In June this year, the First All-Russian Pharmaceutical Run finished in St. Petersburg, which quickly gained popularity among bloggers, journalists, representatives of the professional and patient communities, authorities and other national health goals that are not indifferent to the problems. Following the large-scale campaign, “Farmhod” started in the Ministry of Health of Bashkiria in support of drug supply issues and “Smart-Run” – a charity project for the prevention of cancer. This indicates the recognition of the concept and the successful implementation of the main mission of the project – to attract public attention and popularize key ideas for the development of the industry. Anna Plesovskikh and Andrei Belov, organizers of the 1st All-Russian Pharmaceutical Run, shared the history of the project and plans for the future.
Interviewed: Svetlana Avilkina, blogger, copywriter, participant of the I All-Russian Pharmaceutical Run
– Anna, Andrei, tell us how the idea of Farm Run was born? When did you start the project?
– Anna Plessovskikh: On the one hand, this idea has deep roots, because often the press is not immersed in the process of industry issues, in particular, in pharmaceutical production. It is very important to open this new world to her and on the “earth” to show the specifics of the activity and the challenges. On the other hand, the idea is simple and perhaps even ingenious in that the rally format was chosen as a tool for delivering information. Indeed, when we begin to discuss with the media topical industry topics in a specific city that necessarily has its own regional characteristics, this gives us an impetus to solve certain pressing problems not in isolation from reality, but at specific enterprises or in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation .
Pharmaceutical Run itself is a global press tour. The very form of its holding fits well with the possibility of organizing events. When we travel through our beautiful country and drop into pharmaceutical production, we can simultaneously talk with the patient community, organize a charity line, conduct business events on sensitive and exciting topics of the professional community. Within this format, you can afford a lot, and we were convinced of this when organizing the First All-Russian Pharmaceutical Run.
– Andrei Belov: The very idea came in the winter evening on New Year’s Eve in December 2018, when we returned from a business meeting to work and talked about the fact that we have a great desire to do something new, interesting and useful for the industry, the state and our country. Active implementation of the project began in early April.
– This is a fairly short time. How did you manage to implement the new project on such a scale?
– Anna Plessovsky: We did not have state support, and we understood that the entire burden on this project would fall on partnership opportunities. We launched the PR campaign in mid-February, and by this time we had already made the official website of Farmproge. At the same time, we did not know whether the project itself would be implemented, because we were looking for funds to the last. I will not hide, there were periods of despair when hands really dropped. In one of these periods, I was very strongly supported by my son, who drew an analogy with the cult film “Cards, Money, Two Trunks”, the output of which hung in the balance due to the lack of sponsors. “Just think that your project is from the same series. And then everything will work out, ”he said.
And really, it turned out. In early April, it became clear that there are partners who are ready to support the idea, who are inspired by the idea. Thanks to them, we were able to organize a successful campaign. Of course, as an organizer of events with great experience, I understand that such projects should be created clearly, systematically, throughout the year. After all, when you work in an emergency mode, then you put all your strength, resources and capabilities on the altar of this project. Still, it is important to maintain a balance between personal and work, in order to harmoniously do what you love and not to forget to enjoy life.
– In addition to partner support, what helped with the preparation of the Farm Run?
– Andrei Belov: Anna and I can work quickly, efficiently and, most importantly, efficiently, as we are both perfectionists in everything. It’s not a secret from our environment that it is our work in tandem that brings such high results.
– Anna Plesovsky: Yes, looking back, I understand that we worked at incredible speeds. And in a very short time we were able to implement a large-scale project, which we learned about far beyond the borders of the regions in which Pharmaceutical Run took place. And we are happy to follow the news. For example, in Bashkortostan, a pharmaceutical farm passed after us. Many began to turn to this format. Farm run became the first sign that will launch large-scale campaigns across Russia to attract public attention to various problems in order to find effective solutions, and in this sense we have already become trendsetters.
– And what were the difficulties? How did you overcome them?
– Anna Plesovskikh: It’s difficult to convey an idea to a person that has never been implemented, and this is the biggest difficulty in this project.
– Andrey Belov: Yes, the main obstacles were associated with this. The event is new, therefore both partners and participants were very wary of the project and were in no hurry to provide support and take part in it. Many preferred to first see how the first Farm Run will take place.
– Anna Plesovsky: Some at first agreed, and then ceased to believe in this idea. Unfortunately, this happened, and sometimes it was alarming and difficult for us. But sometimes, when an idea comes, you no longer have power over it, because the whole world suddenly starts to help you. And so it happened: after many failures and obstacles that we encountered on our way, suddenly a number of people extended a helping hand and did it wholeheartedly, and in this sense this is the most vivid and significant victory.
It is those who supported us who clearly realize how important it is to be in a single information field with all participants in this large and systemic healthcare market: the patient community, the medical community, regulators and the entire pharmaceutical industry. When those who believed in the success of the project started working with us, everything turned out quite easily. Many have already seen this most beautiful result. We thank for the help and solidarity of those who helped us, and look forward to further support and participation in our future projects.
