BROADCASTS.com

Bill Purdy has spent a career refining his craft as a brand craftsman. He began his journey with Addison Whitney in 2006 as a Senior Consultant. He was a founding partner of CannonCassidy\u2014 a pharmaceutical, medical device, and consumer branding firm.\xa0 Then, he rejoined Addison Whitney in 2020 as Senior Vice President and Managing Director to expand the business and strengthen its team of branders.\xa0 After nearly 30 years building brands, Bill brings process innovation, creative perspective and best practices leadership to Addison Whitney; know-how that helps Bill and his team create brands that matter!

Social media links and website

AW: LInkedIN https://www.linkedin.com/company/addison-whitney/

AW Website: https://www.addisonwhitney.com/

AW Twitter: https://twitter.com/AddisonWhitney

Bill Purdy Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billpurdy1/

Highlights from the interview

In the healthcare space, Bill advocates for safety being the cornerstone of brand.\xa0 Names should be safe.\xa0 Bill educates clients on the importance of brand for their business.

Drug naming is a challenging process that can take several months.\xa0 When an asset or molecule needs a brand name, a team works together with a client.\xa0 They take into consideration legal presence, commercial presence, regulatory issues, drug information, linguistics, an understanding of what the product is and the science behind it, and more.\xa0 Client feedback is important.\xa0 Naming is one part of branding.\xa0 It can lead into the larger process - the Brand Precept.\xa0 The Brand Precept includes the brand story and narrative, visual identity and logo, package design, color palate, website, imagery, campaign development, and more.\xa0 Through the Brand Precept, marketplace, customer, and brand become aligned in a meaningful and differential way.

What makes a drug name appropriate or inappropriate/desirable or undesirable?\xa0 Safety first! A name should not be confused with another product.\xa0 Names must be unique, ownable, catchy, and memorable.\xa0 Also, weird is good!\xa0 Some drug names have uncommon letter strings, phonetic alternatives, and double letters.\xa0 Branding teams do research to find trends.

How does a patient, pharmacist, or other person know how to pronounce drug names?\xa0 When a drug name candidate is developed, there is an intended pronunciation conveyed to the client.\xa0 Eventually it is stated in marketing.\xa0 Names are tested, including listening to sound files of people pronouncing names.\xa0

Bill uses a tool called \u201cPOCA\u201d (Phonetic Orthographic Computer Analysis) to help with drug naming.\xa0 According to the FDA\u2019s website, The Phonetic and Orthographic Computer Analysis (POCA) program is a software tool that uses an advanced algorithm to determine the orthographic and phonetic similarity between two drug names.\xa0 Bill also uses legal databases, stem nomenclature searches, linguistic analysis, a dictionary, a thesaurus, and market research.\xa0 The biggest tool brand craftspeople use is know-how (personal experience).\xa0 An experienced team can build consensus, define a vision, and help a client get there.\xa0

I suggested using synesthesia as a tool.\xa0 Bill said that the brain goes to what it knows.\xa0 It\u2019s a challenge to create a connection that is unique.\xa0

There is value in hiring Addison Whitney.\xa0 They have experience naming over 1,000 brands products, services, trials, drugs, devices, and more.\xa0 They know the process of generating safe and viable names, and they know how to avoid pitfalls and build consensus.

A myth about drug naming is that, \u201cIt can\u2019t be that hard!\u201d\xa0 On the contrary, to get one name, it can take 2 years to consider more than 1,000 name candidates.\xa0 It\u2019s both an art and a science.\xa0 Rarely do names jump off a page.\xa0 A variety of skill sets are involved in naming and branding.\xa0 Everyone needs to contribute to make it happen. \xa0

When asked about a time when he changed his mind about something really important, Bill said that he didn\u2019t think technology was necessary, but it\u2019s an integral part of the name process. \xa0

Bill had a long and winding path to becoming a brand craftsman.\xa0 According to Bill, no one sets out to be a namer.\xa0 He was a writer and editor for a drug company.\xa0 Then, he wrote CME and pharmacist CE. Bill also ran an ad agency for a while.\xa0 15 years ago, he interviewed as a Brand Consultant at Addison Whitney.\xa0 Becoming a Brand Consultant was a natural evolution of what he always did!\xa0 Past experiences help Bill craft brands. \xa0

How could someone else get into this line of work?\xa0 Be curious and creative.\xa0 Love language and communicating ideas.\xa0 Bill creates language.\xa0 Addison Whitney also has pharmacists on staff.\xa0 Pharmacists help with regulatory concerns, name validation, safety, and look and sound testing.\xa0 Bill\u2019s team plays a number of roles:\xa0 writing, strategy, visual identity, design, mechanical design of a package, video production, campaign creation, website creation, and more. \xa0

If you like to create and collaborate, you could be a brander. \xa0