This month, we welcomed back Laura Powell to the IGNIFI team in the new role of Medical Account Manager. In this blog we discuss how Laura was able to build a relationship with IGNIFI following a work placement here last year and ultimately create a role for herself within our Client Services Team.
Laura’s IGNIFI journey
In July 2021, Laura joined IGNIFI whilst undertaking a work placement in the final year of her PhD in genetic medicine. Throughout her undergraduate, masters and research degrees, Laura had held an interest in communications, and was interested in using this placement as a way to explore this interest further, within an agency environment.
After spending three months at IGNIFI, Laura had received a crash-course in the marketing side of healthcare, gaining hands on experience by completing tasks spanning across copywriting and account management and quickly learning how to apply her technical abilities in a B2B setting.
During her work placement, Laura worked on both internal marketing projects (including writing copy and providing creative direction for the MAGNIFI: Gender inequality – how COVID-19 impacted women), along with client projects in various areas of human and animal health. We summarised Laura’s experience and reflections of what it is like to work as part of the IGNIFI team in this blog.
In her short time with us, Laura became an essential part of the IGNIFI team, providing extra resource for our Client Service projects and providing a new perspective for our copy team. Laura also joined us for our out of work social events and our virtual Christmas party and was welcomed into the team in the same way a permanent member of staff would be. Luckily for us, Laura’s work placement solidified her interest in moving into the healthcare marketing industry, and she was able to continue to work with us on a freelance basis while completing her research.
Carving a new role
On completion of her PhD Laura re-joined IGNIFI on a full-time basis. Laura had developed a strong ability and interest in both copywriting and account management, subverting the standard career path for a graduate-level position.
“I am delighted to be able to work for IGNIFI on a full-time basis. The friendly nature of the work environment within the team was a massive draw for me, as well as the variety of projects that IGNIFI work on. I am excited to see how this new hybrid role of account management and medical copywriting evolves and look forward to developing within the company.”
Because we were able to take the time getting to know Laura during her placement, we were confident enough in both her scientific medical background and her client facing capabilities that we decided to create a new role: Medical Account Manager.
In this role, Laura will bridge the gap between project management and copy production, providing a unique perspective for our clients, with responsibilities including:
- Acting as a key point of reference for colleagues and clients seeking medical/clinical information, insight and message development.
- Maintaining proactive and regular contact with allocated clients to develop understanding of their marketing needs, brands, competitors and challenges, to ensure that we develop work that meets their objectives, both on budget and to a deadline.
- Developing creative and technical content across a varied portfolio, from ethical healthcare to animal health to nutrition, creating copy for a wide range of materials.
“The creation of this new role further demonstrates how we are adapting and developing as a business to meet our clients’ current and future needs. This flexible approach ensures exciting ongoing development opportunities for both new and existing team members, while forming a bridge between our copywriting and client service teams.”
– John Horn, Operations Director
As part of our growth plans for 2022, we are actively recruiting for a number of vacancies. This is a really exciting time for IGNIFI and the perfect opportunity for individuals with healthcare, digital or design experience to come join our close knit, welcoming team.
To find out more about our current live vacancies, including both senior and graduate level opportunities, visit our careers page.
Posted by John Horn
Managing Director
