From Associate to Senior Consultant – what it’s like to work at Blue Latitude Health for 5 years

Liz Inskip|30^th June 2015

Following on from our Day in the Life series, I sat down with Craig Moore to dig a little deeper around what it’s like to work at Blue Latitude. Craig is a Senior Consultant on the Strategy & Planning team as well as a Development Manager, and he’s celebrating five years with the company this summer. As one of five current employees who have been with Blue Latitude Health for five years or more and one of three who have progressed from Associate Consultant to Senior Consultant, he knows this company inside and out.  

So Craig, how did you come to work at Blue Latitude Health?

Before Blue Latitude Health, I was working at a media agency, and it was a very hands-on implementation and paid search type role; very general digital marketing stuff. Over time, I started challenging the briefs coming through to me, wanting to get to the ‘why’ behind the campaigns. I decided at that point that I wanted to start working on setting strategies. I also knew when I started looking for a more strategy-focussed role that I didn't want to go work for one of the major consultancies – I wanted to be more than a number in the company. I felt there was an opportunity to push strategy, and my initial interviews with Blue Latitude Health cemented that feeling. They asked me questions that got to the root of how I thought, and how I would approach problems, rather than asking me about stats. We still ask those questions in interviews.  

Why healthcare and Pharma? Your background pre-Blue Latitude Health is quite diverse, what drew you to this industry?

Good question! The healthcare briefs I used to get were the most poorly thought out. I felt like there was a need for more strategy, more ‘big picture thinking’. Healthcare and pharma weren't the main draw for me when I joined BLH, because the company was more generalised back in 2010, but I've really enjoyed the challenge of being creative in such a regulated industry. I recently went to an event run by Econsultancy about the Future of Digital Marketing, which was a very generalist event with delegates from across all sorts of sectors. However, right at the beginning and all throughout the event, presenters and panellists told us how healthcare is going to be the biggest innovator over the next few years. It definitely reminded me why I do what I do.  

On that note, what would you say to someone who thinks that healthcare and Pharma aren't as creative or innovative as more general digital marketing in ‘creative agencies’?

That it’s a huge myth! I’d ask them to tell me what they think innovation really means. Innovation is driven by research, and at Blue Latitude, we have an ace in-house research team that we work with. We also have to be incredibly innovative and creative to work within the strict regulations imposed by regulatory bodies like the PMCPA and BHIBA. You won’t get the Old Spice Man working in pharma, but you will get real disruption. You will get boundary-pushing innovation, but it will be seen by a narrower, arguably more engaged, audience. Look at Babylon Health! They’re doing remote doctor consultations online in Rwanda for $1 a day and the same thing in London for £4.99 a month – you tell me that’s not disruptive innovation! And it saves lives.

Happy five years, Craig!

Coming back to you now, we work in an industry (digital marketing) with an incredibly fast rate of turnover. Most people stay with a role for two years at most now, so it’s really unusual to see someone stick around for 5+ years – what keeps you at BLH?

The fact that it is a complete meritocracy. If you’re good at your job, you will get rewarded – and not just in a financial sense. This is a smaller company (NB – approx. 50 people work at Blue Latitude Health), so if you’re doing great work, it will get noticed and you will be recognised for it. We also have a good work/life balance here. I know a lot of companies pay lip service to it, but we’re all adults here. We have people on flexible working, remote working, and 3 or 4 days per week schedules – if life happens, people here understand that, and it makes a real difference. The last point that really matters to me is our training and development programme. We don’t shout about it enough! When you join, you get assigned a Development Manager to help you plan your training and career development. They also help you with managing your individual training budget, which is very generous! It allows us to explore the areas of our industry we’re really interested in and bring new knowledge back into the company so we’re always on top of trends and shifts.  

As one of three people to develop from Associate Consultant through to Senior Consultant at Blue Latitude Health, how has the company supported you as you progressed?

Day to day, there’s always a lot of support and advice on hand from colleagues, managers, and senior management. As my responsibilities grew, they were able to give me training. In addition to our personal budget for training, we also have a more standard training programme that all consultants go through around leadership, client relationship skills, and industry certifications. Having the Development Manager to help you plan your progression is also important. They work with you to make sure that you’re getting the support you need to meet your goals and achieve at a high level here. Thanks to Craig for taking time to talk to me about his experience at Blue Latitude Health! To hear more about working at Blue Latitude Health or apply for a role, get in touch with Deb, our Talent Manager, at Deborah.braud@bluelatitude.net.

See our current openings on the Strategy & Planning team

Craig Moore comes from a full service digital agency and media planning background. He works with Blue Latitude Health’s clients to help them understand and improve how their digital marketing can form a part of wider marketing activity and achieve their business objectives.

Read his article on designing digital patient services with social media within the ABPI guidelines

NB: Craig has taken a leave of absence to travel the world and have adventures, but we're sure to see him again soon!