Every healthcare communicator has sat through a meeting in which we believe we are sharing compelling data. Fifty-seven slides later, the audience nods politely, then carries on exactly as before – nothing changes.

Here’s the truth: people don’t change because of what we tell them. They change because of who they watch. Role modelling is one of the oldest forces in human behaviour, and one of the most underused in our industry, client-side and agency-side alike. It works because it is deeply human: we look to each other for courage, reassurance and permission to try.

In the 1960s, psychologist Albert Bandura showed that people learn by watching others, especially those they see as similar or credible. His famous experiments had children copying adults who attacked a Bobo doll. If you’ve ever watched a team react to their competitors, this will feel strangely familiar.

Bandura found we copy behaviour when we can see it, believe we could do it ourselves and see it rewarded. That middle ingredient, self-efficacy, sits at the heart of most health behaviour.

This is why facts alone rarely work. Patients may know daily adherence matters, yet treat their medication like a gym membership: full of good intentions, rarely used (I’ve been there!). Seeing someone with the same condition, the same chaotic life and the same doubts succeed turns ‘you should’ into ‘people like you do’.

Role models already appear across the patient and professional journey, often without a name badge:

• Patient ambassadors – real patients sharing how they started treatment, handled side effects or spoke up with their doctor can reduce fear and stigma. Nobody believes a patient who looks fresh from a shampoo advert

• Peer clinicians – GPs and consultants listen to respected colleagues far more than to brand claims. One trusted peer explaining how eligible patients are identified is worth a dozen detail aids

• Carers and families – in dementia or childhood illness, the carers are often the real decision-makers. Show them coping well and others will follow.

The sweet spot is relatable enough to feel real and successful enough to inspire. Too perfect, and audiences roll their eyes. Too ordinary, and they’re forgotten before the ad break ends.

People copy leaders far more than policies, as the 40-page SOP nobody has opened since 2019 proves.

A leader who checks claims carefully, credits medical colleagues and keeps patients at the centre of every meeting shapes culture better than any compliance module. On the agency side, if the creative director treats regulatory feedback as useful rather than a personal attack, the whole studio learns to do the same.

This is something I believe in deeply. From my own personal perspective, I know how much it matters to see someone in your likeness already doing what you hope to do. People rarely aim for a role they can’t picture themselves in. When they see someone like them leading, presenting or winning the pitch, the impossible starts to look like a plan.

Small moments matter most: how a leader handles a mistake, a tough question from a doctor, or a client who wants the logo to be bigger. In the end, behaviour is the message.

We all know the codes. The harder question is whether our role models are allowed to be human:

• Show the struggle, not just the highlights – patients who’ve never had a bad day aren’t role models; they’re a brochure

• Make representation real – one diverse face on a stock-photo slide changes nothing. Across Europe, audiences need to see many ages, cultures and backgrounds, again and again

• Look after your role models – visible patients and leaders carry a load. Support them, and don’t make them your only answer.
Over-polish a role model and the magic disappears.

People rarely change because they’re told to. They change because they see someone they relate to do it first, and do it well.

Choose role models carefully, tell their stories truthfully and model the right behaviour in your own teams. Lead with heart as well as evidence, and remember there is a person behind every data point. Do that, and you won’t just communicate change. You’ll make it contagious, in the only way our industry fully approves of.