRMA’s different audiences by revising messages individually for each group. For example, information about heart disease and heart disease medication was customized and targeted for the African-American community, a population that suffers from this disease more than any other demographic. This information was accompanied by additional facts about PhRMA, an association that offered access to these medications. Deveney used extensive research to make sure that every targeted audience group received messages that were timely and relevant to them. 

Throughout Deveney’s work with PhRMA, the network was generally comprised of 30 states. The campaigns and the targeted states remained fluid, consistently changing to best match the targeted message, subject, demography and the client’s needs. Each effort was tailored only to states that had a target market appropriate for the information. These states included, but were not limited to: 

The Results

The results of the PhRMA campaign are astounding. Clip-tracking services are never 100 percent effective, so the results have been conservatively estimated.

  • 2,000 positive media placementsthat highlighted PhRMA’s key messages
  • The media placements were conservatively valued at $35 million, which could buy 7,306,889 24-caplet bottles of Tylenol. At this amount, 60 percent of the total U.S. population could pop a Tylenol.
  • The campaigns circulation reached 1.45 billion people, the equivalent of communicating with every person in the U.S. about five times.
  • The campaign’s impressions reached 1.56 billion, a number roughly the size of China, the most populous country in the world.

Deveney secured national media coverage conservatively valued at $35 million, an amount equivalent to buying about 227 full page, full-color ads in the health care section of The New York Times, which would fill the entire Tuesday NYT “Science Times” section for 23 weeks.