Brand development and marketing communications helped the White Rose Health Innovation Partnership create an immediately credible and professional presence amongst its key audiences.
The brief
The White Rose Health Innovation Partnership (WR HIP) was one of the first programmes that brought together academia, industry and clinicians to speed up innovations in healthcare. Set up in 2006, the programme aimed to develop new health technologies and medical devices and to innovate in process and service improvements within the NHS, through a mix of open innovation workshops, proof-of concept funding, CPD projects and health innovation fellowships.
Campus PR was contracted to provide marketing and communications support to the WR HIP, to raise its profile and maximise participation among key target audiences in the region.
Our response
WR HIP involved multiple partners, a number of complex strands and had a short timeframe – just two and half years – to make an impact. Campus PR worked with the programme manager to develop an easily identifiable brand and marketing materials – including a website – which would enable WR HIP to create an immediately credible and professional presence amongst key audiences in the region.
Media relations were kept to a minimum as the majority of the communication took place internally through the partner universities, NHS trusts and industry bodies – encouraging key players to take part in innovation workshops or apply for fellowships.
To enable regular communication with these target groups as the programme progressed, Campus PR produced blogposts, newsletters and a series of technology bulletins, highlighting achievements, new proof of concept projects and forthcoming events. Campus PR also produced a briefing document for Phil Willis MP, then Chair of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, who visited the programme during its second year.
At the completion of the project, Campus PR created a brochure to act as a legacy publication, bringing together the various strands of the WR HIP and highlighting its achievements.
Outcomes
WR HIP was very successful, with leading figures from the project receiving prestigious Innovation Awards – usually reserved for US-based initiatives – from the Edison Innovation Foundation.
The open innovation concept used by WR HIP has since been taken up by a number of other projects both within the region and beyond. Overall it funded 32 proof of concept projects and published major reports on health technology, innovation, procurement and training. The programme also led to the creation of a spin-out company.
While Campus PR had only a small role to play in this success, the tailored support we provided helped ensure WR HIP was able to communicate to its audiences in a timely, appropriate and effective manner.