– Let’s move on to the event itself. I All-Russian Pharmaceutical Run: how successful was it?
– Anna Plesovsky: Honestly, I could not even imagine that this event will shoot so successfully and will be so strong in its content, essence, content, depth. Many perceived this format as a kind of “fan”, fun. But we managed to work out also a deep content. These are business events aimed at the most pressing topics of the pharmaceutical industry and the health system as a whole. This is a patient survey we are conducting, and it already shows serious results, which we are ready to demonstrate at all industry events of the next business season. Of course, the most important thing that was possible was to build all organizational logistics in jewelry, to calculate in advance all the points of collection, stops and the beginning of events. Almost everything went according to the perfect schedule, with one small exception. We were not late, everyone was distinguished by reliability, composure, openness. The pharmaceutical run was very successful, and this is the challenge for the next year – to be able to surpass this event. Given all the difficulties that we overcome during the preparation, this result is worth a lot.
– Andrey Belov: In my opinion, and in the opinion of our partners and participants who returned to us with feedback, the event was held for a solid 5. The team that helped in organizing the project was real professionals with extensive experience in organizing various business events, so the organization and logistics were worked out at the highest level. And this is the most important for those who directly participated in the run. The schedule was crazy, slept for three hours, and at 6-7 in the morning they were going on the road again.
– What’s new next year?
– Andrey Belov: There is already an understanding of what the second Pharmaceutical Run will be like. I don’t want to open all the cards at once, I’ll just say that the run will already be with international participation, and perhaps we will even be able to visit the EAEU countries.
– Anna Plessovsky: We will now think over the route, and several options at once, most likely there will be three. We will determine which one will be implemented next year. However, this will depend on a number of parameters, and, perhaps, we will arrange a vote, discussions with the industry itself. In addition, we would very much like to introduce the medical line in our format of the Farm Run, since we believe that the social component should be very serious. Together with the International Patient Organization, we are discussing the idea that, during a business event, as part of the next Pharmaceutical Run, a leading physician in his field work in parallel, who could receive patients. Most likely, this will be implemented in a mobile format, which we already appreciated in Kaluga when we visited the mobile mammological center.
The business program was powerful this year, and we will only strengthen this line and the presence of experts at the round tables, briefings and press conferences that we hold. Of course, we will continue to open for us those regions in which there is pharmaceutical production, and show that the result of the pharmaceutical industry in Russia is a quality product and affordable medicines.
– What is your most vivid memory of Farm Run?
– Anna Plessovsky: The most vivid memories are the people who have been with us all this time. When organizing, I thought about something completely different: how to invite strong speakers, how to organize people, which regions to visit. When you deal with purely organizational issues and solve operational problems every day, which fly at all the speed of light, you don’t think that you will become a real family with those people with whom you will go on this trip. It happened so with us, and tears come to our eyes from the fact that we have become united by this event. I understand that the unity of opinions, views, a common impulse are simple and worldly things. Thanks to Farm Run that he showed this side of life, where joint trips unite sometimes very different people.
– Andrei Belov: I agree that I was most impressed that in such a short time we became a large and friendly family, we were all a single team, we helped each other in everything, and we did everything in time. And also our partners from the Generium company gave us an evening surprise – a live concert by Vlad Topalov, which they kept secret until the last. It was very powerful.
– Anna Plessovsky: Yes, besides people there were a lot of bright events. This is the wonderful opening of the Farm Run in Kazan and the hospitality of the Republic of Tatarstan. This is a visit to the House of Veterans of War and Labor near Nizhny Novgorod, a concert of the 7B band soloist Ivan Demyan, tears in the eyes of everyone present. This is an interesting meeting with Denis Chetverikov from AKRIKHINA in a beautiful country hotel. This is the birthday of the head of the contract research organization X7 Research Sergey Simeniv. On his birthday in a Kaluga hotel, we accidentally met world stars: Mick Jager’s nephew, Led Zeppelin, Guns N ‘Roses, who staged an impromptu concert in the hotel’s courtyard. This is just an amazing combination of circumstances. And the aforementioned arrival of Vlad Topalov in support of Farm Run – it was a wonderful gift from the Generium company.
This is also a motor rally through wonderful historical Russia, which we fed on the Golden Ring from Vladimir Region to Yaroslavl, and saw the inner heart of Russia. This was especially a great discovery for those who have not been to these cities. These wonderful memories will remain in our memory for a long time.
– What have you been doing professionally lately besides Farm Run?
– Anna Plessovsky: I have been working in communications one way or another all my conscious life, so I understand how important it is to build effective communications both within the company and in the public environment . Today I realize that I have grown professionally to the point where I can share this knowledge, skills and competencies with other people. Therefore, I went to study as a business coach in order to receive a certified diploma and already have the opportunity to professionally act as a coach and teach building effective communications, including in the medical and pharmaceutical sectors.
