BRAND STRATEGY
M arketing in a highly regulated industry doesn’ t have to be boring. Brands that are able to shift their mindsets away from purely functional messaging towards more emotionally resonant storytelling can better prioritise human connection in their marketing strategy – creating marketing campaigns that actually stand out while still achieving regulatory compliance. Taking on tired stereotypes in healthcare marketing is Alberto Hernandez, Chief Growth Officer at Opella – the producer of healthcare products such as Dorflex, Doliprane and Buscopan. Having first taken on the Chief Growth Officer role at Opella in 2022, Alberto is helping Opella build what it refers to as Fast Moving Consumer Health – scientific rigour combined with customer obsession – in order to meaningfully connect with customers.
How do you challenge standard healthcare playbooks when operating in such a heavily regulated sector? Here’ s what I believe: regulation is not the enemy of great marketing. Rigour doesn’ t mean you need to play it safe. Compliance is non-negotiable, of course. But while our industry puts all its focus on regulation risk, we’ re walking straight into another big one.
The risk of failing to connect with consumers at all. That’ s exactly why we’ re building what we call Fast Moving Consumer Health, or FMCH: the scientific rigour of healthcare paired with the speed, relevance and consumer obsession of a great FMCG brand.
Think about how we build clinical credibility today. It’ s careful, it’ s evidencebacked, it’ s grounded in real proof points- mode of action, speed, tolerability. That work is essential and it isn’ t going anywhere. Our recommendations from healthcare professionals, our clinical citations, our regulatory guardrails: these are the foundation. But foundations aren’ t the house. And too often we mistake the foundation for the finished building. Historically, the industry has put the mechanism of action on a billboard and wondered why nobody feels anything or acts. The FMCH mindset says: keep the science exactly as rigorous as it is. Then do the additional work of finding the cultural truth that makes people care. One example I love is from our leading pain brand Dorflex in Brazil. We ran a campaign called‘ The Paid Relief’ that went on to win a Cannes Lion. Now, the easy path, the path we could have defaulted to, would’ ve been another pain-relief commercial. Someone with a backache, a shot of the product, a claim about efficacy, done.
88 November 2026