Frictionless Marketing

“There have been times when my team has proposed something, and I say, ‘Let's do it,’ and then we get blow-back very swiftly. Do you know what we do? We take it down, and we move on. You can't succeed in this realm if you're not willing to fail in this realm.”

Sally Susman is the EVP & Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Pfizer, U.S., where she leads engagement with all of Pfizer’s external stakeholders overseeing Communications, Corporate Responsibility, Global Policy, Government Relations, Investor Relations, and Patient Advocacy. She also serves as Vice Chair of The Pfizer Foundation.

Before joining Pfizer, Sally held several senior Communications and Government Relations roles at Estée Lauder and American Express. Earlier in her career, Sally spent eight years on Capitol Hill focused on international trade issues.

Sally also serves as co-chair of The International Rescue Committee, one of the world's largest humanitarian aid organizations. Sally has been named a Top Voice on LinkedIn, a PRWeek Influencer 50, a PRovoke.com Influence 100 member, and was ranked as number two on FastCompany's Queer 50 List, in addition to many more top industry lists.

Being at the forefront of the fight against COVID with Pfizer's vaccine efforts, the past two years have marked a series of unique challenges for Sally and the Pfizer team, culminating with the brand achieving top ten brand status and becoming a favorable household name across America. In this interview with Lippe Taylor CEO Paul Dyer, Sally discusses these challenges and how she and her team were able to overcome the adversity of the past twenty-four months.

Planning is Important, but Adaptability Moreso

President Eisenhower once said: "In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." The past couple years have been a whirlwind for Sally and the entire Pfizer team, but they weathered the storm and came out as a top ten brand in the world. Sally attributes it to adaptability, stating: "You can write the best plan in the world, but it's really about being able to be nimble and move with what's happening, and planning is a sort of continuous process."

It may be easy to say that Pfizer’s reputation skyrocketed because, well... they kind of saved the world. However, Sally reminds us that Pfizer stood the risk of becoming a political tool when Presidential candidates began making vaccine promises in hotly contested debates and news cycles. There was every opportunity for this to become a year of crisis rather than positivity. According to Sally, Pfizer was able to transform from “a brand with a reputational struggle to a top ten brand” during this time because, in addition to doing the right thing, they were able to dynamically course-correct and modify their plan as it unfolded.

Stay Thirsty, My Friends

After Pfizer was named a top ten brand, Sally's immediate instinct was not to celebrate but to ensure the company didn’t rest on its laurels. “I always think the greatest threat, both externally and culturally, is any sense of self-satisfaction or really arrogance and complacency," she explains. Therefore, instead of allowing the recognition to breed complacency, she challenged her team to keep their foot on the gas. As a result, Pfizer hasn't slowed down its innovation, as evidenced by their recent TikTok campaign combating vaccine misinformation - a first for Pharma. “There have been times when my team has proposed something, and I say, "Let's do it," and then we get blow-back very swiftly. Do you know what we do? We take it down, and we move on. You can't succeed in this realm if you're not willing to fail in this realm,” she explains.

It’s Ok to Own your Narrative

Sally recounts a story where she felt frustrated that media outlets preferred to politicize the vaccine debate rather than publicize the sound byline she had drafted with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla. In the absence of editorial opportunities, Sally and her team decided to publish the byline on their blog. In rubbishing the idea that Pfizer would speed up or down vaccine development to fit a political party’s timeline, the editorial brilliantly stated that Pfizer was moving at the speed of science, thereby sparking a viral wave all on their own. Many news outlets that refused to run the byline were now covering the news cycle generated by Pfizer’s owned media.

Thanks for listening, don’t forget to subscribe & check us out at lippetaylor.com.

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Produced by Simpler Media

In this episode of Frictionless Marketing, host Paul Dyer sits down with Sri Ramaswami, Vice President of US Pharmaceuticals Communications for GSK, to discuss the challenges faced by individuals with chronic illnesses, particularly lupus.

The conversation centers around the moving story of Salathiel, a young woman diagnosed with lupus right after her high school graduation. Sri emphasizes the systemic barriers in healthcare, especially those affecting marginalized communities, and outlines GSK's initiatives to promote health equity, reduce negative social determinants of health, and improve access to quality care.

Sri shares insights into the power of storytelling in creating empathy and driving change and offers valuable advice on remaining adaptable while staying true to one's values in a rapidly evolving industry.

00:00 Introduction to Frictionless Marketing

00:05 A Heartfelt Story of Salathiel's Battle with Lupus

00:54 Sri Ramaswami's Keynote Highlights

02:58 Challenges Faced by Lupus Patients

03:52 Understanding Lupus: Symptoms and Diagnosis

05:31 Systemic Barriers and Health Disparities

06:15 GSK's Initiatives for Health Equity

08:06 Three Pillar Approach to Reducing Barriers

10:09 Advice for Aspiring Professionals

14:07 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Frictionless Marketing is a production from /prompt, the leading earned first creative marketing and communications agency. Grounded in the present, yet attuned to the future.

To learn more about how to make marketing frictionless, purchase Friction Fatigue by /prompt CEO Paul Dyer, online and at booksellers worldwide.

Produced and distributed by Simpler Media Productions.

In this episode of Frictionless Marketing, host Paul Dyer welcomes chats with Amy Atwood, Vice President of Regional Communication and Philanthropy at Takeda Pharmaceuticals. With over 25 years in corporate communications, Amy shares her journey, insights on the evolving pharmaceutical industry, advice for communications professionals, and perspectives on purpose-driven work and DEI.

