Aussie brand experience company assists Galderma Australia to win top award for AsiaPac event
The hybrid education event and clinical training symposium, First Impressions, leveraged streaming and virtual technology to engage with international Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) to present to HCPs right across the JPAC region.
Galderma Australia, through its partnership with Australian brand experience company, Synergy Effect, has been awarded the Global Best Practice Award for innovation in healthcare professionals (HCPs) education following the success of its multi-site, hybrid First Impressions symposium earlier this year.
While the past year saw many brands continue to shy away from major education events and conferences, pharmaceutical industry leader Galderma Australia did just the opposite. Instead of cutting back on its educational programme, Galderma increased investment and created an entirely new way of reaching more HCPs than ever before. The Aussie arm of this global player has received Galderma International’s top award for completely changing the way the company conducts training and knowledge sharing – providing a future-forward event format that can be translated across industries.
The hybrid education event and clinical training symposium, First Impressions, leveraged streaming and virtual technology to engage with international Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) to present to HCPs right across the JPAC region. More than 6,000 delegates located in 15 cities, attended four different events over three days, with presentations from 13 international speakers. The Sydney location was then converted into four training clinics, where HCPs could undertake hands-on training under the highly regarded KOLs’ supervision.
Each live location across the region was hosted by Galderma representatives and had live speaker and audience feedback throughout. Galderma’s Managing Director of ANZ, Ercument (Arj) Ates initiated the decision to deliver the First Impressions campaign launch in March 2022. Arj said “As the industry leader we felt it was our responsibility to commit to an ongoing education programme during COVID-19 to ensure HCPs were kept up to date on the latest products, best practice and applications. So we challenged ourselves to think differently and worked with the team at Synergy Effect to develop a world-first in HCP education, that could be delivered with certainty and adjusted to restrictions in different markets as they adapted.”
Michael Fleck, Director of Synergy Effect said, “Months of planning went into creating the First Impressions launch. There are all sorts of technical layers and expertise required to design a premium multi-dimensional event like this and our 20+ years of experience in satellite broadcasting came to the fore. Our mission control team weren’t on a learning curve like much of the event industry was when COVID hit, so we quickly pivoted in the planning and production stages, bringing together complex audience engagement strategies, with technology solutions. As a result, Galderma has demonstrated an entirely new way of delivering high-quality educational content to engage with large audiences in a meaningful way, along with a high-quality brand experience – providing a future-forward event strategy.”
Live stages integrated into virtual stage environments
Synergy Effect created customised 3D, 360-degree Galderma-branded dynamic sets which blended virtual models with interchangeable backgrounds. Stage integration allowed remote international speakers to be beamed on stage to join in-person presenters for interactive and educational presentations, and healthcare technique demonstrations.
The main stage, located in Sydney, was extended by live event venues in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Auckland, Singapore, Bangkok, Manila, plus high-quality satellite delivery to China audiences, as well as virtual attendance worldwide. A dedicated mobile interface was designed to heighten guest engagement. It was simultaneously accessed by the widely dispersed audience, encouraging real-time conversations, feedback, session contribution and interactivity throughout the three days of the program.
Experiential hubs for educational/brand-engagement activations were incorporated at all live sites, including eye-tracking technology, quiz leader board with live results, a photo booth with virtual projections, live polling, and more. At a time when brands and guests are craving connection, education and fun, these activation solutions really delivered impact. As Arj said, “For the first time ever, HCPs across the JPAC region, from regional towns or non-metropolitan areas, could engage directly with international experts located around the world, and each other, in real-time engagement. The high-touch, high-quality education this symposium delivered ensured HCPs were kept up to date, and their patients were not held back.”
Educational event innovation is good for brand equity
Galderma’s education programmes play a key part in cementing the company’s reputation as an industry leader. “The events we run for HCPs are the most powerful way we interact with our market. It’s why they are always high quality” says Arj. “I knew we had created something special but the noise around the event was way beyond expectation. Unsolicited, guests used words such as magnificent, wonderful, brilliant, incredible, and best-ever – that’s never happened before, particularly on social media.”
“The speakers also claimed it was the most innovative and exciting event at which they’d spoken in the industry. Given how many events some of them do, it was a strong endorsement. And almost immediately after the completion we started receiving requests from HCPs to be invited to the next event.”
“The symposium set the bar to a very high standard that we plan to exceed year on year. Post-event survey showed 99 percent of guests said the experience exceeded/met their expectations, 86 percent said the event exceeded industry standard. It also delivered significant return on investment, with 94 percent of attendees reporting that they will incorporate additional Galderma products into their practice.”
Global award winner First Impressions wasn’t just a winner for the guests, it was also a winner for Galderma in Australia. Galderma’s head office has established a Global Best Practice Award and for the first time, the Australian office won. “This is a major recognition for the team, as they were extremely proud of the event and the results it achieved,” says Arj.
