Using Expert Networks to Help Fight Disease

The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria

"Our members and donors expect us to be efficient, bringing the best practices of the private sector to our mission. Looking to outside experts is a best practice. Gerson Lehrman Group is the best at finding and engaging experts around the world and across sectors."

Kimberly Tegarden,
Director of Corporate Relations, GBC

In early 2001, with HIV and AIDS on the rise in developing countries, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the creation of a private-sector coalition to attack these diseases and asked Ambassador Richard Holbrooke to lead the business response. Today the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC) has 220 leading corporations fighting not only HIV and AIDS, but also tuberculosis and malaria.

A compelling mission

GBC's mission is both urgent and complex. In 2006, nearly three million people died of HIV/AIDS. Another two million died of tuberculosis; and one million died of malaria. The human and economic costs have been staggering, especially for low-income countries. Workable solutions must recognize diverse conditions in different countries, and they must evolve as those conditions change.

Launching highly focused outreach initiatives and tailoring campaigns to specific countries are key elements of the GBC approach. In addition, GBC operates with a small, talented, and very busy staff.

To help deliver on its mission and meet these challenges, GBC leverages privatesector best practices and resources. (See gbcimpact.org, businessfightstb.org and businessfightsmalaria.org.) The nonprofit has found that one highly effective mechanism for leveraging private-sector knowledge is by engaging the experts of the GLG Councils.

Ukraine: understanding a new market

• "We needed both specific and general information on social programs in Ukraine."
• Project Specialists write custom report
• Interviews with wide range of private-sector executives in Ukraine

In 2006, GBC merged with Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS (TPAA), an organization with a strong presence in Russia and Ukraine. While both GBC and TPAA have extensive experience in numerous countries, they struggled to understand how to effectively position corporate social responsibility services to Ukrainian companies.

Celina Gorre, former Technical Services Manager with GBC, remembers the challenge. "Within a few weeks, we needed to learn everything we could about the Ukrainian social-program landscape. Phone calls wouldn't be enough—we needed a report we could rely upon, customized to our specific questions. And we didn't have the specialized staff resources to do the work in time."

To tackle this challenge, GBC used the Gerson Lehrman Group® (GLG) platform to retain two specialized consultants–one with extensive international-development expertise, and one with extensive private-sector experience. According to Ms. Gorre, the ability to retain such specialized consultants moved the project forward quickly. "It was as if we immediately added temporary head-count that was perfectly tailored to the project need." The two Project Specialists conducted online research, reviewed each other's work and interviewed other experts in the GLG Councils^SM (which includes Ukrainian private-sector contacts).

"They understood our needs and how to move forward with minimal input from us," Ms. Gorre said. "And they delivered a tailored report within weeks."

"We were amazed by the speed and accuracy of the GLG Project Specialists' work," added GBC Technical Services Coordinator Sancia Dalley. "The insights brought us many steps closer to defining our value proposition in this new geography. The report was simple to digest and enjoyable to read."

"GLG delivered exactly the interactions and insights we needed."

Celina Gorre,
Manager, Former Technical Services Manager, GBC

Marketing: pressure testing a new campaign

• "We needed to understand how to make our cause-related campaign successful."
• Custom survey of 50 professionals
• Three-day turnaround

In May 2005, GBC was appointed as the official private-sector partner to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (Global Fund). One major funding source for the Global Fund was a branding campaign involving major corporate partners like American Express Company and Gap Inc. GBC needed to know how to expand this and other cause-related marketing campaigns to companies not previously aligned with HIV/ AIDS programs.

To gain the necessary insights, GBC leveraged GLG Consumer Goods & Services Councils^SM, a global network of more than 25,000 industry experts from various industries including automotive. GBC collaborated with a GLG Research Manager, a dedicated client-service professional who guides clients through the research process, to develop a custom survey that would provide GBC with the insights of 50 marketing and sales professionals. Three days after the survey launch, GBC received the results and developed a successful strategy for approaching companies about leveraging their brands to spotlight HIV/AIDS causes. Additionally, GBC joined a host of relevant private-sector professionals in attendance at a GLG Institute^SM seminar on a relevant marketing topic.

"When we started developing this marketing campaign to benefit AIDS causes in Africa, we needed to understand how to make our cause-related campaign successful," explained Ms. Gorre. "We needed to learn about the consumer sector—especially within the parts of the industry that were not yet enrolled in the Global Business Coalition. Between the survey and the seminar, GLG delivered exactly the interactions and insights we needed."