Establishing KOL Relationships to Build Market Credibility
The Situation
As a new player in diabetes, our client needed to build KOL relationships to gain expert insight while building presence and credibility in the market. But as a startup, it lacked the expertise and connections to build these relationships.
Our Approach
We leveraged our deep expertise and reputable connections in the category to build a KOL strategy and help recruit top key opinion leaders (KOLs)—people who were diverse and respected within the category, who then became brand advocates and brought in their trusted colleagues.
Our healthcare compliance specialist, with expertise in all 50 states, ensured the clients were compliant every step of the way, consulting on each KOL’s fair market value as well as ensuring compliant Sunshine Act reporting to the government each year.
We also coached our clients on how best to interact with these KOLs so they could establish their own connections, ultimately leading to long-term partnerships. Likewise, our KOL specialist and brand strategist developed an Advisory Board engagement plan so that the client had continuous touchpoints with each of the Advisory Board members.
THE RESULT
We successfully recruited a Scientific Advisory Board with well-known market experts. We also helped create a second advisory board unique to the category: a Certified Diabetes Care & Education Specialist Advisory Board.
Members of these advisory boards brought instant HCP expertise and credibility to the brand via speaking engagements, advising on confidential topics, as content creators, and being on-screen advocates in videos.
