Even before Allison Femiano graduated from college, she had already embarked on her career in healthcare communications with an internship at Symphony Health and several years at adworks, Arizona State University’s student-run advertising agency.
After wrapping up her time at ASU—including a stint as president of adworks—she joined OptimizeRx in September 2023. As an engagement manager at the health tech company, she uses her training in digital and integrated marketing communications to ensure that campaigns are reaching their target audiences.
In a Q&A for Fierce Pharma Marketing’s “Rising Stars” series, Femiano discussed the importance of always putting the patient experience first in healthcare marketing campaigns.
Responses have been lightly edited.
Fierce Pharma Marketing: What inspired you to pursue a career in pharma marketing, and what keeps you motivated?
Allison Femiano: For me, it began with my own childhood experiences in the healthcare system and some conditions that I’ve had to deal with. Then, when I went to college, I wanted to figure out a way to actually help people improve their lives.
I studied marketing and business management, feeling like that route could offer a way to make the life of someone else a little bit better, especially when it comes to navigating healthcare in different situations. It can be very difficult and challenging for patients and their families.
FPMK: What has been the most rewarding or challenging project you’ve worked on so far?
AF: There’s one in particular that really stands out for me: a rare condition project that I worked on. I do measurement analytics for campaigns, and for this brand in particular, since it was a rare condition, we were measuring if the campaign was reaching the right patient population. It was exciting that we were able to share to the agency and the manufacturer that, yes, your campaign is reaching them, and not only that, but they are taking action and getting the medical attention that they need.
It’s exciting when campaigns and marketing reach the patients who need help.
FPMK: If you could give one piece of advice to industry veterans who’ve been in pharma marketing for decades, what would it be?
AF: There’s a lot of AI and technology that’s coming into play in our space, and my piece of advice would be to think about how you can use that to truly help patients along their journey. There are many different touch points that you go through every single day as a patient, and finding ways to leverage technology to support a patient is gold to me.
Also, at the end of the day, you can’t lose sight of the people you’re actually trying to help. You're a patient, I’m a patient, and everybody deals with something. So, try to remember the ways that you would want to be treated and think about how technology can help.
FPMK: What do you like to do outside of work?
AF: Physical health is really important to me, and I like to go to boxing classes a lot. It’s a little passion of mine. Other than that, I spend a lot of good quality time with family and friends, especially at concerts, and I’m always up for anything that’s food-related.