The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the racial health inequities rampant in the U.S. health system, which has prompted a greater effort among organizations to embrace inclusive policies that promote access and care.
Similarly, the medical marketing industry has continued its collective push to embrace the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) as a way to message to all patients rather than most patients.
To that end, Real Chemistry, a 2022 MM+M Agency 100 honoree, recently announced a partnership with Pocstock, a Black-owned diversity stock photo platform, to create more culturally relevant and inclusive content for healthcare media.
Real Chemistry will have access to thousands of images and videos featuring people of color as well as those from historically underserved communities. The agency said in a press release that it is critical to source from diverse suppliers like Pocstock in order to “build upon our solid foundation of inclusion.”
Pocstock chief relationship officer DeSean Brown said increasing DE&I in the industry comes from key partnerships with brand, agency and corporate entities that practice what they preach.
“Real Chemistry has been one of our strong early partners in this journey, having worked with us in a collaborative and inclusive way to set the foundation where positive change can take hold,” Brown said. “With the inequities in healthcare and the intersectionality of consumer groups, this is an essential category to improve on with DEI and we love how Real Chemistry is stepping forward.”
Meanwhile, Keith LaFerriere, executive creative director at Real Chemistry, said the partnership allows the agency to use visuals that “truly reflects” the communities it markets to.
“This offering is not only incredibly important to change the stereotypical healthcare narrative and embrace underserved groups through our different disciplines, but also allows our own teams to feel seen and understood and deliver content that they feel good about,” LaFerriere said. “It speaks to our values as a company when we think about being impact obsessed and better together.”
Real Chemistry joins the ranks of healthcare-focused organizations to align with a stock photo company in an effort to diversify images and combat systemic racism.
In the fall, Allergan Aesthetics launched the DREAM Initiative (Driving Racial Equity in Aesthetic Medicine) in partnership with Skinbetter Science and Shuttersock to establish a gallery of royalty-free images inclusive of gender, color, race, age and abilities.
The announcement also comes weeks after Real Chemistry reported $555 million in revenue in 2022, reflecting 17% year-over-year growth.
