ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the pharmaceutical company executives and refers specifically to product public relations (PR). The pharmaceutical industry is recognizing the power of PR in all stages of the product lifecycle, but particularly prelaunch and at launch. Richard Vaughn has developed a useful analysis, the Foote, Cone & Belding or FCB Grid, which takes into account differences between types of products and the environment in which they are marketed. The cliche about choosing an agency – advertising, PR or whatever — is that consultancy work is a 'people business' with the most important item being the people with whom one specifically deals. The role of the PR consultant is to act as a broker, ensuring that both sides get what they need out of the relationship; thus the consultant takes the client's messages and tailors them into something which the journalist regards as newsworthy. Fees are, however, frequently a bone of contention between PR consultancies and their clients.