Together, Paul and Amy recap key themes from the Fierce Pharma PR Communications Summit East, including the impact of AI, storytelling, health equity, and the significance of having communicators at decision-making tables. Moreover, Amy discusses the importance of wellness and reverse mentorship in the workplace.

00:00 Introduction to Frictionless Marketing

00:01 Meet Amy Atwood: A Journey in Corporate Communications

01:01 Key Themes from the Fierce Pharma PR Communications Summit

01:44 The Role of AI in Communications

03:59 Health Equity and DEI in the Pharmaceutical Industry

06:15 The Importance of Communications in Business Strategy

20:20 Crisis Communications: Best Practices and Insights

22:19 Embracing Failures and Learning from Them

23:07 The Future of Communications: Measurement and Analytics

29:10 Wellness and Work-Life Balance for Communicators

32:10 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Frictionless Marketing is a production from /prompt, the leading earned first creative marketing and communications agency. Grounded in the present, yet attuned to the future.

To learn more about how to make marketing frictionless, purchase Friction Fatigue by /prompt CEO Paul Dyer online and at booksellers worldwide.

Frictionless Marketing is a production from /prompt, the leading earned first creative marketing and communications agency. Grounded in the present, yet attuned to the future.

Produced and distributed by Simpler Media Productions.

Lynn Blashford is the Chief Marketing Officer of White Castle, a company she has been with for over a decade. Despite being over 100 years old, White Castle has remained relevant in popular culture. The brand is known for its fun and originality, with collaborations with the Wu-Tang Clan, selling branded silk robes, and even officiating weddings in its restaurants. All a testament to their commitment to outrageous authenticity.

On this episode of Frictionless Marketing, Lynn delves into the inner workings of White Castle's marketing and communication processes, discussing how they continually surprise and delight their fans (known as "Cravers"), and the requirement for marketing teams to spend time working in their restaurants and factories and the thinking behind it.

Here are some key takeaways from this conversation with White Castle CMO, Lynn Blashford.

Create from within.

A key element of White Castle's marketing is it's slogan 'What You Crave.' This phrase came from a customer focus group and ended up governing the majority of their marketing from their commercials to their endearing term for their customers or 'Cravers.' The organic origin of the slogan enabled it to be as effective as it is because it came from a place of authenticity, in this case a truly passionate customer, instead of from an insular marketing brainstorm.

Merge authentic with outlandish.

White Castle did a collaboration with Wu Tang Clan to promote their use of Impossible patties. This feels like a random/left field idea, but in fact, it's the opposite. The Wu Tang Clan grew up going to White Castle in New York and 8 out of the ten members recently turned vegan making this a very meaningful collaboration. With all of the seemingly random and outrageous marketing stunts brands are doing to gain attention in this post-advertising world, authenticity is a critical ingredient for effective campaigns.

Spend time making your own burgers.

Everyone who works for White Castle's marketing team, including agency partners, has to spend time working either in one of their restaurants or in one of their manufacturing plants for their frozen food products. This is brilliant, because it not only ensures a level of compassion and visibility for the manual workers, but it embues each person with the brand from the ground up. As Lynn says, this enables all those who work with White Castle to truly speak the truth about the brand which is what gives it its authenticity.

Thanks for listening! Don’t forget to subscribe and to learn more about us and our agency, visit us at Lippetaylor.com.

Wendy Lund is a women’s health advocate, adviser, and activist with more than 30 years of experience in marketing and communications. After working at Planned Parenthood, the National League of Nursing, and some of the country’s leading healthcare communications firms, Wendy joined Organon, the largest women’s health company of its kind. As Chief Communications Officer, she’s working to change how women’s health is approached, treated, shaped, and especially talked about.

In this conversation with Lippe Taylor CEO Paul Dyer, Wendy gets into her career history, how to merge your passion and purpose with your career, and how the movie Erin Brockovich inspired her approach to leadership.

Here are some key takeaways from this conversation with Wendy.

• Listen. When they were launching, Organon initiated a comprehensive listening tour where they spoke to women everywhere about their unmet healthcare needs. This is rare for healthcare companies, who usually focus on doctors, but Organon's mission is to serve their female patient base as intently as possible, which is why they focused on listening from the day they launched in 140 markets and then made major decisions based on what they found out.

• Take it personally. Wendy cites the movie and true story of Erin Brockovitch as inspiring her approach to bridging her passion with her profession. There's a line where Erin is told she is taking things too personally, to which she replies: "Not personal? That is my time, my sweat, and my time away from my kids—If that's not personal, I don't know what Is." This stuck with Wendy and inspired her approach to her work. Wendy takes her work personally because she takes the mission of helping women across the world personally. Taking it personally has made the difference in pushing through difficulties and complications because, for Wendy, it's a matter of mission. It's cliche, but when your heart is in something, you will naturally work harder and move mountains to achieve it. Finding and, better yet, creating those causes and missions within your career will make all the difference towards your overall impact.

• Just go for it. Wendy cites a tendency for a lot of young professionals to wait for the perfect moment to take the leap, be more ambitious, take on bigger projects, etc. Wendy's advice: just go for it. Regardless of your perceived credentials or qualifications, taking big projects on head-first, regardless of feeling ready, can actually be the catalyst that gives you those very qualifications you want.

Thanks for listening! Don't forget to subscribe, and to learn more about Lippe Taylor, check us out at Lippetaylor.com.

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Produced by Simpler Media