In addition, the agency has scooped a non-profit educational project sponsored by Wyeth, The SEBoD Initiative, a group working to reduce the ‘social and economic burdens of depression’ in the Asia-Pacific region.
The MSD win follows Edelman’s April appointment for the pharmaceutical firm’s oral type 2 diabetes medicine, Januvia.
Lume Liao, MD of Edelman Taiwan, said each pitch was a three-way contest with other Taipei agencies, and attributed the agency’s success to its demonstration of three key abilities.
“For a given pharmaceutical product, a PR company must understand the patient group, the physicians that treat them and the medical association that specialises in that particular disease,” said Liao.
“We need to understand the patient and how to tell their story in the media. For any disease, what causes the most suffering - that is our communication opportunity. Besides the patient insight, the PR company must demonstrate an understanding of how to get third-party endorsement from a medical association.”
Edelman’s work for Wyeth and The SEBoD Initiative rolls out this month with a TV commercial by director Wu Nyan-jen, entitled ‘Finding a path to life’.
