It's getting hot in here...

Hello and welcome to the monthly newsletter from The Health House - the network of specialist health agencies. 

As we swelter in the current UK heatwave, we bring you the latest news and mood check from across the network, as well as recommendations for the books, articles and podcasts we’re enjoying over the summer. Plus, read on to meet our Member of the Month - the newly-crowned 2024 Healthcare Communiquétor of the Year, James Harper.

News and updates

• It’s been a big month for THH members at the Communique Awards. Congratulations to James Harper from 28B for winning 2024 Healthcare Communiquétor of the year, and also to Stirred who picked up two gongs - one for Small Consultancy of the Year and the Pro Bono Campaign of the Year. And for one of our members who didn’t win, apparently getting to meet Claudia Winkleman was almost as good!
• Here at THH we’re all about teaming up to deliver brilliant results, so let’s hear it for a fantastic THH collab: medcomms superstars The Salve teamed up with audience engagement experts Open Audience to deliver a fully remote interactive workshop for a psychiatry client.
• Camino is growing, adding 3 news members this month to bring them up to a baker’s dozen of 13. 
• TRAFIK has won a global oncology client in partnership with Create Health. Founder Gyuri Ruisz says, “It's great to see that collaboration within THH isn't limited to the founders—our teams seem to enjoy working together under the THH ethos too.”

The Health House monthly mood check

Our agency owners are currently feeling 4 out of 5 on a scale of 😬 to  🥳 , holding steady from last month. In addition to some welcome summer sunshine, our reasons to be cheerful include:

• Amazing recognition at the Communique Awards and added another great new team member.  
• New work won, pipeline healthy, the sun is shining!
• Finally some exciting proposals are turning into projects.
• I love to see how active the THH WhatsApp channel is. I learn something new every day, and there are always 3 answers to any question within a few minutes.
• Industry seems to be picking up. We're seeing a busier time, with various requests. 
• Signs that the new Government are serious about harnessing the UK life sciences sector as an engine for economic growth - fingers crossed this comes to fruition!

Eyes and ears

Recommendations from our members for this month include:

• WATCH Nudgestock July 5th available on demand. “Rory Sutherland and Tara Austin being amazing as usual and a plethora of fascinating talks in the field of behavioural science.”
• LISTEN: Acquired podcast - “The presenters are painfully "crypto-bro" in the earlier episodes, but their latest 2-parter on the story of Microsoft was great.”
• READ: Pricing Creativity from Blair Enns. “It is a very practical, and useful book about pricing beyond the billable hour.”

Out and about

As to be expected, it’s a bit quiet over the height of summer. Here are a couple of things on our members’ radars.

• MAPS (the Medical Affairs Professional Society) are running what should be a fascinating free webinar on Friday 9th August 10-11am EST titled “Applying Data Visualization, Storytelling, and Interactivity in Medical Affairs: What Journalism Can Teach Us”
• Advance notice - Look out for an NHS Hackathon Round Table in September, organised by Create Health
• And keep your eyes on the THH Whatsapp group for our casual summer drinks, coming soon!

Through the keyhole - James Harper, Founder and MD, 28b

Describe what your agency does in 50 words or less

We help Pharma empower field teams with content, tools and data, enabling them to orchestrate exceptional customer experiences and improve sales performance.

With the backlog of patients and a shortage of HCPs it is now a moral imperative that value is delivered at every customer engagement. We see a world in which field teams are valued as trusted advisors by HCPs, where the insights they collect are used to build organisational knowledge around those customers and supercharge omnichannel activities, ensuring customer engagement excellence across all channels and functions.

What's been your best day as an agency leader? Or what would a really great day be like for you?

The day we were profitable enough that we could afford a portfolio of industry leading employee benefits. 

What's been your worst day as an agency leader? Or what would a really bad day be like?

The day we lost 67% of our revenue when our two main clients moved to a central outsourced content factory model.

Where do you find inspiration?

Being curious about other people, their lives, ambitions and challenges. 

What piece of recent work are you most proud of?

Leading the AstraZeneca US digital field content transformation project. We were awarded it remotely and without competition after they sent us an email via our website, and we’re now supporting 8 brands and the field medical team over there. 

If you weren't doing this, what would you be doing instead?

I am most happy working with my hands and if I had a “do over” then I would love to have been a model maker for movies (Adam Savage is my absolute hero). 

What's your favourite curry?

Chicken Madras.

Want to find out more about The Health House, hire our member agencies or apply to join? Drop us a line knockknock@thehealth.house 

See you next month!