CASE STUDY: PFLUENT
Creative Brief - in Brief
Industry:
Niche:
Audience:
Company Vision:
Competitive Challenge:
Research Insights:
Recommended:
Bioscience
Medical & Bioscience Writing
High Level Clinical Research Decision Makers
Address current shortcomings in clinical trial research by providing high level clinical trial design insights, technical expertise with sound medical and bioscience information in infectious disease, oncology and immunology.
Bioscience writing requires a highly specialized medical language skill set plus deep subject knowledge in equal proportion to pragmatism applicable to procedural directives. Quality medical science writing is never more critical than in drug development contexts rife as it is with extreme risk factor potential. The source of clinical trial drug development costs or/and resultant failures are frequently attributed to protocols and supplementary materials lacking experienced perspectives. Bringing together a group of veteran writers equipped with strong medical science research and health care backgrounds is the best way to bridge the knowledge gap between scientific discovery and in the trenches research.
An overarching trend in clinical research has seen writing functions shift to CROs (Contract Research Organizations). CROs can 'bundle' a number of clinical research services with discount incentives to engage sponsor companies in comprehensive programming to satisfy budget requirements. Unfortunately, Bioscience writing is an oft underserved CRO department known for placement of writers seeking initial industry experience. As a result, qualified writers are found elsewhere. A certain mythology surrounds their reputation which stems from networks embedded within an undercurrent of drug-to-market rites of passage stories that include writers whose contribution is known to be central to such successes. Enter the consultancy.
Build a company narrative around a mythology that feels as essential and plain and as tedious as medical writing may seem for the outsider. Developing two notions seemingly at odds with one another will create a perceptual tension that serves a certain company character as embodied in the writer persona:
1. A scrivener of sorts entangled deep in the weeds of letters, words and order and occupied in the defining lingual constructs of medical and bioscience writing.
2. A rapt alchemistic reveling in novel discoveries such that his craft in recording it and arranging it (ideas surrounding information) feels natural and fluid, reflecting profound naturally driven enthusiasm.
Far from overt, these two characteristics must be implied through subtlety in visual and textual messaging to exude the gravity of the industry.
A Convenient Meme
A convenient meme was ready-made to exploit that was reinforced in the space by impressions (text & image) culled from a short list of competitors. We constructed messaging around medical science fluency – a slight shift toward linguistic topics turning professional focus to translational competency making development of the caricature cross domain conversant. We were sure that they would choose Fluent Dynamics, one of our top finalists; it was strong, conceptually on point and it was available in .com. A second, Pfluent, was pitched alongside it with the expectation it would be perceived as too edgy or hip for contexts that typified the industry...but they loved it and Pfluent was born.
Pulling it back far enough from the edge to maintain the prudence in supporting perception of professional solemnity, we experimented with Fluid Dynamics concepts to capitalize on the potency of measured and measurable dynamics of this sort of endeavor. From there a pithy pathway formed leading to the main claim through which we felt we could further humanize the company image.
Messaging
Translating Bioscience into R & D-inglish
Top level messaging. Company tagline
We ran with a few choice concepts addressing pfluency where crossovers of bioscience writing and lingual pragmatism posited sound information for familiar reader-practitioners.
Though witticisms spilt out at every turn we aimed to scrupulously employ the more sophisticated of them in web and print collaterals, keeping others in reserve for possible business engagement efforts down the road.
Visual
Standard logo
The visual brand styles guide specifies use-case for placement, back-ground, color and tonal ranges for web, social media, print, ads and signage.
A custom photo shoot of high quality paper was done of running water down the printed face. "ink running down the page to market" was a message used to convey the benefit of Pfluent's impact prospectively
The heavy conceptual lifting fell to development of visual brand assets starting with the visual identity which kickstarts the arc of the company narrative. It is an ironic symbol meant to satisfy audience notions of what medical science writing may seem at first blush; black words on white paper situated in some modern scribe-like, stolid and studied atmosphere. The strategy allowed us to identify common conceptual ground that in turn furthered the plot allowing the leap into authorial (pfluid/pfluent) dynamics giving the company a competitive advantage.
What the pf...
Standard Helvetica Bold gives the logo heft making it pfeel, pfirm and substantial. Beholden to the page yet not quite contained in it, Science is in possession of weighty matter buoyed by some dynamic of its own. This necessary conpfluence of the discoverable universe is an active thing reaching all pfacets of clinical research at every juncture, stage and pfase.
No need to belabor this incidental reinpforcment of the brand. Using 'pf' wherever an ‘f’ word would be expected is a hiccup...a reflexive response to anomaly and intuitively understood without much effort on the reader's part that pfixes the company brand pfurther with each encounter.
Company promotion self mailer - Print collateral
Web
About page.
references to company culture and reach
Visitor Engagement content.
News, resources, learning and recruitment.
Landing page.
Rotating hero image [brand] messaging reinforcement calling out competency, work flow/processes and impact
