PAAB online training: Interview with Jennifer Carroll

For the first time, Canadian pharmaceutical marketers will have the opportunity to attend a Pharmaceutical Advertising Advisory Board (PAAB) training session online. This will open the doors to people who may not have been able to attend in the past. This is a great opportunity for anybody who develops Canadian medical advertisements to learn and better understand the PAAB code.

Register now. There will be 6 sessions spread over 6 months. By registering, you are automatically signing up for all 6 sessions. The 1st session is scheduled for November 4th, 2020. Participants will also receive a certificate of attendance after they complete the program.

I had an opportunity to discuss the PAAB online training program with Jennifer Carroll, Senior Reviewer at PAAB. Here are some of the points that we discussed;

The PAAB training has moved online this year, why?

Jennifer: In light of COVID restrictions, it was not going to be possible to do live national workshops this year. This does not change the fact that training is an important offering from PAAB to help ensure continuous learning and collaboration with agencies and manufacturers. In order to still provide this valuable service, we made the decision to go virtual. There are a lot of benefits to going virtual. Presentations can be a lot more dynamic when presenting digitally. Things like marking up the slides, participant chats and comments, questions and polls can all be done through the flexibility of digital platforms to provide great value. We hope to capitalize on the interactivity created by this training platform to engage participants and tailor the learning throughout the session.  

How have you used feedback from previous years to influence the training?   

Jennifer: The number one thing we hear post workshops is “more cases, more cases, more cases”. So expect to see more more cases! We’ve also set the agenda to be digital-focused. We will still work on foundational aspects of the code woven throughout the 6 sessions, while exploring them through digital examples, cases and platforms.

Why has PAAB chosen to do a 6-month program, over a 1-day online event?  

Jennifer: There are a number of benefits to breaking the day up over 6 months versus one-day long training. The most obvious to us is that it would be quite difficult to sit and look at your computer for 8 hours. But beyond this, the broken out sessions allow us to provide pre-reading material that can help get all participants on the same page. Those new to the code will have the time and resources to learn about the topics before we start to go into detail. For those extremely familiar with the PAAB code, the pre-reads are a good refresher. Topics are broken down into little bite-sized chunks with run-in time before and after the sessions, to really digest the learnings.  Also, because registrants will be interacting with learning materials before, during, and following each session, they’ll benefit from a more immersive learning experience.

What will the training cover and why have you chosen these topics? 

Jennifer: The first session will cover emails. We’ve chosen this based on the current environment. This includes the type and number of submissions we’ve seen as well as the most frequently asked questions on the PAAB forum and through general questions. The second topic will go into banner ads. Again this topic is relevant to the current landscape. As most interactions between pharma and HCPs have gone digital, it’s important that we help our clients understand how to use banner ads in a compliant manner. While the rest of the agenda has been set, it may be subject to change. The beauty of these sessions occurring every month is that there is latitude to move topics around based on the evolving advertising landscape. If you have topics you want to see covered, please send them to us for consideration. It is of the utmost importance to us, that we are providing learnings that are valuable to you as the client.  

Who is it for? Do experienced people need to attend?    

Jennifer: The short answer is everyone. We have worked to weave in the foundational elements of the code while throwing some more challenging curveballs at the participants.

As it’s now online, how do you plan to make it a good learning experience for the attendees? 

Jennifer: Our hope is that no matter what type of learner you are, the comprehensive offering will provide you with a strong understanding of the PAAB code and advertising regulations. By breaking down the topics to smaller bite-sized chunks, sending out pre-read material, allowing questions during the session, follow-up questions and summary material, all participants should walk away with a wealth of information and resources. Throughout the sessions, you’ll see old learnings popping back up in examples. Repetition will help solidify the learnings as we build on them over time.

Is there anything new?   

Jennifer: This whole online training is new to us! We have worked hard to create a dynamic and stimulating event and we are excited by the number of people who are going to be participating. Additionally, this will be the first time our Montreal and Toronto workshops will all be housed together. It’s thrilling to be able to bring all our clients together in one space to learn and practice the intricacies of the PAAB code. Often we get great questions at one workshop or the other and now those questions will be shared with everyone.

Are there any trends that PAAB are seeing at the moment? i.e common mistakes/increases in a certain type of submission? 

Jennifer: Always. You’ll have to join the training to find out.  

So there you have it! I hope that you are looking forward to this new format as much as I am. Be sure to register quickly. The first session is scheduled for November 4th.

*Marketing 4 Health Inc. is proud to support the PAAB online training session by helping to promote it to the Canadian pharmaceutical industry.