Media360 + Medical Communications

2014 closed out with a lovely trip to San Francisco where our company attended the American Society for Hematology’s annual conference. We were there on location shooting some internal pieces for a few of our clients in pharma, and took the opportunity to do some trend-spotting.

ASH has always been known as one of those conferences where attendees and exhibitors come suited and booted with an eye on having the greatest impact possible, and this year was no exception.

What was most evident this year was the sheer amount of eye candy in the form of digital displays showing an array of animations—both the 2D motion-graphics-type stuff to communicate data, new products, etc, and the classic 3D medical illustrations of animated cell processes or demonstrations of how a drug interacts on a cellular level. What really piqued my interest is how sales and marketing professionals are starting to incorporate multiple types of media (video of doctor interviews or testimonials, animated decks, video captured through imaging equipment, tablet presentations and apps) for more engaging and captivating bits of communication.

What appears to be taking place is the media 3.0 revolution, or Media360 as I like to call it. Corporations have traditional digital media such as graphics, video, animations, web content etc. Then there is all the dry, clinical stuff like whitepapers, clinical trial studies and the accompanying data reports, quarterly reports, more data, more reports, reports and reports.

The Media360 approach takes all forms of the aforementioned digital communication and media, and, through a filtering process of editing and digital distillation creates a series of unifying and engaging visual communications. The end-product can be delivered in several forms, ranging from the common video on the screen to the internal powerpoint to animated presentations to visually dynamic iPad tools for the trade show floor or conference room.

This is definitely an exciting time to be a nimble, forward-thinking content producer. While my company may have entered into the medical communications industry through video work, more and more often we’re leveraging our skills in graphic design, layout, editing, publishing and content development to build a variety of products for our clients. Video production is now just half of what we do.

We’re adapting. Are you?