Canadian Council on Continuing Education in Pharmacy (CCCEP)

CCCEP engaged Upstream to raise its profile and increase awareness of the role of CCCEP and the value of accreditation for continuing education amongst pharmacy professionals across Canada.

The CCCEP campaign was uniquely complex due to its role as an independent, neutral accrediting body, preventing us from positioning them as the top solution for continuing education quality. To navigate this, we conducted market research, including stakeholder interviews and secondary research, to identify the target audiences, and develop personas, and key influencers driving accreditation.

Strategic Content Marketing

We initiated the campaign with a content marketing strategy. The content plan featured a series of e-articles aimed at helping pharmacy professionals maximize their continuing education, subtly positioning CCCEP as a central figure. The articles covered topics like accreditation, career profiles of peers, learning science, and more. The key to success was crafting content that engaged pharmacy professionals, ensuring it felt informative rather than a sales pitch.

Here are a few examples of the articles Upstream developed for CCCEP

Continuing Education 101: A Guide to Finding the Right Learning Activities (Read Article)

Quality Matters: How to Evaluate the Quality of Continuing Education. (Read Article)

Accreditation — A Standard to Ensure That a Learning Activity is of High Quality and Unbiased (Read Article)

Learning Science: Demystifying Learning to Make it More Effective and Easier (Read Article)

ExCCCEPtional

In 2023, CCCEP sponsored the Canadian Association of Pharmacy Students and Interns (CAPSI) to raise awareness among pharmacy students about the importance of continuing education accreditation. As a bronze-level sponsor, CCCEP featured a 1/4-page ad in CAPSIL. We creatively used the initialism “CCCEP” to convey the quality of CCCEP-accredited programs, asserting that if CCCEP is involved, the continuing education is of high quality and unbiased. The ad used a lighthearted, clever tone to encourage pharmacy professionals to pursue CCCEP-accredited programs.

A Testimonial from Colleen Janes, Executive Director of CCCEP

“Upstream has been a valuable marketing partner for CCCEP. Our organization has limited capacity so it’s been great to have them lead and assist CCCEP with its marketing and communications. I also appreciate Upstream’s collaborative and collegial approach.”