Dorothy's DTC Hall of Fame Acceptance Speech

Last night, I was privileged to be inducted into the DTC Hall of Fame, along with some of my esteemed industry colleagues – Minnie Baylor-Henry, National Director, Regulatory Life Sciences, Deloitte & Touche, LLP and former DDMAC Director; Andrew Schirmer, EVP, Managing Director, McCann HumanCare and Scott Grenz, Director Media Buying NA,GlaxoSmithKline. I was very touched by how many of my colleagues, past and present, came to celebrate with me. We were given the opportunity to make a few remarks, so being a typical Extrovert, I took full advantage of my time in the spotlight. Below is what I said, or more accurately, what I meant to say!

“I am very honored to be inducted into the DTC Hall of Fame. I have always admired the company Bob has built and his thoughtful commentary. The occasion also serves for me as an important reminder of something I should be doing more of everyday: thinking of all the people I am grateful to for having guided me throughout my career.

I am grateful to have started my career at Whitehall-Robins, now Wyeth Consumer, working for Andy Davis and Holly Crosbie-Foote, both of whom encouraged me to let my creative juices flow. I somehow have always been a little different and they cheered me on. I am equally as grateful to Randy Goldmann, who I had the privilege to work for at Pfizer. She taught me how to channel some of my enthusiasm so it could actually be productive. I also thank Mike Trepicchio of SaatchiHealthcare for giving me the opportunity to learn what life is like on the agency side. It’s a little harder than it looked from the cushy client side seat.

Which brings me to today and Extrovertic, the agency I founded with my creative partner, Mark Drossman. We wanted to create a different kind of agency, one that could build both the innovative marketing strategies and cutting edge creative needed to infuse new life into the healthcare marketing mix.

We were very lucky for the opportunity to start working very early on with Vertex Pharmaceuticals, whose marketers have an incredible passion for their patients. It is this kind of passion to serve patients that I hope will transform the face of DTC.

One of my favorite planners of all time, Nat Puccio used to say, 'He who knows the consumer best, wins.' That saying is now foundational to any successful DTC communication effort. In the future however, we have to go further, not only to understand but also to employ our knowledge in making a tangible, lasting difference in patients’ lives. That will require going beyond our traditional communication messages and tools to address the more stubborn barriers to good health such as financial inequities, gaps in healthcare delivery and insufficient personal coping mechanisms. To all of us at Extrovertic, the maxim for 2010 and beyond is, 'He who serves the patient best, wins.'

Thanks again for the honor and I look forward to working with you all to make a difference in patients’ lives."

-DW