Read the Conversation
Conversation highlights:
- Kenvue's mission centers on helping people realize the extraordinary power of everyday care through innovative Self-care solutions as well as strengthening partnerships with healthcare professionals and scaling science-led education.
- They believe that self-care is about empowering people to take their health into their own hands. Putting the power of everyday care into the hands of more people can positively impact individuals and society. This is a goal they strive to achieve every day through their brands, such as Neutrogena ®, Listerine ®, Nicorette ®, and Johnson’s ® Baby.
- Everyday moments of care—from using mouthwash to protect oral health, to embarking on a smoking cessation journey, to managing the symptoms of common ailments and allergies with over-the-counter medicines—can also help alleviate pressure on healthcare systems.
- Despite vast geographical differences, across RAMET, consumer needs for science-based, effective, and accessible self-care products remain remarkably consistent.
- Digital tools and AI are transforming healthcare access, from digital leaflets replacing paper inserts to potential ChatGPT partnerships for direct consumer purchasing.
- Kenvue recognizes that Pharmacists are crucial first-line healthcare providers who play a key role in alleviating pressure on our healthcare systems, especially when countries are facing a shortage of healthcare workers and increased demand for services. The pharmacist’s role extends beyond simply dispensing over-the-counter medications.
EF: In your current position, could you tell us about the mission you set for yourself when appointed to the regional role and what you want to achieve?
JC: I'm always guided by two different types of missions when taking on a new role. There's the business-oriented financial mission focused on achieving objectives, but there's also the exciting one that speaks to how we touch and impact consumers' lives with our products. My mission in coming to RAMET is to help people understand and unlock the idea of everyday care as a real health capability. It's all about strengthening partnerships with healthcare professionals and pharmacists, scaling science-led education, and, most importantly, making it easier for people, families, and individuals to build daily self-care routines so they can lead healthier lives.
Putting the power of everyday care into the hands of more people can positively impact individuals and society and is something we strive to do every day through our brands such as Neutrogena ®, Listerine ®, Nicorette ®, and Johnson’s ® Baby. Sometimes people underestimate the power and importance of the little everyday routines of taking care of themselves. For example, severe gum disease has a considerable negative impact on not only oral hygiene but also overall health and can lead to long-term health conditions if left untreated. Mouthrinse such as LISTERINE® with its proven formula in an individual’s daily routine is clinically proven to reduce plaque more than flossing or brushing alone, a key contributor to severe gum disease. This is just one example of the power of everyday care.
With our broader portfolio, we're positioned to make a significant impact on everyday life, and my mission is to help people understand that and see how those small daily acts of self-care compound into amazing long-term health benefits.
And there is a societal benefit as well. Empowering even more people to take full advantage of self-care enables them to look after their own health and wellbeing and helps to future-proof healthcare delivery. Research from the Global Self-Care Federation found that self-care leads to positive increases in quality of life worldwide. These increases may result from faster treatment of a self-treatable condition, shorter duration of illness, or avoidance of travel and waiting time required for a physician consultation.
By partnering with the industry, healthcare professionals, pharmacies, and government officials, we can unlock the power of self-care for everyone. It's a big mission with a long road ahead, but there's a tremendous appetite among all stakeholders, which is fantastic.
EF: How do you balance priorities across such a large region and identify opportunities where you can really make a difference?
JC: Building an outstanding team is my top priority. Throughout my career, I’ve learned that no one has all the answers, so it’s critical to have an amazing team of specialists in specific areas, regions, or countries who can cover those gaps. My role is to find commonalities and common ground across different geographies and see how we can drive scale and impact. Instead of trying to do thousands of different small things in every country, what are the common elements? We work closely with our consumer and brand intelligence team to uncover nuggets of consumer insights, the universal truths or benefits that resonate throughout the region. My primary responsibility is to help the team focus on initiatives that drive significant impact. Interestingly, we have more in common than one might imagine across the diverse range of countries from South Africa to Russia. Despite differences, our mission of self-care and everyday care is universally relevant. Consumers look for science-based and effective products; they want support from pharmacists or healthcare professionals to guide them on the best course of treatment, clear product information, and affordable products. These common needs guide our approach across this diverse region.
EF: How much of a role do digital tools play in your work?
JC: Digital tools play a huge role, and it's only going to increase. We're still in the infancy of how we can really leverage digital tools to unlock not only better access to care but also more informed access to care. That goes both ways; enabling consumers responsibly while helping healthcare professionals get information faster at their fingertips, and providing tools that facilitate and support healthcare professionals, especially pharmacists on the front line, in helping consumers manage their conditions.
Digital enables greater access to information for consumers. When I was in South Africa, just before I moved here, one of the things we pioneered through the self-care association was the digital leaflet for our products. We know that a minority of consumers actually open that piece of paper inside the medicine box and read it. When you have a digital version that you can easily access on your device, you can search, zoom in, and highlight pieces, which makes everything easier. We even talk about including videos as part of that in the future. We can better support diverse accessibility needs by offering audio or dictated versions. There are so many ways we can unlock not only greater access to information but also make it more user-friendly, thereby increasing understanding of products and side effects and driving more conscious, responsible consumption. There are tremendous opportunities in the use of digital, AI, and technology overall, and we're just scratching the surface.
EF: You mentioned the importance of having an amazing team. Taking into account how rapidly the world is evolving digitally, what kind of people do you need and look for?
JCDM: We need people with primarily two key qualities: curiosity and amazing learning agility. In a rapidly evolving environment, we need individuals with exceptional learning agility to quickly adapt to evolving technologies and regulatory changes. However, equally as important is curiosity, as it drives innovative solutions.
EF: Before we wrap up, is there anything we didn't ask that you would like to mention or any final message?
JCDM: I’d like to highlight the importance of healthcare professionals and, in particular, pharmacists for our society. While most people intuitively think about doctors and nurses when they think of healthcare professionals, pharmacists play an increasingly important role as the first line of care. It is important for us to highlight and recognize that pharmacists play an essential role in providing health care advice and enabling self-care in communities, especially today when healthcare systems are overwhelmed. These highly trained professionals are often overlooked and underutilized resources for those seeking healthcare advice.
The facts are clear: citizens want access to self-care to maintain health and wellbeing; self-care is needed to ensure the sustainability of our healthcare systems; and pharmacists, as community healthcare professionals, play a key role today and in the future to provide advice and ensure safe and effective use of self-care solutions.
We all have a role to play in ensuring our healthcare systems are sustainable. As Kenvue, we are playing a supporting role by collaborating with pharmacists and other Health Care Professionals, providing educational resources and training. There is much more to do, but we can only be successful if we work together.
By supporting pharmacists and healthcare professionals to promote safe self-care and supporting consumers with their everyday healthcare routines with our brands, we enhance individual well-being and strengthen our healthcare system. From a pharmacoeconomic perspective, global data show that absenteeism and presenteeism caused by minor illnesses result in a significant loss of productivity and represent a substantial cost to the global economy. If we can help people be better informed, treat conditions responsibly, shorten symptom duration, or work with preventative measures, it's a massive gain for everybody. That's why I'm very passionate about this topic and why I love the mission we have here in the region.
