It does appear that the pandemic has changed our priorities. Time for reflection, the realisation of our personal and economic vulnerabilities, combined with some significant events, have almost certainly been important catalysts. When asked which societal problems have become more or less important, perhaps not surprisingly, ‘improving our healthcare systems’ sees the biggest increase in importance. This is followed by ‘addressing poverty in my own country’, ‘improving education systems’, ‘addressing climate change’ and ‘finding ways to combat fake news’. To me that gives pharma some significant targets where we are well placed to show our commitment and make a difference. It also provides opportunities at a brand level, as well as corporate. Of course, taking a lead does not mean doing it alone. Business still needs to partner with other key stakeholders, including government whose trust void we are helping to fill.

Another important insight is that people are now more likely to trust local societal leaders such as their own employer or people in their local community. Specialists (scientists, academics, tech experts) also remain trusted spokespeople. This would suggest that communication campaigns will resonate well if they deliver locally, recognise local differences and use local specialist opinions alongside peer-to-peer influence. Does this put another dent in the justification for inflexible global campaigns? Should we engage more with local community groups/networks which we can see have already helped deliver a real difference in areas such as HIV?

The Barometer compares trust among the informed public (defined by age, education, income and engagement) and the mass population. Never before has the gap been wider. Similarly, there is increasing concern about inequality related to healthcare. People see the economic and health impact of the pandemic distributed unevenly, with those who have less being burdened with the greatest sacrifices. It certainly does not seem inconceivable that the former is, in part, a consequence of the latter. Society working harder to reduce these inequalities is another challenge business can surely help address.
And for communicators, recognising these insights in our strategies, audience segmentation and messaging can only help enhance impact.

Trust in traditional information sources (search engines, traditional media, social media) has seen a significant drop during the pandemic and is now at an all-time low. As communicators we therefore need to develop trustworthy content, communicating the facts with a high degree of empathy. We have already mentioned that employer media has become the most believed source, so does this guide us to consider how we partner more closely with employers on disease awareness and public health campaigns? Is there an increasing role for occupational health, for example?

For business there are significant partners who want to be involved and are now recognised as the most important group for company success – employees. Employees and consumers both expect to have a metaphorical ‘seat at the table’ in terms of helping shape corporate direction and responsibility. With activism on the rise in the workplace and among consumers and shareholders, there is not just a benefit of engaging well with employees, there is actually a real potential danger in not doing so effectively.

The desire of employees to have an active role in helping shape the future of the companies and sectors in which they work is also something the HCA has heard strongly among Future Leaders in healthcare communications, and you can read more about this on page 34.

Despite identified concerns post-pandemic around mental health, job losses, inequality, climate change, global supply changes and of course fear of it happening again, there remains a positive outlook. 64% felt ‘as horrible as it is, this pandemic will lead to valuable innovations and changes for the better in how we live, work and treat each other’. And for me, that’s where I hope pharma, the healthcare communications sector and me as an individual can all take an active role in helping to make this a reality.