Young, fresh, with a cool attitude: the communications agency BSKOM specializes in healthcare and aims to design appealing campaigns for a large target group. The agency was founded by Michael Berger together with his colleague Eva Birle. / Photo: Conny Mirbach
Good healthcare communication must be keep its finger on the pulse – this is the opinion of Michael Berger, who founded BSKOM 15 years ago together with his colleague Eva Birle. The Munich-based agency has set itself the task of making communication in the healthcare sector understandable, exciting and cool. Michael Berger reveals how this works in an interview.
Michael, with your communications agency you have specialized in healthcare. Why this topic?
Michael Berger: My first experience in communications was in the lifestyle sector at the end of the 1990s, with clients such as Nike and MTV. And then came a campaign that changed a lot of things for me: The hearing aid manufacturer Phonak had enlisted Bryan Adams to photograph famous personalities from culture and society under the name "Hear the World" to raise awareness of the value of hearing. We thought that was great – making a topic exciting and relevant that doesn't sound so sexy at first. I realized that when you work for the healthcare industry, what you do sometimes makes more sense. Not always, not every day, but every now and then. And that's really cool.
You're celebrating your 15th anniversary this year. What was the state of communication in the healthcare industry when you started?
Michael: A lot of it was like something out of a medical textbook, very sober and academic. It was quite difficult in terms of language, with a raised index finger and also visually rather stuffy. That's exactly where we saw a niche and our opportunity: Together with my colleague Eva Birle, we wanted to think about healthcare communication in a fresher and livelier way – and convince companies that this new approach was worthwhile.
Who do you work with today?
Michael: Our clients include companies from the medical technology sector, but also large hospital groups and medical initiatives and associations. Our strategy often includes educational campaigns on various health topics. The best example of this is hearing acoustics, which we continue to support. For example, we explain what it means to suffer hearing loss. For example, that those affected have a higher risk of developing dementia or depression – many people don't even know these things. It is also becoming increasingly important for clinics to become a brand and be visible. Nowadays, patients want to have a say in their own treatment. In principle, we focus on long-term customer relationships; we have been working with some companies since the agency was founded.
That's a long time. Do you sometimes turn down clients if you realize that the collaboration isn't right?
Michael: Yes, of course, although this usually becomes apparent in advance – you develop a feel for this over the years. We always try to be radically honest – with our customers and with ourselves. Because you can't force good customer relationships, it's frustrating for both sides.
»Everything is very content-driven for us, we always try to tell stories. Health is a highly emotional topic that is also associated with suffering and fear, but also with hope and happiness. Finding the right tone here is the real art.«
Michael Berger
Photo: Conny Mirbach
How do you manage to make a very technical topic understandable and, above all, interesting for the general public?
Michael: We are translators between our client, who is very medical, and the public. We want to explain the topic in an easily understandable way and offer solutions to problems. Our strength lies in media relations – we try to get various media interested in a story by arranging interviews with experts or those affected. Social media campaigns are also important, and emotional content also works well here: a personal approach, stories from those affected, tips from doctors. Everything is very content-driven for us, we always try to tell stories. Health is a highly emotional topic that is also associated with suffering and fear, but also with hope and happiness. Finding the right tone here is the real art.
Print, video, social media, podcast – you use a wide range of formats. How do you decide which content is suitable for which channel?
Michael: It's actually the other way around. The campaign idea always comes first, because it simply has to be right. Only then do we think about which channels to use: Which target groups do we want to reach, where do they move, what are the appropriate media. Many medical topics sound quite unwieldy at first, so it's our job to stage them in such a way that they work in the media – be it for social media, online, print, TV or radio. We do most of the implementation in-house with our creative team and bring in partners if necessary, such as motion designers, programmers, filmmakers, photographers or podcast producers.
Which campaign have you been particularly successful with this cross-media approach?
Michael: I'm thinking of our client Roche, one of the largest healthcare companies in the world. We work here for the diagnostics division and develop campaigns to make the value of diagnostics tangible in the public perception. We started with a cross-media campaign during the coronavirus pandemic. This has developed into numerous awareness campaigns on important screening topics. These include cervical cancer, hepatitis, heart failure and diabetes. This has resulted in emotional campaigns with modern social media communication, fresh websites, advertorials and testimonial stories for a company that previously focused primarily on specialist groups.
How much does your work give back to you personally?
Michael: For us as an agency, the most important thing is to have satisfied customers - and we only want to implement campaigns that we stand behind. It doesn't happen every day, but every now and then we receive direct feedback from those affected or their relatives that our work has made them aware of a new therapy, for example, or that they have sought help with a mental crisis. For us, this is a nice confirmation and gives us the feeling that what we do makes sense.
With clear messages and modern design, the BSKOM agency reaches a broad public with its lifestyle campaigns. / Photo: BSKOM
With clear messages and modern design, the BSKOM agency reaches a broad public with its lifestyle campaigns. / Photo: BSKOM
On your website, you write that healthcare communication must keep its finger on the pulse. How do you manage that?
Michael: Many of our employees come from the fields of creation and social media, not from the healthcare industry. This is a conscious decision: they bring in new ideas that are not initially associated with healthcare. We'd rather our suggestions were too fresh for a client than too lame. In addition, our younger colleagues regularly provide us with the latest trends on social media.
You not only want satisfied customers, but also satisfied employees. How do you create an atmosphere in which people enjoy working?
Michael: Our latest project is called P24: six months ago, we introduced the four-and-a-half-day week. It works like this: every full-time employee gets two days off a month in addition to their annual leave, so 24 days a year. Organizing this is not easy - and it took us some time to get it right on the road. In the meantime, however, the concept has become well established and is a real added value for our team. We also give our employees a share in our success with bonuses and regularly organize offsites to grow even closer as a team. We have a zero overtime guarantee and value treating each other with respect and honesty. To create this culture, we have been working with an external coach for many years.
How do you benefit from this as an agency?
Michael: First and foremost, we want to find and keep good people, because the competition is huge. We have noticed that we have completely different opportunities since we introduced P24. And: we also have far fewer sick days because people can simply take a breather in between.
So there have been a lot of changes for you in recent years - including the move to your new office, which you have put a lot of heart and soul into. Where would you like to take the agency in the future?
Michael: Every year we have a motto, last year it was "Change", this year it's "Flow". A move is a big change and it takes some time for everything to get back into flow. In the meantime, we have fully arrived and are enjoying the good energy that the new office gives us. Now it's all about working even more closely together as a team and balancing out the stressful times in the best possible way. Our target image is the Rolling Stones: a well-rehearsed rock band that grows older together in a cool way and doesn't get rattled because each individual has mastered their instrument.
Not only satisfied customers, but also satisfied employees are a top priority for BSKOM. That's why Michael Berger has invested a lot of time and effort in furnishing the new agency office so that the team feels at home. / Photos: Conny Mirbach
Not only satisfied customers, but also satisfied employees are a top priority for BSKOM. That's why Michael Berger has invested a lot of time and effort in furnishing the new agency office so that the team feels at home. / Photos: Conny Mirbach
Not only satisfied customers, but also satisfied employees are a top priority for BSKOM. That's why Michael Berger has invested a lot of time and effort in furnishing the new agency office so that the team feels at home. / Photos: Conny Mirbach
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