Discover insights from Kylie Cuff, Global Communications (Vaccines) leader at GSK, on adapting to market changes and co-creating effective pharma comms.
Hello, welcome back! This month I'm delighted to introduce the first in a series of conversations I've held with the cream of pharma communications leaders. There's no one better to kick us off than Kylie Cuff. Currently holding the role of Global Communications (Vaccines) at GSK, she is deeply immersed in a market that faces significant change and complex challenges.
We spoke about how her team has been adapting and responding, sharing some sound advice on co-creating behavior change campaigns that resonate with patients. As a veteran comms leader who moved to healthcare five years ago during the post-pandemic boom, Kylie brought a fresh perspective on the particular quirks of our sector. She was immediately struck by the tension between the industry's need to be reactive and innovative versus a cautious approach to disrupting established processes.
Kylie emphasized that approval procedures can unintentionally iron out the novel edges of an idea, leaving it looking like everything else. However, this fate is not inevitable. To avoid the gradual shrinking of your best plans, she stressed the importance of being both bold and rigorous. This means bringing in internal allies early in the creative process to understand the vision from the start.
Kylie highlighted that data and early feedback can show how a new approach stays compliant while being far more effective than older, established ways of doing things. Our conversation then turned to how quickly the patient information journey has changed. With trust under pressure and clinicians no longer being the sole point of contact for many people, we need to rethink what effective pharma communications looks like.
Kylie stressed that content must be designed not only for accuracy and clarity but also for discoverability across various channels, formats, and plain language. If we fail to design in these considerations, we risk leaving too much of the health narrative to chance. To avoid this, Kylie is a strong advocate for building proper partnerships with patient organizations.
Insights from these groups are essential to keep pharma campaigns grounded in lived experience and relevant to those they aim to reach. However, for collaboration to add real value, it needs to be treated as a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship rather than a one-off request or a badge-and-logo exercise. Kylie advised bringing patient partners in while the campaign is still taking shape.
Share more context and plans with them upfront and ask what success looks like for them. This allows their input to influence the work. My conversation with Kylie covered many of the same themes I've discussed with dozens of comms leaders over the past few months, but her measured optimism, pragmatism, and commitment to pursuing meaningful improvements in patients' lives stood out.
Kylie's advice is a reminder that in 2026, audience trust will be won through the details. It comes from information that is easy to find and understand, strong relationships with patient organizations built for the long haul (and felt mutually beneficial), and campaigns with enough substance to survive the complexities of real-world regulations.
Working like this inside a regulated system takes patience and stamina, but now we know how it can be done! Jess Farmery is Senior Account Director at Lexington Communications.