I am surprised at the approach in companies, in which an unprofessional person is put in the position of a PR manager or communicator. And this, unfortunately, happens all the time. I finished my specialty at the University of Public Relations, and I remember how gradually we were laid down all the construction mechanisms, all the keys and tools for effective communication. This is a serious large base, which is given through education. One cannot demand anything from a person if he is not competent and does not have basic professional knowledge.
But if you consciously take a person with a non-core education, then you understand that you will purposefully invest in it, develop it, and train it. This happened when I formed my departments in the companies where I worked. I understood that I can teach a person because he is flexible, we train, he has a high potential. However, it will be necessary to devote at least three months of their focal attention in order to develop the professional platform that is necessary for working in this area.
Today, working in the information field, the ability to build public communications is extremely important for all companies, without exception. It’s not only functional departments of communications and PR, it is all those who somehow build communication with the external environment: sales departments, marketing. Therefore, in addition to being a PR manager and communicator, I am a coach, I teach people professional skills and qualities that they will definitely need. This is the direction that I have been working on lately and which will focus my attention in the near future.
– Andrey Belov: I am a universal player, doing everything that interests me. For a very long time he worked in a leading mobile operator, then on television, then in the plumbing area, at the State Institute of Medicines and Good Practices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia. Where to go? We’ll see, but I know one thing – it will be incredibly interesting.
– The inter-industry association PHARMPROBEG is only about a motor rally?
– Andrey Belov: Of course not. Even the name itself contains the word “intersectoral”, which speaks of a global mission to unite various industries, not only pharmaceutical, for the good of our country, the well-being of people and, most importantly, their health.
– Anna Plesovskikh: Farm run itself is just our flagship event, which we will hold annually. This project for me personally is a chance and an opportunity to remain a playing PR manager and organizer of great events, and it will be key in terms of image.
The FARMMPROBEG intersectoral association is much more, because the market is quite common practice when a company has a key annual event, and the rest of the time the company has other types of services in its portfolio. Already now you can look at our website and make sure that we also offer services in the form of trainings that are specifically dedicated to the communicative sphere. The second direction is an investment product of the banking industry, the competition “Regions – Sustainable Development”, which we announced back this spring.
– What is the future of Pharmaceutical Run and the intersectoral association as a whole?
– Anna Plessovsky: Life is a mystery to us all, and predicting the future is not thankful. Nevertheless, judging by the requests received after the Farm Run, I understand that we are valued as good PR managers, smm-shchikov, including. And part of the requests goes to outsourcing these functions in pharmaceutical companies. We are pleased to consider these proposals, we are open to this.
– Andrey Belov: I am a positive person, and I see the future in a positive light too. I am sure that all the projects that we are engaged in and will be engaged in will become successful, as they come from the heart. These are PR projects, events, and our new direction – the organization and conduct of communication trainings.
– Anna Plesovskikh: Regarding Farm Run – I have no doubt that he should be, live and develop. We see the interest of the pharmaceutical clusters that we visited during the trip, special economic zones, companies and many public organizations. I have no doubt that this good work will be continued and will be developed in future years. Time flows, changes, and therefore it is important to meet the new needs of life. Therefore, Andrei and I always keep abreast. It is important for us to make interesting live projects, and this is in demand in our country, because we mostly value professionals. I have a very bright and positive vision of the future, and I invite all partners who are close in spirit to bring this future to life, enjoy life, create success and always be on the crest of a wave.
Anna and Andrei express special thanks:
– Dmitry Chagin, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers of the Eurasian Economic Union.
– Ramil Khabriev, supervisor of the Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution National Institute of Public Health named after N. A. Semashko “
– Victor Dmitriev, General Director of the Association of Russian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers.
– Victoria Presnyakova, Executive Director of SRO Association of Independent Pharmacies.
– Olga Vostrikova, Chairperson of the International Patient Union.
– Albert Gaifullin, President of the PharmMedPolis Republic of Tatarstan cluster
– Marina Zinina, Director of the Center for Cluster Development of JSC Technopark of St. Petersburg
– Svetlana Shumai, Deputy Department for the Development of Cluster Initiatives and Projects of the Agency for Innovative Development – Center for Cluster Development of the Kaluga Region
– Varvara Kazhberova, Director of the Medical Institute of Public Health
– Dmitry Kudlai, General Director of Generium
– Peter Rodionov, General Director of GEROPHARM
– Valentina Buchneva, Head of Eurasia Business Unit, Bosnalek LLC
– Sergey Simeniev, head of the contract research organization X7 Research
– Denis Chetverikov, president of AKRIKHIN
– Ilya Wesker, Director for Government Relations Takeda Russia
– Alexei Martynov, Director of Government Relations at X-TECH
– German Inozemtsev, chief editor of the newspaper, Internet portal and television Pharmaceutical Bulletin