In a recent conversation, Phil sat down with Cormac Wooller and Eleanor Dance from Bayer to talk about how they’ve found their way into the industry and what they’re learning from the inside.
Previously a Carpenter by trade, Cormac joined Bayer over five years ago as a Digital Marketing Apprentice and is now a Global Content Associate. Eleanor came straight from her A-levels into a Global Digital Content Apprenticeship in 2024. Different starting points, same goal: learn by doing and build from there.
Both made a deliberate choice to step away from the traditional university route, not because it wasn’t available, but because it didn’t feel like the fastest way to develop. And the proximity they have to real-world delivery is shaping how they think.
Cormac and Eleanor are not trying to reinvent pharma content, they understand the role of long-form, talking-heads, congress coverage, as being the formats the industry relies on. However, they’ve observed that the industry tends to default to this content simply because that’s the way it’s always been done. Sound familiar?
Cormac described it through the lens of a theme park. Every park has its staples, the familiar rides that are always there and always busy. In pharma, that’s the “teacup ride”. They’re not going anywhere but they’re not the only ride available. What they’re exploring alongside the ‘teacup ride’ are different journeys, shorter, more dynamic formats that create new types of interaction and engagement. Not replacing the classics, just expanding what people can step onto.
What stands out just as much is their relationship with failure. It isn’t avoided but built into the process. Try something at a congress, learn what didn’t land and refine it next time. This isn’t an inexperienced or reckless attitude but a structured approach; each iteration sharper than the last.
That mindset doesn’t just feel progressive, it’s commercially relevant. The next generation of HCPs are forming their own habits now. If formats don’t evolve with them their attention shifts, and once behaviour shifts, it’s time and cost consuming to bring back.
What’s taking shape here isn’t about sidelining valuable experience and over-emphasising on what the “youth” can bring, it’s about combining both. Bringing new perspectives into environments where they’re not just executing the existing playbook but helping to improve it.
Because the future of healthcare communication won’t be defined by what we’ve always done. It will be shaped by those willing to test what works next.
If you want to hear it in their own words, you can watch the full conversation with Cormac and Eleanor here.
